2017 -- S 0918

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF RAYMOND HAERRY

     Introduced By: Senators Satchell, Lynch Prata, McCaffrey, Gallo, and DiPalma

     Date Introduced: May 30, 2017

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Raymond Haerry of West Warwick, an American hero who survived the

attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, passed away on September 27, 2016. He was the beloved

husband for seventy years of Evelyn Haerry, and the devoted father of Raymond Haerry, Jr., both

of whom passed away shortly after his passing; and

     WHEREAS, Raymond Haerry was born and raised in Patterson, New Jersey. He enrolled

at MIT but left school shortly after turning eighteen to enlist in the United States Navy. His first

assignment was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. In September of 1940, when Mr. Haerry

learned that the Battleship USS Arizona was looking for crew members, he answered the call and

offered his services; and

     WHEREAS, Aboard the Arizona, Mr. Haerry worked on the deck crew and also operated

the boats that ferried crew members back to shore. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Mr.

Haerry was having breakfast when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor commenced. He

immediately ran to his battle station on the anti-aircraft gun. While he was searching for

ammunition, the ship's magazine was hit by a bomb which ripped the ship in two and threw him

into the Pacific Ocean. He was able to swim through the burning water and the remains of his

fellow sailors and make it to shore, where he found a machine gun and began firing at the enemy

planes. He spent the rest of the day in a patrol boat recovering bodies; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Haerry spent the remainder of World War II serving aboard numerous

ships. In addition to serving our nation with valor and honor in World War II, he also served our

nation in the Korean War, and in peacetime as an Office Training Instructor at the Naval War

College in Newport, Rhode Island. He retired from the United States Navy in 1964, after 26 years

of meritorious service with the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer. In December of 2011, on the

70th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, Mr. Haerry received the Rhode Island Cross, the

highest civilian honor bestowed in Rhode Island; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Haerry is survived by his granddaughter, Jessica Marino, and two great

grandchildren. Jessica brought her grandfather's ashes to Pearl Harbor to lie permanently aboard

the USS Arizona. The sunken USS Arizona lost more than 900 sailors on the tragic day of

December 7, 1941. Only 334 of its sailors survived the attack, of which Mr. Haerry was one.

Over the years, 41 of the 334 survivors asked that their remains be returned to rest with their

shipmates. A funeral for Mr. Haerry was held at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor with more

than one-hundred people in attendance, including Rear Admiral John Fuller. Upon completion of

the funeral, a United States Navy diver was handed his remains from his granddaughter and

placed his urn in an open gun turret of the USS Arizona; and

     WHEREAS, Raymond Haerry was truly a member of America's greatest generation. We

owe him and his comrades a great debt and thank them for their service; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby expresses its condolences on the passing of Mr. Raymond Haerry and expresses its

gratitude for his heroic service to our nation during World War II; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Jessica Marino and Family.

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