Joe Fritcher is a 95-year-old Naval Veteran of Pearl Harbor.  He was on board the USS California.

Fritcher is proud to be a native of Pilot Point, TX.  He entered the service when he was 25 years old and went to boot camp in San Diego.

"The second week I was there, I was out on a grinder and we were marching - looked up and there was my brother.  I went in on November 7, and he went in on the 16th of November - we were together until Pearl Harbor," Fritcher said.

At boot camp, Fritcher and his brother requested to be put together, and their request was honored.

"...and then at Pearl Harbor, we requested to be separated," Fritcher said.

And on the morning of December 7,1941, Japanese bombers attacked the Pacific Fleet.

"The Japanese attacked us.  We had 8 battleships inside the port and they got every one of them," Fritcher said.

When the USS California was hit, Fritcher jumped over the side of the boat into the oil-filled harbor, which made it hard to swim.

"There was a boat come by and said 'hang on we'll pull you into land.  We weren't very far from land. and they got me over on land and I got up and got on land and looked down there...and there was my brother down there.  He started crying'.  He said 'We'll get em'."