Pearl Harbor attack survivor Herb Elfring dies at 102
Pearl Harbor attack survivor Herbert Elfring died Saturday in Michigan at age 102.
His death was announced by Michigan-based One Stop Veteran Resources, an organization he helped establish, in a Facebook post Sunday that said, “After a brief and sudden illness, Herb went up to Heaven. … His stories of Pearl Harbor were not just tales of a bygone era, but lessons etched with wisdom and a true desire to inspire. He wanted more than anything, to touch the hearts of younger generations, to teach them the value of freedom and the cost at which it comes.”
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Elfring was a fixture at commemoration events and was a familiar face to those who attended — a face that was usually smiling. Elfring’s granddaughter, who lives on Oahu and works on Ford Island at the National Weather Service, commonly accompanied him. He was one of just five attack survivors who attended 2023’s 82nd-anniversary commemoration at Pearl Harbor in December in person.
“It’s a treat to be able to come back year after year,” Elfring told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in 2022. “Just to be able to be here physically, you know, because at this age, everything seems to deteriorate pretty fast.”
In a Tuesday media release, Hawaii-based Pacific Historic Parks — which is dedicated to preserving World War II battlefields and the memories of veterans who fought in the conflict in the Pacific — said Elfring “was known for being kind and bringing a lot of smiles.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Elfring was a 19-year-old Guardsman stationed at Camp Malakole in the Barbers Point area about 3 miles from Pearl Harbor.
After surviving the attack, he went on to serve in the island campaigns of the war in the Pacific, taking him to Fiji, the Solomon Islands and eventually to the Philippines where he helped protect the Clark Field airstrip. He was discharged from the Army in 1945 with the rank of captain.
