EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE: The 98-year-young Harold Garrish

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington is home to a Pearl Harbor survivor. He’s no stranger to the WWAY airwaves as we’ve followed his wonderful spirit on the dance floor and in the air.

Harold Garrish, a World War II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor, is our Extraordinary Person of the Week.

Inside the Hannah Block USO building in Wilmington we find Harold Garrish.

“Back in 1941,” the WWII veteran said, “the one memory is when I saw Arizona was ready to blow up. That’s when I ducked, and it did blow up.”

Garrish is a Pearl Harbor survivor, he’s 98 years old, and he lives life in extraordinary fashion.

“Babs will tell you I’m the slowest learner in the world,” Garrish told Daniel Seamans in a 2013 interview.

We caught up with this greatest generation back when he was practicing with Babs McDance for his 95th birthday celebration in 2013.

We also caught up with him celebrating his 97th birthday jumping out of an airplane.

“It’s one of the few things I’ve never done,” he told us during that 2015 interview at SkyDive Coastal Carolinas.

“Might as well stay alive and enjoy your life while it’s around,” Garrish added.

The jump made him the oldest jumper at Skydive Coastal Carolinas.

He is one of WWAY’s extraordinary people who continues to do extraordinary things.

“I’m just one human being lucky to be alive,” Garrish said before the big jump in 2015.

And in 2016, as he reflects on the 75th anniversary of a day he’ll never forget…

“A lot of them were kids, ya know 18, 19 years old,” Garrish said, “I feel sorry now for the lives that they didn’t enjoy. And I hope that we never get in that situation again.”

One thing we can’t wait to see again, Harold Garrish is your 99th birthday celebration! You sir, are extraordinary.