Frank Emond, who grew up in Pawtucket and survived Pearl Harbor, dies at 104

Jack Perry, The Providence Journal
·5 min read

Frank Emond went from a mill in Pawtucket to a battleship in Pearl Harbor, where he carried the wounded and dead bodies of fellow sailors after a surprise attack by Japanese planes shattered a "beautiful" Sunday morning 81 years ago.

Emond, who was likely the last Pearl Harbor survivor from Rhode Island, died Tuesday in Pensacola, Florida. He was 104 years old.

The sights, smells and emotions from Dec. 7, 1941, stayed with Emond his entire life. In younger days, he didn't talk much about the attack that drew the United States into World War II, but he became a witness to history at schools and conventions across the country after retiring from the Navy and joining a group of fellow survivors.

"When I get going on Pearl Harbor and start talking about the dead people, I just start stammering. You just can't help but feel it, even though it was a long time ago," Emond said in a video interview with the American Veterans Center.

Frank Emond, who grew up in Pawtucket, survived the attack at Pearl Harbor while serving aboard the USS Pennsylvania. He died Tuesday at 104.
Frank Emond, who grew up in Pawtucket, survived the attack at Pearl Harbor while serving aboard the USS Pennsylvania. He died Tuesday at 104.

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Emond grew up on Bloomfield Street in Pawtucket and played the French horn at Pawtucket High School. As a kid, Emond, his two brothers and sister would dig quahogs in Narragansett Bay. "That's what they would have for dinner," his son, Roy Emond, said from Florida on Wednesday.

After graduating in 1935, Emond worked at a wire mill for two years, earning 25 cents an hour, according to a 2016 interview with The Providence Journal. He joined the Navy in 1938 after hearing a radio ad that the Navy needed musicians.

At 7:55 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, Emond and his fellow bandmates were standing on the stern deck of the battleship Pennsylvania waiting to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 8 a.m. flag raising when they spotted a line of planes.

"The first plane peeled off and dropped something," Emond said in the American Veterans Center interview. "I thought maybe part of the tail came off or something, so I watched until it hit a hangar over in the air station, and it exploded into flames and sounds and a lot of noise, which startled us."

Frank Emond as a young sailor. He was 24 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Frank Emond as a young sailor. He was 24 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Looking up again, seeing the plane's red markings and a machine gunner firing away, "immediately, it dawned on us that the Japanese were there," he said. "If I close my eyes, I can still see it."

Emond and his bandmates were soon tasked with helping the wounded and recovering bodies. They carried the wounded to sickbay and the dead to the brig. "I was very proud of the ability of the crew to take care of the wounded," he said. Many of the wounded and dead were badly burned. "The smell of the burning flesh is still something that remains with me," he said.

The Pennsylvania, which was in drydock during the attack, was one of the first ships to return fire, according to the website honorstates.org. The ship was struck several times; 15 men died, 14 went missing and 38 were wounded.

Overall, the attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19U.S. Navy ships, including eight battleships, according to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The United States declared war on Japan the next day.

The battleship USS Arizona belches smoke as it topples over into the sea during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.
The battleship USS Arizona belches smoke as it topples over into the sea during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.

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It is likely that Emond was the last Pearl Harbor survivor from Rhode Island, according to Tim Gray, president and founder of The World War II Foundation, which operates a museum in South Kingstown. Gray knew "a couple" of Pearl Harbor survivors from Rhode Island who died before Emond.

There are about 1,000 World War II veterans still alive in Rhode Island, according to Gray. Of the 16 million who served in World War II, there are about 167,284 alive today, he said. Gray estimates the total number of Pearl Harbor survivors at 100 to 125.

Emond spent 30 years in the Navy, becoming a band leader and retiring as a chief warrant officer. He settled in Pensacola and was sharp and active through his 90s, volunteering at the Pensacola Naval Hospital, and even past 100, according to his son.

In November, he broke his own Guinness World Record as the "World's Oldest Conductor" when he led the United States Air Force Band playing "In the Mood" in Washington, D.C. It was during the filming of "American Valor: A Salute to Our Heroes," according to the America Veterans Center.

Emond's mother lived into her 90s and stayed in Rhode Island. His brother Louis lived to be about 100 in Seekonk.

In a 2016 interview, Emond told The Journal he took seriously his duty to stand as a witness to the Pearl Harbor attack. The interview was a few days before he told his story as part of a Living Memory panel at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. It marked the 75th anniversary of the attack.

Initially, Emond didn't talk much about Pearl Harbor, but he shared more later in life after joining a group of 15 or 20 Pearl Harbor survivors at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, according to his son. He ended up traveling "all over the country," speaking at conventions and in schools.

Emond's son said, "He learned that people wanted to hear the story."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Pearl Harbor survivor who grew up in Pawtucket dies