From OC's post;
It was an accident of fate that he survived and others did not. Such is life, and only God knows the plan for each of us.
I saw two great TV documentaries last night - the first about Pearl Harbor and the other about D-Day. Both actual footage cleaned up and digitized, which brought this into better focus. One of the survivors from Pearl Harbor and another from D-Day admitted they blamed themselves for years and questioned 'why' they lived through the battles, when all around people were dying.