Migration
Pearl Harbor survivor’s ashes scattered at USS Utah Memorial
September 21, 2017
Emily Stone is escorted to scatter the ashes of her husband, Pearl Harbor survivor Melvin Stone, at the USS Utah Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (Justin Pacheco/U.S. Navy photo)
Emily Stone is escorted to scatter the ashes of her husband, Pearl Harbor survivor Melvin Stone, at the USS Utah Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (Justin Pacheco/U.S. Navy photo)
A member of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam's honors and ceremonial guard unit presents the national ensign to Emily Stone, wife of Pearl Harbor survivor Melvin Stone, at the USS Utah Memorial, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (Justin Pacheco/U.S. Navy photo)
An ash-scattering ceremony was held Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017, at Pearl Harbor in honor of Melvin Stone, who served as a chief machinist's mate on the destroyer tender USS Dobbin during the surprise Japanese attack. (Justin Pacheco/U.S. Navy photo)
The ashes of a Pearl Harbor survivor who died in 2008 have joined the remains of sailors still aboard the USS Utah when it was sunk by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941.
An ash-scattering ceremony was held Tuesday in honor of Melvin Stone, who served as a chief machinist’s mate on the destroyer tender USS Dobbin during the surprise attack, a Navy statement said.
Stone was one of only two sailors on deck when the attack began, according to the Parker Pioneer newspaper in Parker, Ariz. He ran back and forth bringing up big boxes of bullets for machine guns on deck, while Japanese aircraft strafed and bombed ships in the harbor.
Emily Stone — his widow — decided in December to have her husband’s ashes scattered at Pearl Harbor after learning through media coverage commemorating the attack’s 75th anniversary that all survivors are eligible, the newspaper said.