Herb Weatherwax, seated, poses for a photo with Hauula Elementary School sixth-graders from left Dawson Langinbelik, Rachel Cheney, Frank Kojima, La’a Beatty, Chase Colleado, Makoa Ahquin-Soren and Keola Baily in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The 96-year-old retired electrician is one of four Pearl Harbor survivors who volunteers to greet visitors at the historic site. On Saturday is the 72nd anniversary of the 1941 attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor.PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – Herb Weatherwax cruises the open-air grounds of the visitors center at Pearl Harbor on a motorized scooter dubbed “Herb’s Hot Rod.” When a woman notices his blue and white cap embroidered with the words “Pearl Harbor Survivor,” he coaxes her over.
“Come get a picture,” Weatherwax says. Her family surrounds his scooter to pose for a snapshot and shake his hand.
The 96-year-old charms visitors in a similar fashion each of the three days a week he volunteers at a memorial for the USS Arizona, a battleship that sank in the 1941 Japanese attack. The retired electrician is one of four former servicemen who lived through the aerial bombing and now greet people at the historic site.
People like hearing stories directly from the survivors, Weatherwax says. And he enjoys meeting people from around the globe — just the other day he met visitors from New Zealand, China and Texas. He joked he wants his photograph “in every home in the world.”
“This is my reason to continue to keep going,” he says. “Otherwise, it’s time for me to say goodbye.”