Story highlights Thompson, 98, would make regular visits to the USS Iowa

But due to health reasons, he can't anymore

(CNN) Standing tall on his front porch and saluting, Ernest Thompson beamed with pride.

Yards away in the middle of his residential street in Gardena, CA members of the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center were singing the Navy's official song "Anchors Aweigh".

"It was really a surprise, yeah. They marched up the street here and stopped out in front and sang a bunch of Navy songs," Thompson recalls. "It was quite impressive. I enjoyed it very much."

Thompson, was on board the USS Tennessee during the attack on Pearl Harbor and served on the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered during WWII.

The 98-year-old would make regular visits to the USS Iowa, but can't anymore.

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