Lady Bear shares special game with grandfather

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Don Stratton sat in the third row behind the bench and just smiled.

It was the first time he watched his granddaughter Jessika, a guard for Baylor, play collegiate basketball.

In town for festivities commemorating the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Don Stratton, who was aboard the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, couldn't have asked for better timing.

Baylor was in town to play in the Tesoro Invitational.

Decked with a lei he watched his granddaughter score eight points and dish out four assists in Baylor's 70-65 win over the University of Hawai'i last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"She's always been a good player," he said, recalling her years playing at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Happy with the hard-fought win, Jessika Stratton seemed to have an extra glow after the game.

"It's a really special night," she said, beaming. "It's perfect timing. He's sharing a special time in my life and I get to share a special time in his."

Tomorrow the team will visit the Arizona Memorial, the location where 60 years ago Don Stratton experienced the painfully emotional attack by the Japanese.

"I remember a whole lot," he said, "but I haven't got the time (to tell the story)."

About 60 percent of his body was burned, forcing a medical discharge from the Navy in September 1942. He re-enlisted in 1944, involved in about seven invasions in the South Pacific, before being discharged again in 1945. The 79-year-old is retired and living in Santa Maria, Calif.

"He was really excited to see me play," Jessika Stratton said. "He told me 'Good job' like grandparents always do."