As National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day approaches, we honor the courageous Americans who served and put their lives on the line. One of those World War II survivors is Jessie Mahaffey, who happens to be my great-grandpa. This past Wednesday, November 23^rd, Mr. Mahaffey celebrated is 100^th birthday!

Mr. Mahaffey enlisted into the United States Navy after graduating high school from Florien High School (June 1941-October 1945) He was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii on the U.S.S. Oklahoma and was ranked as a Boatwain’s Mate second class. His duties as a Deckhand included cleaning and/or painting the ship deck, standing on the lookout for enemy ships, and stacking shells in a ready box. On December 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Oklahoma was ambushed by the Japanese. As he recalls after the ship was targeted, it rolled over and sunk in eight minutes.

On November 30, 1942, Mr. Mahaffey was also on the U.S.S. Northampton. At midnight, the ship was struck by Japanese torpedoes in the South Pacific at the Soloman Islands. He and the other survivors waited in two life rafts until the destroyer, Fletcher picked them up on their fantail.

With Mr. Mahaffey’s heroism, he has earned five bars for each territory: Pearl Harbor, Europen Duty, Mediterranean Operation, Midway Battle, and South Pacific Duty, and Eleven stars for each invasion.