Pearl Harbour Remembrance Day

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Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - Dec. 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day It is important for all of us to take a moment and remember the December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor - a defining moment in history. The Pearl Harbor "surprise" helped shape a generation of National defense policy and was not forgotten by those who had lived through the war. Monuments were created on the battle sites and around the country Veteran reunion groups met regularly to keep the memory alive. Brief History - "Day that shall live in Infamy" -Under the greatest secrecy, Japanese Vice Admiral Nagumo took his ships to sea on the 26th of November 1941, as a result of Japan's pressing need for secure flanks during their planned offensive into Southeast Asia and the East Indies. -Before dawn on the 7th of December, a carefully planned attack wave of over 180 aircraft, including torpedo planes, high-level bombers, dive bombers and fighters, was launched in the darkness and flew off to the south. When the first group had taken off, a second attack wave of similar size, but with more dive bombers and no torpedo planes, was brought up from the carriers' hangar decks and sent off into the emerging morning light. -Dive bombers attacked airfields at about 7:55 AM, destroying many aircraft. This attack prompted the dispatch of the famous message "Air raid, Pearl Harbor -- this is no drill", the outside World's first indication that war had come to the Pacific. -Within a few moments, torpedo planes attacked from east and west, with one of the latter torpedoing the USS Helena at 1010 dock. Others, from the same direction, hit USS Utah and USS Raleigh, off the western side of Ford Island.   -Within a short time, five of eight battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk or sinking, with the rest damaged. Several other ships and most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out and over 2,400 Americans were dead. -The United States Navy's battleship force was removed as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion. As a result, America was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant. VetFriends.com salutes and supports all of you, our U.S. Veterans, active & reserve military. We thank you for your service to our country. VetFriends would also like to take a moment to reflect and honor the many brave men and women who have sacrificed the ultimate for our country. The memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination for Americans to fight on against all opposed to World peace.   VetFriends.com is honored to support and assist all U.S. Veterans and military personnel. Join us today and everyday in keeping the memory of Pearl Harbor alive. Pearl Harbor Tribute Photos: 1941 - PFC Jensen A picture of my father on the USS Pennsylvania late November 1944. My father was on board in dry dock Pearl Harbor 12-7-41. Marines 1942 - Navy USS Wasp - My father who was on the Nevada at Pearl Harbor is returning to the Wasp after meeting my Mom in San Francisco. His nickname was Slim. 1944 - Dec 25, 1944 Nancy, France This is only picture I have of my Dad in WWII, 3514 ORD M.A.M. 1944 - B17 Crew, 15th AF, 97th Bomb Group, 340th Squadron Air Force 1981 - Pearl Harbor - C co. 1st. BN. 3rd Marines 2011 - Hand on Pearl Harbor This is all what I was in the Navy for.

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? Pearl Harbor slips from living memory

American ships burn during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. Photo: AP Survivors of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor — 84 years ago today — have long been the center of the annual remembrance ceremony. But only 12, all centenarians, are still alive. For the first time, none can make the pilgrimage to Hawaii for today's ceremony, the AP reports from Honolulu. Survivors have been present every year in recent memory except 2020, when the Navy and the National Park Service closed the observance to the general public because of COVID. ? That means no one attending today's "missing man formation" of fighter jets will have firsthand memories of serving during the attack, which killed more than 2,300 troops and catapulted the U.S. into World War II. The ceremony begins with a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the same time the attack began on Dec. 7, 1941. ? As survivors fade, descendants and historians are turning to other ways to memorialize the bombing. Daniel Martinez, a retired National Park Service Pearl Harbor historian, said the circumstances echo the early 20th century, when Civil War veterans were dying in increasing numbers — no longer able to share their stories of Gettysburg and other battles. Martinez knew something similar would happen with Pearl Harbor survivors, so he began recording oral histories. During a 1998 convention, he conducted interviews 12 hours a day for three days. The Park Service today has 800 interviews, most on video. Some are shown in the Pearl Harbor museum. The Library of Congress has collections from 535 Pearl Harbor survivors, including interviews, letters, photos and diaries. Over 80% are online. They're part of the library's Veterans History Project of firsthand recollections of veterans who served from World War I onward. Many were recorded by relatives, Eagle Scouts and other amateurs. An organization of descendants, Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, speaks in schools and marches in parades.