Heroic fight
Widow: WWII vet deserves Arlington
The widow of a Pearl Harbor veteran won’t rest in peace until her hero husband can rest for eternity inside Arlington National Cemetery.
James Blakely, who died last week at age 101, had long shared his desire for burial in the sprawling space reserved to honor America’s war dead. But Bonita Allen Blakely told the Daily News her efforts to fulfill the Navy veteran’s final wish were so far falling on deaf ears.
“He saw a lot, and he gave a lot,” the widow said. “I think it’s time for the government to stand up and just give him his honors. He fought for this country. He’s deserving.”
Blakely, who became an ordained minister after surviving the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, was likely the last Black survivor from the disastrous day when 2,403 American personnel were killed. Bonita Blakely said she reached out to the Department of Veterans Affairs for assistance, but had yet to hear back about her request.
After Pearl Harbor and his time aboard the St. Louis, Blakely earned Navy combat stars for his service in Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal and Luzon.
His widow recalled how she and “Rev” took a 2017 Honor Flight trip to Arlington with its sprawling views of Washington, D.C., a visit arranged through a group that provides all-expenses paid trips for veterans.
“It was wonderful,” she recalled. “We were flown to Washington and taken to different memorials and monuments and dinner. Rev was the only living survivor, a Black man of color, from Pearl Harbor. He was able to tell the story of what happened that day.
“He was a piece of history. We just lost a piece of history.”
The couple first met about 40 years ago, reconnected years later when Blakely was homeless, and finally married at City Hall on Aug. 7, 2013.
“He was a charmer, he loved the ladies,” his wife recalled. “But he was a reverend and he was a gentleman. Rev was the most kindest, loving, giving person in the world.”
Arlington spokesman John Harlow said the wait time at Arlington is hard to determine at this point, with services for active duty service members taking priority. Families must also provide documentation of their loved one’s military service as well, he noted.
According to Blakely’s widow, the tough old veteran survived a bout with COVID-19 only to pass away months later at the St. Albans VA Medical Center.
“He kicked COVID’s butt,” she recalled. “They wanted me to say goodbye and he said, ‘I’m not going.’ I guess it was just the body. I’m going to say the body just got tired.”
Bonita Blakely recalled her husband speaking wistfully of joining his fellow veterans in Arlington, where the first soldier was buried in 1864.
“‘As far as the eyes can see,’ he’d say, talking about the headstones,” recalled his widow, her eyes tearing up. “I just hope we can get him his last wish. Then my work will be done.”