Pearl Harbor event in Edgewater to mark day that still lives 'in infamy'

EDGEWATER — At age 104, World War II veteran Richard Overman still recalls his wartime service with clarity, marveling at the skill, dedication and bravery of the men he met in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

“It was all about aircraft maintenance,” said Overman, who served as a first sergeant in the 35th Material Squadron in the 25th Airborne Group of the Army Air Corps. “Keep ‘em flying. In those air battles, some of those planes ended up like like a sieve, but they could take any plane and repair it. They were young guys, like myself. I was 22 years old.”

The sacrifices and accomplishments of World War II veterans will be saluted at a Pearl Harbor Day commemoration at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hawks Park in Edgewater. It will include speeches, prayers and poetry as well as music by a choir and brass band offering the official songs of the nation’s military branches to accompany the presentation of colors.

A look at a past ceremony: 'Date which will live in infamy' marked by area veterans, officials

Sponsored by AmVets Post No. 2 in Edgewater, the event has become an annual tradition to honor those who served as part of what has become known as “The Greatest Generation” to defeat the Axis alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan.

Fewer World War II vets remain

As time passes, fewer and fewer World War II veterans remain, adding urgency to each opportunity to honor them and tell their stories, said Bob Lariviere, commander of the Edgewater AmVets Post.

Dec. 7, 1941: At Pearl Harbor, there were no Democrats or Republicans. Just Americans.

Out of a membership of more than 600 military veterans and family members, only eight World War II veterans remain, he said. Some of those men will be on stage at Sunday’s event, he said.

“It’s important to see them up there, acknowledged,” Lariviere said. “The stories you will hear are so incredible. It’s important to tell these stories; you don’t want these stories to die with these people.”

One of the World War II veterans who was a force behind the annual event, Michael Visconti, died this past summer at age 98. A banner bearing his name will be stretched atop the stage at Hawks Park, Lariviere said.

When Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, 81 years ago, Visconti was a 17-year-old high school student in Milford, Connecticut.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps the next day, eventually making 200 flights over the Himalaya mountain range in B-24 Liberators shuttling supplies from Burma to China.

“I thought it was my duty to enlist for my country,” Visconti told The News-Journal in 2021.

More Pearl Harbor memories: What happened on Dec. 7, 1941: In the words of Pearl Harbor survivors

On the ground, Richard Overman and his comrades in the 35th Material Squadron were keeping those planes in the air. A resident at Brilliance Assisted Living in Edgewater, Overman said he doesn’t plan to attend Sunday’s event because bad legs limit his mobility.

He enlisted in the military to see the world, he said.

“I was a young man raised on a farm in Indiana,” Overman said. “I graduated from high school and I didn’t want to be a farmer. So, with a friend of mine from high school, we decided to enlist. We wanted to see the world.”

After training stops in Montgomery, Alabama, Orlando and Georgia, Overman’s world travels started with an 18-day trek on a ship to North Africa. From there, his unit spent time in Sicily, Rome and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

There, units were preparing for a massive air invasion of Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

“Suddenly, the war was over,” Overman said.

After 32 months of wartime service, Overman’s military career continued for another 22 years, including 10 years as a special agent in U.S. Air Force Intelligence.

“I wanted to see the world,” he said, “and I certainly got to see it.”

WWII vet: 'I couldn't wait to get in'

Another World War II veteran, Arthur Hobbs, 98, of Edgewater, also was raised on a farm.

Hobbs served during the war as an Army corporal technician in Australia and New Guinea, a tour that included stints as a combat engineer and in the infantry.

When Hobbs enlisted in 1942 at age 17, he had never ventured far from the family’s farm in rural Bellaire, Ohio. He was quickly shipped out to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training, with additional stops in San Francisco and Hampton, Virginia, before boarding a ship for Australia.

“I got out of high school on Friday and the next Monday, I was in the service,” he said. He recalls no fear about the prospects of war. “I had an older brother who was in the service and I couldn’t wait to get in and follow my big brother.”

Hobbs will be among the World War II veterans on stage on Sunday at Hawks Park, an honor that he accepts with modest appreciation.

“I didn’t know I was going to get all this recognition,” he said.

Another veteran expected to be on stage is Harry Clement, 95, of Edgewater, who served as an Army corporal and radio operator in Germany as the war was winding down. Often, his duties included helping Germans to adjust to life after the war, a role that involved providing supplies and helping them hunt for food.

Occasionally, the presence of U.S. soldiers provoked a hostile reaction, such as the time Clement was nearly run off the road by a vehicle until a woman pulled him out of its path.

“They told me, ‘If she hadn’t pulled you away, you’d be laying on the ground,’” Clement said.

WWII vets 'saved the country'

Pearl Harbor remains a seminal event in U.S. history, said Leonard Lempel, professor emeritus of history at Daytona State College.

“Going back to 1930s and the beginning of World War II, there was a lot of isolationist sentiment in the United States to stay out of the war,” Lempel said. “What Pearl Harbor did was unite the American people behind the idea that we had to get into this war.”

It’s important to acknowledge the sacrifice and accomplishments of the World War II veterans that remain as well as the history they represent, Lempel said.

“The people who fought World War II really saved the country,” Lempel said. “Not just those who fought, but those who worked in factories to produce an immense amount of weaponry and the infrastructure that kept everything going. They made sure the troops were clothed and fed. All of that took a tremendous amount of sacrifice and effort.”

If you go

What: Pearl Harbor Day event, featuring music and guest speakers including area veterans

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Hawks Park, 1108 S. Ridgewood Ave., Edgewater

Cost: Free 

Call: AmVets Post No. 2 at 386-402-7602

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Pearl Harbor Day ceremony unfolds Sunday at Hawks Park in Edgewater