"Ocala resident Jack Edge, one of the few remaining survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack that drew America into World War II, died Sunday at age 97. Edge has been hailed as an American hero and role model for his faith and bravery. Edge was born in Pitts, Georgia, on Feb. 5, 1924. He joined the Navy in February 1941, likely seeking a career in the post-Great Depression era, according to his son, Dale, 64. Edge was 17 and serving on the submarine tender U.S.S. Pelias, which was docked in the vicinity of the battleships docked at Pearl Harbor, on the day of the attack. On the morning of the attack, Edge was receiving medical treatment aboard his ship for an acute appendix attack and was scheduled for surgery at 8 a.m. Before his appendix could be removed, the Japanese planes attacked. The crew, including Edge, went to their battle stations, Dale Edge said. "My dad was told he would do better at his battle station," Edge said. He said his father handled ammunition and spotted the position of enemy planes by radio for the ship’s artillery. A report on the actions of the crew of the U.S.S. Pelias is available at Naval History and Heritage Command (history.navy.mil), an official U.S. Navy website. The report, filed on Dec. 11, 1941, by William Wakefield, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Pelias (AS-14), states: "(Personnel) went to general quarters and opened fire with anti-aircraft battery." "The Pelias was lying at the Submarine Base dock: a good position for action against this phase of the attack," the report states. The report indicates fire from the U.S.S. Pelias and two other ships led to the downing of a torpedo plane; a second plane was repelled and last seen "streaming smoke." The report states the "whole ship's company performed in a most admirable way." Dale Edge said his father's ship was a few hundred yards away from the group of battleships. The Pelias' position became known to the Japanese planes after the first wave, and later waves of planes began to fire upon the ship. Jack Edge married Alice Ward in 1949. He served in the Navy until 1960. After Edge retired from the service, he and Alice operated a faith-based nonprofit ministry near Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Maryland for members of the military. The ministry was called the Servicemen's Christian Home, Dale Edge stated. The Edges moved the Servicemen's Christian Home to Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the 1970s and remained active with the ministry into the 1980s, Dale Edge explained in an email." Jack Edge, Florida resident and Pearl Harbor survivor, dies at age 97
