Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day: We must not forget, say organizers
Dec. 7—As organizer Marc Sandall began Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremonies at Jastro Park on Thursday, he informed the modest crowd that at that moment, exactly 82 years before, the Imperial Japanese Navy's surprise attack on the U.S. fleet in Hawaii had begun.
"If you will take a moment, about 30 seconds of your morning ... we're going to have a moment of silence for those who never came back," Sandall said.
Indeed, the peace of that beautiful Sunday morning on Dec. 7, 1941, was shattered by the screaming whine of Japanese dive bombers and the fearsome thunder of enemy Zeros strafing scattering servicemen and targeting battleships resting at anchor in the tropical sun.
When the attack was over, more than 2,400 Americans lay dead and a large portion of the Pacific fleet was left damaged or destroyed.
On one battleship alone, the USS Arizona, 1,177 men perished when the hulking vessel sank in minutes. At nearby Hickam Field and other air bases, 347 aircraft were damaged or destroyed, most without ever leaving the tarmac.
Across the United States, millions of Americans were suddenly shaken from their support of an isolationist foreign policy, a legacy of the horror and perceived meaninglessness of the First World War. The attack on Pearl Harbor would inspire a national commitment to fight and win this second global war.
Thursday, Sandall said, was about honoring those who were lost that day.
We cannot forget, he said. We must not forget.
Held in front of the Kern County World War II Veterans Memorial, the ceremony began with a prayer read by the Rev. John Heath, a rendition of the national anthem sung by Mike Lynch, and the laying of a wreath by Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh and Honor Flight Kern County founder Lili Marsh.
