Nation once again remembers Dec. 7
Thousands of people are expected to attend ceremonies marking the U.S. entry into WWII
Some 5,000 people -- 400 of them survivors -- are expected to pay homage to fallen servicemen, commemorating the Japanese attack that turned placid Pearl Harbor into a roiling sea of death 65 years ago today.
For nearly a week, Pearl Harbor survivors have swapped stories with friends, family members and anyone else willing to hear them throughout Oahu. With so many of them too frail to travel, especially the survivors of the battleship Arizona, this week's reunion could be their last.
The official USS Arizona Survivors Association only meets once every five years in Hawaii, with its annual Dec. 7 remembrances taking place in Tucson, Ariz.
Four survivors of the two-hour attack that sunk or damaged 21 Pacific Fleet warships and plunged America into war will remain in the harbor. The ashes of Eugene Byers, who served on the USS Oklahoma; Andrew Guna, USS Arizona; Fred Durboraw, USS Phoenix; and Louis Estrada, USS Oklahoma, were scatted into the waters off the naval base.
A special commemoration site has been set up at Pearl Harbor's Kilo Pier, where large modern war vessels such as aircraft carriers and helicopter assault ships now normally berth, to accommodate the nearly 4,000 people who are expected to attend.
The 90-minute ceremony will be broadcast to the National Park's USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center and shown in its two theaters and onto special video monitors on the lawn area where at least 1,000 more people are expected to gather.
Both Kilo Pier and the visitor center are about a half mile away from where the sunken remains of the 500-foot battleship which lies off Ford Island -- a tomb for nearly 1,000 sailors.
This is the second year in a row the Navy and the National Park Service will hold a joint memorial service at 7:40 a.m., Dec. 7, for the 2,390 U.S. military and civilians killed.
Keynote speaker at this year's ceremony, following the theme "A Nation Remembers," is Tom Brokaw, former NBC news anchor and author who wrote about what he called "The Greatest Generation" coming of age during World War II. Other speakers will include Gov. Linda Lingle; Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne; Adm. Gary Roughead, Pacific Fleet commander; and Ronald Sugar, chairman and chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman.
Pearl Harbor survivors, military and civilian leaders will be allowed to visit the memorial once the 90-minute service is over. They will take white shuttle boats to the assembly room of the memorial, which was dedicated in 1962 and was built over the sunken battleship.
Following years of tradition, this morning's service will begin with a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., when the attack began.
Overhead breaking the silence will be five F-15 Eagle jet fighters from the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Wing flying in the "missing man" formation over Ford Island.
They will be followed by a salute from the Pearl Harbor-based destroyer USS Russell, commanded by Cmdr. Brad Cooper, which will cruise past the memorial with its crew decked out in dress whites.
The ceremony will conclude with the presentation of 16 floral wreaths, seven representing the state of Hawaii, National Park Service and the five military branches; and nine representing battleships attacked in the harbor.
Other commemorative ceremonies today will be at Hickam Air Force Base to pay tribute to the 189 men who were killed there during the Japanese attack and at Kaneohe Bay to honor the 18 sailors and one civilian killed during the attack.
There are several other ceremonies, including the groundbreaking for a memorial for the battleship USS Oklahoma on Ford Island at 12:30 p.m. The Oklahoma was berthed along Ford Island on Dec. 7, 1941, and suffered the second greatest loss of life during the attack.
Also on Ford island will be the opening of the Pacific Aviation Museum. The public is invited to 11:30 a.m. ceremony, featuring guest speakers test pilot Chuck Yeager and astronaut Wally Schirra.
