Oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor gets special sendoff from community

LOS ANGELES - Joseph Eskenazi is 104-years-old and he’s the nation’s oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor.  

The Redondo Beach veteran is being honored in a special way.  

Thanks to the Gary Sinise Foundation, "Soaring Valor Program" — Eskenazi is now on a journey with eight other World War Two veterans as they ride on an Amtrak train from LA to New Orleans with the goal of visiting the National World War Two Museum and celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday.

Historical footage of the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941— shows the devastating toll on American Pacific fleet. Ezkenazi remembers it, like it was yesterday.

"About an arms length, I saw a lot of dirt kicking up. They had shot me with a machine gun, they came very close to hitting me," he told FOX 11’s Gina Silva.  

Private First Class Eskenazi not only survived being shot at. Earlier that day, a bomb landed 50 feet away from him. For some reason…it did not detonate.  

"Luckily nothing happened to me but I came that close...first with the bomb and then with the machine gun."

"Advice… enjoy life as much as you can, the good Lord gave you life so you can make the best of it and that’s what you should do."