3 survivors of attack
on Pearl to be buriedThe interment will be part of rites
to mark the raid's anniversary
Three sailors who survived the surprise Japanese raid on the Pacific Fleet 62 years ago will be laid to rest with their shipmates this weekend.
The burial of three Pearl Harbor survivors is part of the special memorial services planned to mark the 62nd anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack.
The remains of Chief Yeoman Guy Pierce, who was on the USS Utah during the attack, will be interred at 4:45 p.m. Saturday within the hull of the rusting warship, which still lies off Ford Island.
On Sunday the ashes of another Pearl Harbor survivor, Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Larry Roman, will be scattered in the Pearl Harbor channel near a memorial marking the spot where the USS Nevada was beached. The service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Sunday for Roman, who served on the Nevada.
At 4:45 p.m., Chief Gunner's Mate Ben Begley, who served on the USS Dolphin, will be buried near the Utah Memorial on Ford Island.
As in past years, two memorial services will be held in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, beginning at 7:55 a.m. -- the moment Japanese fighters attacked the Pacific Fleet.
Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, will be the guest speaker on the USS Arizona Memorial.
On shore at the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center, actor Ernest Borgnine will speak on this year's theme, "Hollywood Remembers Pearl Harbor."
The Navy base will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., followed by a salute and honors by the crew of the destroyer USS O'Kane as it steams by the Arizona memorial. During the brief ceremony, more than 40 wreaths will be presented before a wall listing Pearl Harbor victims. A 21-gun salute, echo taps and flyover by F-15 jet fighters of the Hawaii Air National Guard in the "missing-man formation" will close the annual service.
On other parts of Oahu where the Japanese attacked, similar memorial services will be held at the same time. Those include Hickam Air Force Base, Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay and Barbers Point Golf Course, where the Marines who were killed at what was once known as Ewa Marine Corps Air Station will be honored.
The annual Pearl Harbor Survivors memorial ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the National Cemetery of the Pacific. Rear Adm. Barry McCullough, Navy Region Hawaii commander, will pay tribute to the 49 civilians who were killed during the attack.
The 1941 Japanese raid, which lasted one hour and 59 minutes, sank or damaged 21 American warships, killed 2,405 military personnel and civilians, destroyed 164 planes and damaged another 159. It crippled the Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor and marked America's entrance into World War II.