Monday, December 5, 2016

The 75th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor


The 75th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Written by Mary Ellen Smith, National Vice Chair, 75th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor

December 5th 2016

In Honolulu, final preparations are being made for the 75th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor on Wednesday. This event is significant in American History because the surprise early morning aerial attack on December 7, 1941 killed or wounded 3400+ American service personnel, sunk or damaged 8 battleships, and destroyed hundreds of planes at nearby bases. After “this Day of Infamy” as President Franklin Roosevelt called it, the then neutral US Congress declared war on Japan with only one dissenting vote, and several days later, on its Axis partners Germany and Italy.
The 75th Anniversary of this event is especially poignant as it is likely to be the last commemoration to be attended by actual survivors of the event. The few remaining men are now in their mid-nineties. One who attended last year was age 102. The community will host numerous public and private events for survivors and their families, WWII veterans and the public.

Visit the Commemorative Events Committee page in the Members’ Section of the DAR website for information about the various events that will be held. These include band performances, tributes, commemorations, sunset memorials, movies on the beach, harbor tours, block parties and the interment of 2 recently deceased survivors at the USS Arizona site.

While most may be able to catch glimpses of some of these events on national news broadcasts, there will be live stream of the actual 75th National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration. You may view the live stream on Wednesday, December 7th at 7:45 AM (Hawaii Standard Time) NOTE:
This would be 9:45 AM PST and 12:45 PM EST:

This live feed of the 75th Annual Ceremony will have narration and TV hosts and will be on air 2 hours prior to the actual Remembrance Ceremony and will include historical footage of the attack and its aftermath:http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/pearlharbor

The live feed of the 75th Annual Ceremony without hosts can be found on the official Pearl Harbor 75th Anniversary site here:
http://pearlharbor75thanniversary.com/live-feed/