SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox ordered the United States flag and the Utah State Flag to be flown at half-staff at all state facilities in honor of the 82nd anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese forces carried out a devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. military naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack destroyed or damaged nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships and over 300 airplanes, according to History.com.

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More than 2,400 Americans, including civilians, were killed in the attack. Another 1,100 were wounded.

Then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that it was “a date which will live in infamy” during a joint session of U.S. Congress the day following the attack. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan to “make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.”

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Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war on Japan less than an hour later, officially entering the United States into World War II.

Flags at state facilities across Utah will be lowered to the half-staff position beginning at midnight on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, per Gov. Cox’s order. Flags will remain at half-staff until midnight on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, when they will be raised again.

While the order only applies officially to state facilities, Cox invites all private citizens, businesses and other organizations to participate in the day of remembrance for Pearl Harbor by lowering their flags as well.

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