The ceremony opened with the presentation of colors and was followed with a moment of silence to remember those who were lost during the tragic events that transpired in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 74 years ago. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to the U.S. Congress – “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan”.
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“Oil and slime were all over their bodies”, said Doyle, 92, and one of two Colorado Pearl Harbor survivors honored Monday at a ceremony at the Leyden-Chiles-Wickersham American Legion Post 1. “They stopped the motion picture and a military police officer came out and said everybody outside immediately”, World War II Veteran Evan Taylor said.
Service members stationed in Hawaii made sure the site was cared for.
Videos from Pearl Harbor played throughout the day at the Fargo VFW in honor of the anniversary.
At the Oklahoma Veterans Memorial, there’s a monument with 429 names of sailors and heroes who died on the battleship U.S.S. Oklahoma. Morris says gatherings like this serve as an important reminder for younger generations.
Yes, the people who experienced Pearl Harbor are mostly gone, but the lessons remain.
Dorinda Nicholson said she was 6 years old at the time of the attack, living inside Pearl Harbor.
“For a very long time, we never knew what my dad had experienced”, said Jones Barry. “You had no school for two months because we had to dig wartime bomb shelters”, Nicholson said. “Evidently, the Japanese didn’t have us on their schedule, and so they just ignored us”.
The veterans, well into their 90s, tossed wreaths over the side of the ship into San Diego Bay to remember the almost 2,400 military personnel and civilians killed in the attack.
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“We rendezvoused at Okinawa and we had 5,000 ships here; I think that’s correct”.
