Family of Donald Stratton, Pearl Harbor survivor & Colorado Springs resident, honored by Navy with Stratton name on submarine
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A proud Naval tradition now has a direct link to southern Colorado.
The daughter of a WWII Navy veteran will now have her initials on the new USS Arizona. It's a way to honor her dearly departed grandfather who called Colorado Springs home.
Nikki Stratton's grandfather Donald was aboard the USS Arizona 82 years ago when more than 1,000 lives were lost in the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was just one of 155 survivors.
On the day of Donald's passing in 202, the Secretary of the Navy awarded the family a prestigious honor. The family was told the Stratton name would be forged onto a Naval submarine to remember Donald's service to his nation.
"I am so honored that I get to continue his legacy and make sure that I fulfill his dying wish, which was not to let them ever forget Pearl Harbor and not to let them ever forget the U.S.S. Arizona," Nikki Stratton said.
Stratton said the stories from her father's colleagues on the USS Arizona will stick with her and her family forever. She now joins a long line of female civilians who have been chosen to be ambassadors and leaders of ceremonies for newly commissioned Navy vessels.
