Pearl Harbor: Never Forget

Survivors gather to share experiences knowing their time is short

EVERY five years, Joseph Mariani returns to where the rest of his life began -- at Pearl Harbor.

But the reality of his 86 years of life makes him suspect it'll be his last visit to the famed harbor, the resting place of thousands of sailors after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack from Japan.

Yesterday, with nearly 5,000 people gathered to honor the sacrifices and the lessons learned from the Japanese attack 65 years ago at Pearl Harbor, Mariani looked around him, and saw fellow survivors in wheelchairs, in walkers, holding canes and looking more helpless than they did on the day of infamy.

"I think this is our last go around," said Mariani, who was a boatswain second class on the USS California, which sunk during the attack. He was among about 400 survivors of the attack who attended the ceremony at Kilo Pier.

For nearly a week Pearl Harbor survivors have been meeting throughout Oahu swapping stories with friends, family members and anyone else willing to hear their story. With so many of them too frail to travel, especially those who survived the bombing of the battleship Arizona, this week's reunion could be their last gathering.

All of the Pearl Harbor survivors and the 1,500 family members and friends who escorted them were given lavender orchid leis as they entered the commemoration site, some arriving as early as 6:30 a.m.

Douglas Lentz, superintendent of the USS Arizona Memorial, drew applause when he told the crowd that lessons of Pearl Harbor would never be forgotten.

"Havoc, death and destruction would become the order of the day," Lentz said.

"It is our duty, our trust to remember Pearl Harbor," added Lentz, drawing more applause. "Pearl Harbor survivors we will not let you down."

Speaking in Japanese, the Rev. Clara Fukuma of the Japan Religious Committee for World Federation delivered a prayer in which she said, "Let the world become truly peaceful and all mankind happy."

Gov. Linda Lingle said the veterans of the Pearl Harbor attack are the country's "respected elders -- our kupunas."

FOLLOWING years of tradition, yesterday's service began with a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., when the attack started. Overhead breaking the silence were the roar of the jet engines of five F-15 Eagle jet fighters from the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Wing flying in the "missing man" formation.

Pearl Harbor survivors and key military and civilian leaders were allowed to visit the memorial once the service was over.

Other commemorative ceremonies were held 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.

Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Gary Roughead noted that "each year, fewer heroes assemble here," but dignitaries assured stories like Mariani's would never be forgotten.

Then 21 years old, the Pennsylvania-born Mariani was in his skivvies when his ship was torpedoed. Amid flying bullets, he headed toward an anti-aircraft gun, which jammed.

His division, which was in charge of the guns, formed a line below the deck to pass up ammunition. When a bomb set off an ammunition magazine, Mariani found himself covered in blood, and trapped below the deck. About 50 people died in that incident, he said.

A sailor, "whom I never saw again," hoisted Mariani up through the bomb hole. He jumped ship, swam to shore and watched his ship sink.

It wasn't until a month later when his parents were told that he wasn't dead. Mariani said the confusion after the attack, on top of him leaving all of his belongings and identification on the ship, led the military to send his parents a telegram, informing them of their dead son.

It was a horror he never wished upon his parents, and Mariani said he feels for families of the casualties of the Iraqi conflict.

Tom Brokaw, former NBC anchor and yesterday's keynote speaker, said, "You can hate the war, but you must always honor the warrior."

Despite that line being the only apparent reference made to the current conflict in Iraq, the parallels did not escape 86-year-old survivor Arnie Schwichtenberg, who was on the destroyer USS Trever as a fireman.

"I don't know whether the American people understand we're at war right now," he said. "We're so wrapped up in our own lives."

THE TREVER sortied out to sea, and Schwichtenberg watched the spectacle from her deck. But rather than dwell on the past or the current conflict, he prefers to watch the Hawaii sunsets.

Yesterday was his 22nd visit to the islands since the attack, and his family has always seen the trips as vacations.

"Do you know how far Hawaii is from New Jersey for a fella in the 1930s?" he asked. "This was like heaven -- great weather, all the good looking gals, good food."

His family, spanning three generations with 20 members present yesterday, has gone swimming, partied at luaus and played golf. Today, they go deep-sea fishing.

"How can one guy be this lucky?" he asked as he fought back tears and looked upon his family.

But for his 35-year-old daughter Arlilla Bueno, it's become a more somber tradition. She's been attending Pearl Harbor ceremonies since she was 6, and over time she grew close with many of the survivors.

Year after year, she sees their numbers dwindle as they die, and Bueno's loss becomes more personal than others who admire the survivors for their heroism.

"I mean, I grew up with these guys, hearing their stories," Bueno said. "It's a loss of childhood heroes, and friends."

Several hundred people paid their respects at the Arizona Memorial after the ceremony, laying wreaths and singing chants. Among them was Hiroya Sugano, who approached the shrine clutching a canteen with the impression of someone's hand on it.

The canteen once belonged to the pilot of a B-29 bomber who attacked Shizuoka City after Pearl Harbor was attacked. The pilot's vehicle had a mid-air collision, and the canteen was retrieved by Fukumatsu Itoh, who later arranged U.S.-Japan memorial services in Japan.

Sugano, who survived the Shizuoka attack, worked with Itoh on the memorial services, and inherited the canteen after Itoh died. Sugano has often held one-man memorial services by pouring water from the canteen into the waters where the Arizona rests.

Sugano said race, hatred and politics should be ignored when paying respects. Echoing Brokaw's statements, he said veterans who dedicate their life and soul to their country should always be honored.

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