Families bring Pearl Harbor ashes back to stay

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By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

Scott Sutton, right, hugs his brother Mike Sutton after their father's ashes are released in Pearl Harbor in a brief ceremony on board the Navy Region Hawaii Barge. Their father Van Sutton, below right, was working in the radio room of the USS Pelias when the attack began that changed his life. His sons said they understood on this trip why he wanted his remains brought back. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

While this may be the last time some Pearl Harbor survivors will visit the Islands to commemorate the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, others have come to stay.

The ashes of eight Pearl Harbor veterans were scattered yesterday and Thursday around the harbor where the survivors' respective ships were stationed that fateful day.

The remains of two USS Arizona survivors — George Phraner Jr. and James Lawson — also were laid to rest in Pearl Harbor, interned with their comrades yesterday aboard the sunken battleship.

"This is the most requests we've done in a short period of time," said Jim Taylor, the Navy's funeral honors coordinator. "Obviously, part of it has to do with the families coming out on this 60th anniversary."

It is also the largest number of burials at Pearl Harbor in one year — 28.

"Last year we had 22 veterans making that request," Taylor said. "Sadly, as time goes on, there will probably be more."

Daniel Martinez, historian for the National Park Service's USS Arizona Memorial, said many of the Pearl Harbor survivors, particularly those who were stationed on ships with tremendous casualties, such as the Arizona, feel a need to be with their shipmates.

Van Sutton was working in the radio room of the USS Pelias when the attack began that changed his life. His sons said they understood on this trip why he wanted his remains brought back.

"The statements we got from many of the Arizona survivors is they felt they lived life on borrowed time, while their crew members perished," Martinez said. "Although what happened wasn't even their fault, the question they kept bringing up is, "Why me? Why did I survive?' "

Barbara White, who yesterday scattered the ashes of William, her late husband and a USS Nevada survivor, said: "It's like final closure. This is what he wanted."

"I tried to get him to come back (to Hawai'i after the war), but I just couldn't," said White, who was married to William for 36 years.

The family of Pearl Harbor survivor Van Sutton, who died Jan. 16, said their father was not one to discuss his war experiences until recently.

Sutton, a crew member of the subtender USS Pelias, was working in the ship's radio room when the attack began.

Sutton's ship was strafed by Japanese planes, but none of his shipmates died on Dec. 7.

Still, the day changed the life of the 21-year-old.

"There was a before and after of his life at Pearl Harbor," said son Michael, who now serves as a lieutenant commander in the Navy.

"He was a quiet guy," Michael Sutton said. "He was part of the veterans groups but never attended the meetings. It was only in 1998 he asked the family that he be buried at Pearl."

Sutton's other son, Scott, said that after visiting the USS Arizona Memorial for the first time yesterday he has a better understanding of why his father wanted to be brought back.

"This is sacred ground here," Scott said. "It gave me a glimpse of him going from a boy just joining the Navy to someone fighting a war."

The Navy's Taylor said the strong bond between Pearl Harbor survivors and their shipmates sometimes goes beyond words.

"On that single day they experienced something hopefully few of us will,"

Taylor said. "You witnessed a friend die, rescued a comrade or were rescued by one. That's the best explanation I have in these men wanting to come back to rest with the others."

Staff writer Mike Gordon contributed to this report.