US Marks 81st Anniversary of Pearl Harbor

By Matis Glenn

Wednesday marks the 81st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, known as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. On December 7, 1941, Japanese bomber planes launched a surprise attack on the US naval base in Hawaii, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 2,400 US soldiers, and left 1,100 injured, according to the US National Park Service. Two US Navy battleships, the USS Arizona and the USS Utah, were destroyed as well.

Every year on December 7, survivors of the attack, which caused the United States to enter World War II, gather in Hawaii to commemorate what President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously called a “day which will live in infamy.” A moment of silence is made at 7:55AM, the exact minute the Japanese attacked.

Nationwide, US flags are held at half-mast.

This year, fewer than a dozen survivors came to Hawaii, as the number of World War II veterans still alive has dwindled.

The youngest active-duty soldiers at the time would have been about 17, making them 98 this year.

“On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we honor those whose lives were cut short that tragic morning,” President Joe Biden said on social media. “And we reflect on the resilience of our Armed Forces who withstood the attack and built the most capable fighting force in the world. We do not break and we never back down.”