Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day held in Edgewater
EDGEWATER ― Deidre Kelley spared no details of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 82 years ago.
She described bombs blowing up ships, maiming and killing sailors, how Japanese airplanes strafed vessels killing and injuring U.S. servicemen, and how many drowned when their battleships sank in the harbor.
Kelley is the president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. Her father, Robert E. Stegall, was an airplane mechanic in the U.S. Navy during the Dec. 7 attack. Kelley was the guest speaker at a Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance ceremony held at Hawk Park in Edgewater on Sunday.
'I need to remind people that this could happen again'
Why present such a vivid and impacting account of the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor that President Franklin Roosevelt said was a "date which will live in infamy?"
"It is very important because considering what's going on in the world today, I need to remind people that this could happen again," Kelley said. "It could happen anywhere, anytime and it will impact America tremendously, and its important to remind people that this was not a single event, that this event occurred again on Sept. 11 and it can occur again."
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Nearly 100 attendents at the ceremony listened attentively as Kelley narrated the events that occurred at Pearl Harbor more than eight decades ago.
And Kelley is passionate about keeping those memories alive.
"I am just constantly overwhelmed by what occurred, and why it occurred, and probably it may have occurred anyway but it would not have been as devastating if we were prepared. And we were not prepared," she said.
Bombs fall at breakfast
Kelley's father, who was stationed at Ford Island in the center of Pearl Harbor, had just finished night duty and was having breakfast when the Japanese dropped their bombs.
"He was actually eating breakfast in Pearl City overlooking the harbor when the attack came," an emotional Kelley recalled her father telling her.
Japanese airplanes strafed the island, and destroyed her father's brand new car. He realized they were under attack and ran out to see what he could do, she said.
"He ran out and got as close to the harbor as he can, he was looking for an armory where he could get a gun and start shooting at the airplanes that were flying overhead," Kelley said.
The Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day organized by members of AMVETS Post 2 also honored event founder Michael Viconti, a World War II veteran.
Members of the Girls Scouts participated in escorting veterans and ceremoniously presenting the flags of the various branches of the U.S. armed services.
'Learn to honor your country and respect what you have'
Vietnam veterans were also present at the ceremonies, as was Korean War veteran John Vevel, 90, of Edgewater.
Vevel stood at attention as the national anthem played. After the ceremony, he said remembering Pearl Harbor keeps the event alive in the minds of those whose families died in the attack. But more importantly, remembering the day gives the younger generation a clue as to why they should be grateful for the freedoms they enjoy.
His message to the youth: "Learn to honor your country and respect what you have. We have peace, so much more than what the other countries have," Vevel said.
"It is very important to keep Pearl Harbor day alive because without (those who died in the attack), our country wouldn't be here."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida veterans remember Pearl Harbor attack with ceremony
