U.S. News

79th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack honored in virtual ceremony

By Daniel Uria   |   Dec. 7, 2020 at 6:52 AM
A view looking down Battleship Row at the Pearl Harbor naval base from Ford Island Naval Air Station, shortly after the Japanese torpedo plane attack on December 7, 1941. USS California is at left, listing to port after receiving two torpedo hits. In the center are USS Maryland with the capsized USS Oklahoma alongside. Most smoke is from USS Arizona. File Photo by U.S. Navy A view looking up Battleship Row on December 7, 1941, after the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. The USS Arizona is pictured at center, burning furiously. To the left of it are the USS Tennessee and the sunken USS West Virginia. File Photo by U.S. Navy A view of the Pearl Harbor Marine Barracks, taken from the Parade Ground on December 7, 1941, looking toward Battleship Row at the Hawaii naval base. Smoke in the distance is from the burning USS Arizona. Navy Yard water towers are seen at left-center, with flags flying from a signal station atop the middle one. In the center of the view, Marines are deploying a three-inch anti-aircraft gun. File Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy A view of the Parade Ground at the Pearl Harbor Marine Barracks after the Japanese aerial attack on December 7, 1941, with smoke in the background rising from burning ships. File Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Sailors stand amid wrecked planes at the Ford Island seaplane base at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. The sailors watch as the USS Shaw explodes in the center background. File Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy A view looking toward the Navy Yard from the submarine base during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. The submarine at left is the USS Narwhal and in the distance are several cruisers. Note sailors in the center foreground, wearing web pistol belts with their white uniforms. File Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy A photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the attack on Ford Island at the Pearl Harbor naval station in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The view looks about east, with the supply depot, submarine base and fuel tank farm in the right center distance.  File Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Monday marks the 79th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, the event most responsible for the U.S. entry into World War II -- but the remembrance ceremony will be virtual this year due to COVID-19.

Officials have decided against the usual in-person event featuring surviving veterans, many of whom are now close to 100 years old. Instead, there will be a live streamed event with no public attendance, beginning at 8 a.m. HST (1 p.m. EST).

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"Out of an abundance of caution, we will not have WWII veterans at the ceremony but are ensuring they all have the information to view it virtually," said Lydia Robertson, a spokeswoman for Navy Region Hawaii.

The ceremony will honor the 2,400 service members and civilians who died during the surprise Japanese attack on the island of Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941. Another 1,200 were injured in the strikes, which also destroyed close to 200 aircraft and famously sank multiple battleships -- including the USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS West Virginia and USS California -- and spurred the United States to enter World War II.

"Huge fires were raging at Pearl Harbor at 1:10 this afternoon and five Navy vessels appeared to have been destroyed in the air raids. One ship had turned over on its side," UPI reported on the day of the attack. "The base itself apparently was extensively damaged in the raids and great clouds of smoke rose above it."

The following day, Dec. 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous address to a joint session of Congress in which he said Dec. 7 "is a date which will live in infamy."

"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan," he declared, as reported by UPI that day.

"I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again."

The theme for the 2020 event is "Above and Beyond the Call" with a focus on "Battlefield Oahu."

Five survivors will be granted priority access to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, along with four family members, after the ceremony ends. Robertson said officials had come up with "another way for them to be out at the site and to have their private moment."

In observance of the anniversary, several state governors issued orders for state and U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff on Monday. Next year will be the event's 80th anniversary.