Pearl Harbor Day: US honors victims, survivors of attack on 83rd anniversary
83rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack
On a Sunday morning, 353 Japanese aircraft launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in two waves. The attack destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. warships, 300 aircraft, and killed or wounded more than 3,500 American troops and civilians. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress and the nation, asking for a declaration of war against Japan. The U.S. entered World War II within hours. Historian and Professor Alan Allport joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss the history of the tragic day.
The nation is commemorating the 83rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor Saturday to honor the victims and survivors of the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
Several ceremonies are taking place across the country in remembrance of the day, including at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Two survivors of the bombing — each 100 or older — are planning to return to Pearl Harbor to observe the anniversary of the attack that thrust the U.S. into World War II. They will join active-duty troops, veterans and members of the public for a remembrance ceremony hosted by the Navy and the National Park Service.
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A moment of silence will be held at 7:54 a.m., the same time the attack began eight decades ago. Aircraft in missing man formation are due to fly overhead to break the silence.
102-year-old U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Col. George Burson (C) and U.S. Army veteran George Arnstein (L) participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the National World War II Memorial December 7, 2023 in Washington, DC. Friends of the National World War
Dozens of survivors once joined the annual remembrance but attendance has declined as survivors have aged. Today there are only 16 still living, according to a list maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. Military historian J. Michael Wenger has estimated there were some 87,000 military personnel on Oahu on the day of the attack.
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President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Friday on National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
"On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we honor the 2,403 service members and civilians who were killed on that tragic December morning 83 years ago. And we recognize the absolute courage of the service members who, in the wake of this painful and unprovoked attack, stood up to defend democracy and stand up to fascism abroad in World War II," Biden wrote in part.
What happened at Pearl Harbor?
The day is to honor the victims and survivors of one of the worst attacks ever on American soil. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, killing 2,400 Americans and injuring an additional 1,200, on Dec. 7, 1941, the Associated Press reported.
The USS Arizona alone lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, nearly half the death toll. The battleship today sits where it sank 82 years ago, with more than 900 of its dead still entombed inside.
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Sailors jumped into the water to escape their burning ships and swam to the landing near Lee's house. Many were covered in the thick, heavy oil that coated the harbor. Lee and his mother used Fels-Naptha soap to help wash them. Sailors who were able to board small boats that shuttled them back to their vessels.
There were about 87,000 military personnel on Oahu at the time of the attack, according to a rough estimate compiled by military historian J. Michael Wenger.
Survivor recalls confusion, chaos
Wreaths across America: Live with Purpose
Wreaths Across America (WAA) is a nonprofit organization that honors veterans, active-duty military, and their families by placing wreaths on their graves. WAA's annual event is National Wreaths Across America Day, which takes place on the second or third Saturday of December. On this day, volunteers place live wreaths on the headstones of veterans at more than 3,000 locations across the United States. Renee Worcester, Secretary of Wreaths Across America, joined LiveNOW from FOX.
Bob Fernandez was working as a mess cook on his ship, the USS Curtiss, the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, and planned to go dancing that night at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.
He brought sailors coffee and food as he waited tables during breakfast. Then they heard an alarm sound. Through a porthole, Fernandez saw a plane with the red ball insignia painted on Japanese aircraft fly by.
Fernandez rushed down three decks to a magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to unlock a door storing 5-inch (12.7-centimeter), 38-caliber shells so they could begin passing them to the ship's guns.
He has told interviewers over the years that some of his fellow sailors were praying and crying as they heard gunfire up above.
"I felt kind of scared because I didn’t know what the hell was going on," Fernandez said.
The ship's guns hit a Japanese plane that crashed into one of its cranes. Shortly after, its guns hit a dive bomber which then slammed into the ship and exploded below deck, setting the hangar and main decks on fire, according to the Navy History and Heritage Command.
Fernandez's ship, the Curtiss, lost 21 men and nearly 60 of its sailors were injured.
"We lost a lot of good people, you know. They didn’t do nothing," Fernandez said. "But we never know what’s going to happen in a war."
After the attack, Fernandez had to sweep up debris. That night, he stood guard with a rifle to make sure no one tried to come aboard. When it came time to rest, he fell asleep next to where the ship’s dead were lying. He only realized that when a fellow sailor woke him up and told him.
After the war, Fernandez worked as a forklift driver at a cannery in San Leandro, California. His wife of 65 years, Mary Fernandez, died in 2014. His oldest son is now 82 and lives in Arizona. Two other sons and a stepdaughter have died.
He has traveled to Hawaii three times to participate in the Pearl Harbor remembrance. This year would have been his fourth trip, but he had to cancel because of health issues.
"I’m not a hero. I’m just nothing but an ammunition passer," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview from California, where he now lives with his nephew in Lodi.