National Park Service Marks 74th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor

On Monday, December 7, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument and the United States Navy hosted the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The ceremony took place at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Kilo Pier, overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial.

The theme of this year’s historic commemoration, “Pathway to Reconciliation: From Engagement to Peace” focused on the rebuilding and solidifying of the friendship between the United States and Japan. The ceremony featured Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Kennedy as the keynote speaker.

Highlights of the ceremony included music by the Navy’s U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, morning colors, a Hawaiian chant, wreath presentations, a rifle salute by the U.S. Marine Corps, and echo taps in recognition of the men and women who survived the attack and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country on December 7, 1941.

This year World War II Valor in the Pacific offered a live stream of the ceremony and other December 7 events. The live stream program included a live broadcast of the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and USS Oklahoma Ceremonies, and a very special live broadcast from the USS Arizona Memorial as Pearl Harbor Survivor Joseph Langdell was interred back to the ship.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is observed annually in the United States on December 7th. Its purpose is to remember and commemorate the 2,390 American casualties who were lost during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and on the island of Oahu on 7 December 1941.