Ray Chavez, the oldest surviving veteran of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, died in 2018 at the age of 106. Thanks to legislation signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 21, the U.S. Post Office at 13308 Midland Rd. in San Diego, CA will be adopting Mr. Chavez’s namesake.
Chavez, a San Diego native, grew up in the neighborhoods of Old Town and Logan Heights. In 1938, Chavez enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served aboard the USS Condor, the first ship to report Japanese naval activity just hours before fighter planes began attacking U.S. warships and personnel during the infamous Pearl Harbor attack.
After World War II, Chavez eventually started his own landscaping business in Ponway, where the aforementioned post office is being renamed.
Months before Chavez’s passing, he traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with President Trump to be honored for his service. When asked about Chavez’s death, President Trump said, “his legacy is forever etched into our country’s rich history.”
The First American Shots of World War II
When the ship that Ray Chavez served on spotted suspicious activity in the waters near Hawaii before Imperial Japan attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, it reported its findings to the USS Ward. With the assistance of a PBY plane, the Ward eventually spotted what was actually a Japanese submarine and fired the first American shots of World War II.
With the submarine destroyed, the Ward sent a message to shore just before 7 a.m., but the message didn’t reach Admiral Kimmel until 7:30. Only 25 minutes later, Japanese fighter planes began attacking Pearl Harbor.
Both the Ward and USS Condor survived the initial Japanese attacks. The Condor, a relatively small craft acquired by the Navy in 1940 and repurposed for minesweeping, continued to patrol Hawaiian waters throughout the war and was decommissioned in 1946.
However, on Dec. 7, 1944, the third anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, the USS Ward was sunk by Japanese Kamikazes off the coast of the Philippines.
Author: Christian Southards
Coming from a family with a proud military background and wanting to contribute his writing skills to a worthy cause, Christian began writing for the California American Legion in August of 2020. His father is a 25-year Army Veteran and his grandfather served in the Navy during Vietnam.
