Joseph Eskenazi, 105, oldest U.S. Pearl Harbor survivor, gets national recognition thanks to Gary Sinese Foundation.
The nation’s oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor never rose above the rank of private first class during his service in World War II, but this past week on the eve of his 105th birthday PFC Joseph Eskenazi was treated like a five-star general.
Those new memories began on that two-day train trip because Joe was not cleared medically to fly. At every whistle stop along the way, decorations were put up in his honor, and local residents gathered on the platform to cheer the nation’s oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor, waving to them from his private room.
Joe Eskenazi of Redondo Beach, 104, the oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor, center, joined other WW II veterans at Union Station in Los Angeles Friday, January 6, 2023. Eskanazi was boarding an Amtrak train headed for New Orleans where he will visit the National WWII Museum as part of actor Gary Sinise Foundation’s Soaring Valor Program.
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, sits with his great grandson Mathias, 4, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.
World War II veteran Wallace Johnson, 97, participates in an event celebrating the upcoming 105th birthday of fellow veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum to in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.
It’s ironic that toward the end of his life he’s getting the recognition he never sought. Seldom had she heard her father talk about his years in the service, and not a word about Pearl Harbor. He took that job and made it a career in civilian life. Among his biggest engineering projects was helping design the runways at LAX, not that far removed from that landing strip in Pearl Harbor he cleared in 1941.
With his great-grandson and granddaughters by his side, Joe was wheeled down a long hallway lined on both sides with museum employees clapping and thanking the veterans. It was at the end of a long day Wednesday and Joe was beginning to fade. There was still one more event to attend at 4 p.m., a 48-minute movie. Maybe when the lights went down, he could doze off without anybody noticing.
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