Oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor, WWII veteran given heroic sendoff as he travels to National WWII Museum
The nation's oldest living World War Ii veteran was treated to a heroic sendoff at Union Station on Friday, when he embarked on a journey from Los Angeles to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
United States Army Private First Class Joseph Eskenazi, 105-years-old, was invited to the museum as a part of The Gary Sinise Foundation's Soaring Valor Program. For the last eight years, the Soaring Valor program has invited WWII veterans to the museum that was built in their honor.
"It's been quite an occasion for me," Eskenazi said. "I really appreciated all the people that participated in creating this moment."
He was joined by several other WWII veterans that were also headed to New Orleans, instead traveling via plane out of John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, as well as several members of his family.
"Ever since I was born, if they asked me, 'What is it you wanna do?' I would say, 'I like adventure,'" Eskenazi said.
Eskenazi, a Redondo Beach-resident, is the oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He joined the Army in 1941, and was stationed at the Schofield Barracks during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack.
"PFC Eskenazi drove a bulldozer across an open field, while being strafed and nearly hit by Japanese planes, to begin to repair the train tracks to prepare defenses for the expected invasion of Hawaii," according to a statement from the Gary Sinise Foundation.
The three-day journey is expected to end on Sunday.
