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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Veterans Day marks the anniversary of the end of World War I: at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

It is a day that honors all the brave men and women past and present who have fought in the name of our country.

Donald Stratton, 86, is one of the last living survivors of the USS Arizona, which was bombed in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. That day, 1,177 crewmen lost their lives aboard that ship.  Stratton said if he had his choice he'd rather not have been aboard the Arizona that day, but everybody has to be somewhere and somebody had to be there.

The morning of December 7, 1941, started out like any other for Stratton, but ended unlike any other.

“When the big bomb hit, that's 35,000 tons, that ship, and it just shook it like you shake a toy,” recalled Stratton. With more than a million pounds of ammunition packed into the USS Arizona's belly, the battleship instantly exploded. “The fireball went about 800 feet in the air and just engulfed us up there in the sky control platform.”

Flames burned more than 65 percent of Stratton’s 19 year-old body, but there was no time for panic. “At that time it was just self preservation,” said the Navy veteran.

A sailor from a vessel alongside the Arizona saw Stratton and threw him and six other survivors their lives, tossing out a rope line.

“We proceeded to go across that line hand o ver hand crossing about 45 feet in the air and that was after we were all burned to hell,” explained Stratton.        

He spent nearly a year in the hospital and was medically discharged, but a year later re-enlisted.

“I would just love to be back in there if I was young again, but I don't think that’s going to happen,” laughed Stratton.

His age may prevent him from fighting in the navy, but he said in a way, telling his story  allows him to still fight with them. “I do interviews not for a pat on the back for myself. It’s to keep America alert so this doesn't happen again.”

Here is a list of web sites that specialize in helping veterans: