HONOLULU — On Thursday, Dec. 7, the National Park Service and U.S. Navy will host the 76th Anniversary National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony to honor and remember the 2,390 American casualties lost during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and on the island of Oahu, Dec. 7, 1941.
HONOLULU — On Thursday, Dec. 7, the National Park Service and U.S. Navy will host the 76th Anniversary National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony to honor and remember the 2,390 American casualties lost during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and on the island of Oahu, Dec. 7, 1941.
The ceremony will begin at 7:50 a.m. and take place on the ceremonial lawn at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. Pearl Harbor survivors, World War II veterans, family members and local dignitaries will be in attendance. Steve Twomey, author of “Countdown to Pearl Harbor,” will deliver the keynote.
A moment of silence will be observed at 7:55 a.m., the exact moment the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. The guided missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon will render pass-in-review honors to the USS Arizona and all Pearl Harbor survivors. A missing-man flyover conducted by the 199th Fighter Squadron Hawaii Air National Guard and the 19th Fighter Squadron, U.S. Air Force, will follow.
“We are honored to welcome survivors, veterans and witnesses to this year’s ceremony,” said World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument Superintendent Jacqueline Ashwell in a press release. “As we gather together on December 7, we remember, honor and seek to understand the events that took place 76 years ago.”
This year’s theme, “Rising to the Challenge,” highlights events during the first year after the attack.
Highlights of the ceremony will also include music by the Navy’s Pacific Fleet Band, a Hawaiian blessing, wreath presentations, a rifle salute by the U.S. Marine Corps, a vintage aircraft flyover, and echo taps in recognition of the men and women who survived the attack and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country on Dec. 7, 1941.
