The 80th anniversary of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day — a major milestone in history and for its dwindling survivors who are now about a century old — will be held at Pearl Harbor on Kilo Pier with the relentlessness of COVID-19 still concerning.
The sighting organized by the National Park Service and the Navy will take place at 7:45 a.m. on December 7.
“Seating at Kilo Pier will be by invitation only for the health and safety of veterans in attendance; however, the Pearl Harbor National Memorial NPS will broadcast the ceremony live from the lawn of the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center,” the park service said in a statement.
The ceremony is usually held outside the Visitor Center and is open to the public, but current coronavirus caution has resulted in it being moved to the nearby pier at the secure base.
Places at the Visitor Center will be determined through the Recreation.gov lottery. Additional information on how and when to enter the lottery will be provided at a later date, the park service said. Those with Recreation.gov lottery seats will need to show proof of their vaccination status or a negative COVD-19 test.
The sunken battleship USS Arizona lies off the Visitor Center, a nationally revered grave for eight decades for more than 900 of that ship’s 1,177 victims.
Each year, on the anniversary of the December 7, 1941, attacks on Oahu that catapulted the United States into World War II, “Pearl Harbor survivors, veterans, and visitors from around the world gather to honor and remember the 2,403 military and civilians who were killed,” the nonprofit Navy, Parks Service and Pacific Historical Parks said on the official memorial website at www.pearlharborevents.com.
Another 1,178 people were injured. Eight navy battleships were among the 18 navy ships damaged or sunk. At military bases on Oahu, 178 planes were destroyed, the groups noted.
The 80th commemoration “will tell the story of the attack on multiple fronts across the Pacific and in particular the attack on Pearl Harbor,” the groups said on the website. “The purpose of commemoration is to ensure that future generations understand the worth and legacy of those who perished and those who fought throughout the war. The commemoration also highlights the importance of peace that brought reconciliation, a reconciliation that continues to move forward today creating a better future for all.
Last year, one of two surviving ship’s bells from the battleship USS Arizona rang just once in memory of service members and civilians killed in a ceremony not attended by any World War II veterans. , nor the public, due to the virus. .
A flight of four Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters hovered over a placid Pearl Harbor – arcing high in the sky in a “missing man” formation.
“Each year we rightly honor the heroes who lost their lives on December 7, 1941,” Lou Conter, then 99, one of Arizona’s two remaining survivors, said in a recorded video presentation. from his home in Grass Valley, California.
Conter faithfully made the trip to Oahu every year that his health enabled him to remember his shipmates who died over Arizona when a Japanese aerial bomb pierced his bow and ignited the gunpowder magazines before .
Last year, COVID-19 prevented Conter and other World War II veterans from making the trip.
“For thousands of people, the first day of war was also the last day they saw it,” Conter said in the video. “The loss of these lives showed us what was at stake. At the same time, their courage ignited a spark that rallied Americans across the country and redefined the meaning of service.
Conter, now 100, had hoped to make the trip this time for the 80th, but his doctor advised against it.
Parking at the Visitor Center on Dec. 7 from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. will only be permitted to Recreation.gov lottery ticket holders. Motorists should expect traffic jams on all roads near the Pearl Harbor National Memorial on the morning of December 7.
The visitor center and parking lots will reopen to the public at 11 a.m. USS Arizona Memorial programs will run, weather and safety permitting, from noon to 2:45 p.m. Reservations through Recreation.gov will be required. A “waiting line” for available seats will not be available from December 3-7.
The USS Nevada, USS Utah and USS Oklahoma ceremonies will be open to the public, but base access is required. More information on the ceremonies can be found at pearlharborevents.com.