Pearl Harbor Anniversary commemorated
A minute's silence was observed by a gathering outside the Arizona Memorial Visitor's Center on Wednesday at 7.55 a.m., the exact time when Japan attacked U.S. military base Pearl Harbor 64 years ago. The assembly consisted of, in addition to sailors and community leaders, 20 survivors of the 1941 attack.
The observance was marked by a formation of Hawaii Air National Guard F-15s in the sky.
Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chief of U.S. naval operations emphasized the significance of the day. “Dec. 7, 1941, was not just a day of infamy. In many ways it was a day of discovery for America and for the world. It changed us, it hurt us, it made us stronger. It did not defeat us. And that is why we must never forget the events and sacrifices of that terrible day,” he said.
Mullen paid his tributes to those who sacrificed their lives in the war. “We cannot help ourselves but to return, not just to honor but to learn. We hope for the future and emulate the World War II generation. We look to their courage, to their determination and to their commitment.”
As many as 2,390 people were killed and 1,178 wounded in the two-hour long attack on the military bases on Oahu. 21 ships and 323 aircrafts were annihilated in the attack. A shimmering memorial now stands over the watery grave of the USS Arizona battleship which still has the bodies of the soldiers who went down with it.
Survivors recollected the horrors of the attack. “The Japanese planes came over and the bullets starting hitting the hull, and it made such a noise I knew I had to get the hell out,” said 82-year old Gilbert Meyer who was aboard the battleship USS Utah on the ill-fated morning. “Battleship row was all smoke. ... You just can't describe the chaos that existed that day” recounted Meyer.
“It was a day when weaker souls would have surrendered. Out of the ashes and oil, out of the waters came a resilience, lessons of determination, an unwavering spirit of the American people,” said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, another veteran who witnessed the attack.
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