103-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Survivor Is World’s Oldest Conductor

The U.S. Air Force Band’s Airmen of Note played a beautiful rendition of Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” during the America Valor event in Washington, DC. But they weren’t led by just any conductor.

Not only is Frank Emond the world’s oldest conductor at 103 years old, but he is also a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Originally from Rhode Island, Emond enlisted in the Navy as a musician in 1938. He played the French Horn for the ship’s band before he was assigned to the USS Emond. He spent his naval career as a musician and band director.

Emond was aboard the USS Pennsylvania and was getting ready to play his horn when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He witnessed the first bomb drop and explode at a hangar on Ford Island, but remained as calm as possible.

He walked up to the conductor’s stand and led the band in playing “Stars and Stripes.”

Emond played the horn for seven years before becoming a Navy bandleader, retiring in 1968. Although he retired from the Navy, music is still a big part of his life. He often leads the music at Gonzalez United Methodist Church, and performs with the Pensacola Civic Band.

He first broke a Guinness World Record for “World’s Oldest Musical Conductor,” when he conducted music in a Memorial Day concert in 2019.

Although the attack on Pearl Harbor was 80 years ago, Emond remembers the day like it was yesterday. In the video below, he shares his recollections of a morning that has stayed with him many years after.