This Sunday marks National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, which is observed annually on December 7th to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor and to honor the 2,403 American victims. 

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked a United States Naval Station near Honolulu, Hawaii, causing mass destruction of naval apparatus and of course, taking many lives.

A further 1,178 people were injured in the attack, which permanently sank two U.S. Navy battleships (the USS Arizona and the USS Utah) and destroyed 188 aircraft.

The following day, December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan, thus entering World War II.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the bombing of Pearl Harbor “a date which will live in infamy.”

The famed speech, which Roosevelt gave in front of Congress, goes down in history as one of the most impactful speeches. 

It was broadcast live by radio and attracted the largest audience in American radio history, and served to unite the country. 

A National Park stands at the site today. This year’s National Remembrance Day ceremony at the park will have the theme of “Building Pathways to Peace”. It highlights the importance of remembering the past and a moment when peace was taken away.

In 2016, the Sullivan County Democrat published a 75th Anniversary Edition on Pearl Harbor, highlighting 12 local heroes who fought in the Second World War.

Sadly, many of those heroes are now deceased, as the number of living World War II veterans diminishes by 131 every day.

Numbers show that of the 16 million men and women who served in WWII, only about 119,000 are still alive today. 

It certainly was a call to arms the likes of which our country has never seen.

On this 84th anniversary, we honor and remember the victims, survivors and veterans from this monumental time in U.S. history. You all are certainly part of America’s “Greatest Generation.”