GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Green Bay area native Rolland E. Briar, one of the last survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor, has died at the age of 104.
Briar died Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Green Bay. Born April 15, 1922, in Marinette, he graduated from Marinette High School in 1940 before enlisting in the U.S. Navy.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Briar was aboard the destroyer tender USS Whitney at Pearl Harbor, waiting to head to Ford Island for church services when the Japanese attack began.
“Because I was with flag allowance, we had no battle stations,” Briar later recalled. “Due to the strafing by the Japanese planes, we were ordered to go below deck as some were killed on deck.”
From below deck, Briar and others could hear explosions and smell smoke as the attack unfolded. Afterward, he helped reassign survivors to other ships.
He continued serving aboard the USS Whitney before transferring to the USS Markab and later to Magazine Island at Pearl Harbor. Following World War II, the Navy sent him to college in Dubuque, Iowa. He later studied at Northwestern University and received advanced training at Harvard University.
Visitation is scheduled for Aug. 7 at Proko-Wall Funeral Home in Green Bay. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Aug. 8 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, followed by full military honors.
