The National Park Service and the United States Navy will host the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony Dec. 7 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The National Park Service and the United States Navy will host the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony Dec. 7 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is observed annually in the United States on Dec. 7. Its purpose is to remember and commemorate the 2,390 American lives lost during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941. Congress designated Dec. 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in 1994. It is tradition to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff to honor the dead.
The ceremony will be attended by more than 3,000 guests, including Pearl Harbor Survivors and World War II veterans. The ceremony will be broadcast live via webcast so that those who cannot travel to Hawaii can participate. The webcast at www.pearlharborevents.com will include a special behind-the-scenes look at the ceremony and will feature oral history interviews with Pearl Harbor Survivors and World War II veterans and a live chat.
Keynote speaker for this year’s ceremony is Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Kennedy. The event will also include music by the Navy’s U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, morning colors, a Hawaiian chant, a rifle salute by the U.S. Marine Corps, wreath presentations, and echo taps in recognition of the men and women who survived the attack and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in 1941.
A moment of silence will be observed at 7:55 a.m., which is when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. The guided missile destroyer USS Preble will render pass-in-review honors to the USS Arizona and all survivors. A missing man flyover is also planned.