Stockton honors U.S.S. Arizona survivor

The town of Stockton came out in full force to honor Donald Stratton, one of the last three survivors of the U.S.S. Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 as he was taken to his final resting place in Red Cloud, Nebraska. A military motorcade transported the hero from Colorado Springs where he had died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 97 years.The motorcade drove through Stockton at 8:45 p.m. on Saturday evening, February 29th and was met at the 183/24 intersection by members of the Stockton VFW, fire engines, law enforcement and townspeople waving flags and saluting as the procession went by. Not only was there a crowd at the stoplights, but others had gathered at several places along Highway 183 to pay their respects to the WWII veteran.The timetable for the procession was later than first anticipated due to an accident when the motorcade was traveling on I-70 in Gove County, which sadly resulted in two fatalities.Seaman 1st Class Stratton had a connection to the area as the grandchildren of Bob and Kay Reed, Kimberlynn (Lockhart) Uhl and Braeden Lockhart, are his second cousins. Mr. Stratton was laid to rest in the Red Cloud Cemetery with full military honors on Monday, March 2nd.