With an eye on the immediate aftermath of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of World War II veterans and other observers are expected tomorrow to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the devastating Japanese military raid.

The theme of the event — “;Pacific War Memories: The Heroic Response to Pearl Harbor”; — is a departure from past observances.

Usually, the commemoration focused on the attack on the USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor and several other installations on Oahu. But this year, the focus will center more on the months following the raid, said Eileen Martinez, chief of interpretation for the National Park Service.

“;We're moving into the Pacific War, the first strike back,”; she said.

To that end, one of two keynote speakers will be Thomas Griffin, a surviving member of the pilots and crew who answered the Pearl Harbor attack four months later with an aircraft carrier-launched bomber raid on Tokyo.

The B-25 mission, led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle, inflicted little damage to Japan but boosted morale in America and led the embarrassed Japanese government to launch what turned out to be an ill-fated attack on Midway Island.

The other keynote address will be delivered by Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Yesterday, President Bush designated five Pearl Harbor sites, three sites in Alaska and one in California to be part of a new World War II Valor in Pacific National Monument “;to remind generations of Americans of the sacrifices that Americans made to protect our country.”;

The five Pearl Harbor sites are the USS Arizona Memorial and Visitor Center, the USS Utah Memorial, the USS Oklahoma Memorial, six Chief Petty Officer Bungalows on Ford Island, and the Battleship Row mooring quays F6, F7 and F8.

Bush and Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle both declared tomorrow “;National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.”;

On Dec. 7, 1941, 350 Japanese bombers and fighters flew over Pearl Harbor, dropping aerial bombs and torpedoes that sank 12 naval vessels and heavily damaged nine others. More than 320 aircraft were destroyed or severely damaged.

The Arizona, which sank in less than nine minutes after an armor-piercing bomb breached its deck and exploded in the ship's ammunition magazine, lost the most of any vessel: 1,177 sailors and Marines, or 80 percent of its crew. Almost 340 survived.

Several other major installations were attacked that day as well, including Wheeler Field and Kaneohe Naval Air Station.

Almost 2,400 Americans were killed and nearly 1,180 were injured. Some 54 Japanese, mostly crew members of the attacking planes, died in the operation.

Tomorrow's commemoration will feature the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, morning colors, a Hawaiian blessing, a rifle salute by members of the U.S. Marine Corps and a recognition of those who survived the attack.

At 7:55 a.m., when the attack began 67 years ago, a moment of silence will be observed. The USS Chung-Hoon, an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer, will render honors to the USS Arizona. Military aircraft will fly over in a “;missing man”; formation.

The ceremony comes a few weeks after construction began on a new visitor center for the USS Arizona Memorial. The existing center, which was built 28 years ago on reclaimed land, is sinking and will be unusable in a few years.

Instead, the event will be held a half-mile away at Kilo Pier of Naval Station Pearl Harbor, the site for next year's commemoration as well. The grand opening of the new visitor's center is scheduled for Dec. 7, 2010.