‘Date that will live in infamy’ said Franklin D. Roosevelt after Japan attacked and killed 2390 Americans 70 years ago, but the nation of America seem to have forgotten that fateful day already, which leaves the few remaining Pearl Harbor survivors sad.
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii / NationalTurk – The old veterans of World War II and Pearl Harbor attack came Wednesday in wheelchairs and on walkers, to remember the fateful day 70 years ago when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. But Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “date that will live in infamy” is becoming a more distant memory with every passing year.
Fewer veterans who experienced the attack on Dec. 7, 1941, are alive to mark the anniversaries, and most of them are in their 90s, many prevented by health problems from traveling to the island of Hawaii. One survivors’ group said it would disband because age and infirmity made it too difficult to carry on.
America needs more faithfulness and fidelity for Pearl Harbor heroes
“People had other things that they wanted to do with the remainder of their lives,” Pearl Harbor Survivors Association President William Muehleib said. “It was time.”
The grizzly old veteran Muehleib stated local chapters of his group will function as long as they have members, but they will no longer have a formal, national organization. The association — founded in 1958 — has 2,700 members, he said. There are an estimated 7,000-8,000 Pearl Harbor survivors.
Still, the 2,390 Americans who died in the attacks are not forgotten. Besides Pearl Harbor, there are remembrances elsewhere.
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day : Fewer attendance every year
In Phoenix, the goal every year is to draw 1,177 people — the number who died on the USS Arizona — to march through the city, but organizers don’t come close to that anymore.
Just 45 people showed up last year. On Wednesday, about 300 people gathered for a mile-long pearl Harbor remembrance walk.
“As time goes by, it might actually fade. This may be the last significant anniversary when we could thank a survivor. Get out there. Get your chance to thank them,” event chairman Ben Ernyei said.
Those who made it to Pearl Harbor were treated to a hero’s reception. The 5,000 spectators whistled, shouted and applauded loudly as the 120 or so survivors stood to be recognized on the history changing day 70 years ago.
President Barack Obama hailed the veterans in a statement proclaiming Wednesday as “National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.”
“Their tenacity helped define the Greatest Generation, and their valor fortified all who served during World War II,” he said. “As a nation, we look to Dec. 7, 1941, to draw strength from the example set by these patriots and to honor all who have sacrificed for our freedoms.”
The U.S. lost 12 vessels that day, but the Arizona and the Utah are the only ones still sitting in the harbor.
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