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95-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor drops puck for Vegas Golden Knights

95-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor drops puck for Vegas Golden Knights
Posted at 6:50 PM, Nov 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-23 11:40:14-05

Ed Hall is the last living Pearl Harbor survivor in Southern Nevada. On Wednesday, he dropped the puck for the Vegas Golden Knights on Military Appreciation Night.

Hall was just 18 years old on Dec. 7, 1941. He was in the kitchen of the mess hall, scrubbing a frying pan for breakfast when the first bomb dropped.

"All of a sudden, I heard a flump!" Hall recalled.

He wondered what the sound was but continued cleaning. A second bomb dropped. He said the third was the loudest explosion you could imagine.

Hall went outside to find men running every which way. Planes cut across the sky overhead. Pearl Harbor was under attack.

"This guy comes running out, flagged me down," Hall said. "He said, 'I'm a medic. We got wounded. We gotta get them to the hospital.'"

Hall said he worked as the man's assistant during the attack -- bringing as many wounded men to safety and administering first aid. Hall said there were three near-death moments as the Japanese continued to attack, but he survived. And helped many others survive, too.

"I think that everyone that survived that day did the very best they could possibly do," Hall said. "I don't think any man could've done better that what he did."

Now, at 95 years old, he is the only Pearl Harbor survivor and World War II veteran in Southern Nevada. And as much as he loves telling his story, he said if he could, he'd go back to serving his country.

"God only knows if I was able I'd be back in the service if they needed me," Hall said. "I love this country. I always have."