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Partly Cloudy with Haze Bill Halleran, Pearl Harbor survivor, dies at 93
Bill Halleran, a U.S. Navy veteran and survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died on Friday, Dec. 9. He was 93.
Just days before he was scheduled to take part in a ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, Halleran suffered a stroke and never recovered, said Tom Riordan, a Merrick American Legion member and friend of Halleran’s.
A resident of North Merrick for the past 64 years, Halleran is survived by his wife, Rose Marie, and the couple’s three sons, Bill, Frank and Scott.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Halleran, 23 at the time, was aboard a light cruiser, the USS Phoenix, and witnessed the attack on the USS Arizona. Halleran’s brother, Charlie, was also aboard the Phoenix, and survived the attack. “In the excitement and everything, neither one knew where the other was,” said Rose Marie. Charlie died three years ago.
“It was slow going, and they didn’t know what else was out there. They knew the planes were, but what was out in the open ocean was something else,” said Rose Marie.
Halleran grew up with his brothers, Charlie and David, in Floral Park. After graduating from Sewanhaka High School, Halleran enlisted in the Navy in 1939 with Charlie, and his cousin, John. “After high school, jobs were not plentiful, so they attempted to join the Navy,” said Rose Marie. “The three boys went in at the same time.”
Throughout the war, Halleran’s ship supported troops while sailing around the South Pacific, in addition to searching for Japanese ships and fending off kamikaze attacks.
Following Japan’s surrender in 1945, he was discharged as a yeoman second class. Halleran met Rose Marie shortly after, and the two married in 1946. After moving to Brooklyn for a year, they moved to North Merrick in 1947, because Halleran’s cousin, a custom home builder, owned properties in North Merrick. The couple purchased a home and raised their three children, all of whom graduated from Calhoun High School. The Hallerans recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. Together, they have eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
