One of the last two remaining survivors of the USS Arizona battleship attack has died. Ken Potts passed away Friday in Provo, Utah, at the age of 102.
The son of Potts’ close friend and Arizona shipmate says Potts died at the home he shared with his wife of 66 years. He said Potts’ mind remained sharp, but his body was shutting down and he was having a hard time getting out of bed.
The USS Arizona was bombed and sank during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. More than a thousand crew members died. The battleship could not be salvaged and remains at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. In 1962, a memorial was dedicated to those who perished.
Ken Potts’ death leaves only one survivor of the USS Arizona bombing; Lou Conter, who is 101 and lives in California.