President Bush President Bush has been invited to speak at the 60th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, and planners are estimating that 700 survivors may attend.
invited to Pearl
attack anniversary
December activities may include
a parade and 700 survivors
of the 1941 bombingBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comEdmond Chappell, national president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, said his organization has written to Mayor Jeremy Harris requesting that the city sponsor a parade through Waikiki on Dec. 8, but has not gotten a response yet.
Although President Bush's father spoke at the 50th anniversary when he was president in 1991, Chappell said the White House is not sure if the younger Bush can make it to Hawaii on Dec. 7.
Chappell said ABC journalist Sam Donaldson will speak at one of their activities.
The association also plans to scatter the ashes of seven Pearl Harbor survivors in the waters of the naval base sometime during the December weekend.
Of the 700 Pearl Harbor survivors who are expected to attend, at least 18 of them were on the USS Arizona. There are believed to be about 55 remaining survivors of the USS Arizona.
The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is trying to comb its membership rolls to get many of them to attend this ceremony, which will be held in the naval base.
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack a conference of scholars and survivors will be held Dec. 1-5 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Titled "A Day to Remember, A Time Not Forgotten," the conference will feature discussions and analyses by noted historians, authors, and American and Japanese veterans of the attack.
"The attack on Pearl Harbor was a pivotal event in America's history," said Kathy Billings, National Park Service superintendent at the USS Arizona Memorial. "Historians can give us the details of the event -- what happened, what led up to it and what followed. But beyond these facts and scholarly interpretations, there is another story. It's the true-life stories of the men who were present that fateful day."
Featured at the conference will be 23 discussion sessions on various topics. A few examples are the near-destruction of the Pacific Fleet; American and Japanese aviator experiences and attitudes about war; the history and memorialization of the USS Arizona; current research on the USS Arizona; and radar use in Hawaii during the conflict. A narrated bus tour will provide conference attendees with a viewing of major attack sites on Oahu, including Ford Island Naval Air Station, the Opana Radar Site, Ewa Marine Corps Air Station.
Conference events will also feature documentary film showings and a special showing and discussion of the making of the Disney movie "Pearl Harbor." Evenings will feature meet-the-speaker receptions, a World War II big-band music competition, banquets and dancing.
Besides the Pearl Harbor remembrance, plans are under way for several other major World War II commemorative events, including a picnic to mark the 60th anniversary of the formation of the highly decorated 100th Battalion. The picnic is set for the Keehi Lagoon Disabled Veterans facility Aug. 12.
Other commemorative events include:
>> The recognition banquet for the presidential unit citation awarded to the Military Intelligence Service on Aug. 11. Through the help of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, the soldiers were awarded the ribbon last year, covering their service from May 1942 to September 1945.
>> The 56th anniversary celebration of the signing of the peace treaty with Japan. The USS Missouri Association is trying to contact military personnel stationed on any of the 319 ships anchored in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, to invite them to this year's ceremony, which will be held on the decks of the battleship now moored at Ford Island. Those interested in attending should contact the association at P.O. Box 6339, Honolulu, 96818, or by calling 423-2263.
Only 79 nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) are still active as members of Club 100, which is working to develop programs to perpetuate the ideals of the World War II generation who volunteered to prove their loyalty.
Mimi Nakano, whose father Shizuya Hayashi was one of seven 100th Battalion Medal of Honor recipients, said the legacy picnic on Aug. 12 is to start the ball rolling.
"When the veterans first came back from the war, they always used to meet at picnics like this, but things changed over the years and it is time to bring this back," she said.
"The final event will be a banquet, probably a luncheon, in June to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the 100th Battalion."
Organizers are hoping to draw a major speaker at the banquet tentatively scheduled for June 22, 2002. Throughout this year Nakano said other events will be held "to renew friendships, make new friends and recruit new members to help in the fund-raising efforts to perpetuate the legacy of the 100th."
"The average age of these veterans are 83, 84 years old," she said. "We want to develop a learning center, a Web page and maintain our archives."
The 100th Battalion was formed on June 5, 1942, and was initially made up of 1,406 men drawn from draftees, pre-Pearl Harbor volunteers and National Guard soldiers. After training in Wisconsin and Mississippi, they went into combat in September and fought in Italy at Salerno, Cassino and Volturno River, and missed going into Rome until it was merged with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in spring 1943.
The 442nd became known as the Army's most decorated unit with the 100th dubbed "Purple Heart Battalion."