A ceremony in observance of the 84th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was held Sunday on the bow of the battleship USS Iowa, with multiple World War II veterans in attendance, including some over 100 years old.
The one-hour ceremony aboard the retired battleship docked in San Pedro began at 10 a.m. It included a bell-ringing tribute to the ships lost, playing of the national anthem and taps and a color guard, Hall Roosevelt, the director of sales & marketing of the Pacific Battleship Center and a grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, told City News Service.
There were 2,403 American service members and civilians killed in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that propelled the United States into World War II, more than two years after the war began with Germany’s invasion of Poland.
Just before 8 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese torpedo bombers, dive bombers and fighters — altogether numbering more than 350 aircraft — arrived in two waves, permanently sinking two battleships, the USS Arizona and Utah at Pearl Harbor.
The Arizona’s losses totaled 1,177 — the highest of any ship in the harbor. Most of the military vessels that went down in the surprise attack were resurrected and deployed to fight again.
Bellows, Hickam and Wheeler airfields were also bombed, as were the installations at Ewa, Ford Island and Kaneohe Bay, sustaining major damage.
Japan carried out the attack in an attempt to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet as it sought domination over much of Asia.
“The lessons learned 84 years ago on that fateful day still resound with America’s exceptional fighting force,” President Donald Trump said in his proclamation declaring Sunday National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day as required by a bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.
“We must remain ever vigilant and prepared to annihilate any foe who dares to threaten our liberty. This annual day of remembrance must be held in the highest esteem and reverence as we honor the Americans who laid down their lives to defend our homeland on the island of Oahu and in the battles of World War II.”