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Donald Stratton

Biography

Donald Stratton

Born in 1922, Donald Stratton grew up in Red Cloud, Nebraska. Upon graduating high school in 1940, he enlisted in the United States Navy, and reported for duty on the battleship USS Arizona. After more than a year of recuperation following the Pearl Harbor attacks, Stratton reenlisted in the Navy and was commissioned to the destroyer USS Stack. From 1944-45, he served in the Pacific at the naval campaigns for New Guinea, the Philippines and Okinawa. He has been married to his wife, Velma, for 66 years. They live in Colorado Springs.

Donald Stratton

Books by Donald Stratton

All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor's Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor
by Donald Stratton with Ken Gire - History, Memoir, Nonfiction

At 8:10am on December 7, 1941, Seaman First Class Donald Stratton was consumed by an inferno. A million pounds of explosives had detonated beneath his battle station aboard the USS Arizona, barely 15 minutes into Japan’s surprise attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. Near death and burned across two thirds of his body, Don summoned the will to haul himself hand over hand across a rope tethered to a neighboring vessel. In this extraordinary, never-before-told eyewitness account of the Pearl Harbor attack --- the only memoir ever written by a survivor of the USS Arizona --- the 94-year-old veteran finally shares his unforgettable personal tale of bravery and survival, his harrowing recovery, and his inspiring determination to return to the fight.