A Colorado VFW post bade farewell to its last Pearl Harbor survivor Tuesday.
Reynold “Riney” Lenhart, who died March 18, received full military honors from Sheridan’s Verle Huffman VFW Post 9644 at Fort Logan National Cemetery.
“He outlived them all,” Debbie Diehl, Lenhart’s daughter, said. The family said he was 94.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Lenhart was stationed in Scofield Barracks, north of Pearl Harbor. Family members know little more than that about his service there.
“He was one that wouldn’t talk about it,” Diehl said.
Lenhart was wounded three times in the Asia-Pacific theater during the war. He carried shrapnel in his head, arm and leg the rest of his life, his son Robert said.
VFW representatives presented Diehl with a flag and three shells from the color guard. The shells represent honor, duty and country — values that Lenhart represented through his service, said Leon Rodriguez, a member of Post 9644.
Fewer than 5,000 people remain registered with the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, president Mal Middlesworth said.
Rodriguez estimates 30 live in Colorado.
