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Pearl Harbor recalled, 66 years later

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — A few dozen graying and wrinkled Pearl Harbor survivors observed a moment of silence on Friday in honor of their comrades who perished in the Japanese bombing of Oahu 66 years ago.

Wearing aloha shirts and orchid flower lei, the veterans stood on a pier overlooking the sunken hull of the Arizona and saluted the flag as a sailor sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”

“We’re honoring the people who were killed. We’re not here for ourselves, we’re here for them,” said George A. Smith, 83, who was on board the Oklahoma the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

Overall, 2,388 Americans died in the Dec. 7, 1941, attacks, including some 900 still entombed in the sunken Arizona.

Hawaii Air National Guard helicopters flew over the harbor in “missing man” formation in honor of those lost. B-2 stealth bombers currently deployed to Guam from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri performed an additional flyby.

Survivors of each of the nine battleships bombed in the attack took turns setting wreaths before life preservers bearing the names of their ship.

The crowd of some 2,000 family members, friends, officials and the public honored then survivors with standing ovation and several minutes of loud applause.

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Discuss: Pearl harbored recalled, 66 years later

Smith, of Olympia, Wash., was standing watch on the Oklahoma when he saw planes darting through the sky over the harbor.

“One plane came in, circled, came right down to us. The guy opened the hatch to his plane and dropped his torpedo, waved at me and took off,” Smith said. “The next thing I knew there was a big explosion.”

Smith was able to jump overboard, just avoiding being squashed by the capsizing battleship, and then swam ashore.

Smith was among 18 survivors of the Oklahoma who came to Hawaii to help dedicate a new memorial to the vessel after the main ceremony.

The Oklahoma lost 429 sailors and Marines — the second greatest loss of life among any of the battleships in Pearl Harbor.

The $1.2 million monument includes 429 white marble standards, each with the name of a fallen sailor or Marine, surrounded by black granite panels etched with a silhouette of the battleship and quotes from World War II-era figures that were selected by some of the survivors.

The Oklahoma was hit with the first torpedo of the morning assault. It capsized after being struck by eight more, trapping 400 men in its overturned hull. About 30 of the trapped men were later rescued by Pearl Harbor Navy Yard workers who hammered their way through the ship’s metal.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Tucker McHugh, who co-chaired the USS Oklahoma Memorial Committee, said he thinks the memorial will bring some sense of closure to those who survived and even to those who perished.

“I think there’s been a void in the minds and hearts of these shipmates that their shipmates were never honored with a lasting memorial,” McHugh said. “Total closure might come when the last survivor passes away and they’re all reunited together.

“Even though 429 soldiers and Marines died, I believe they’re still with us. I think they’re looking down and saying, ‘Thank you.’ ”

Retired Navy Adm. Tom Fargo, vice-chair of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund, an organization set up to raise money for a new Arizona memorial visitor’s center, said it was vital to remember the events of 66 years ago.

“We have a solemn obligation to protect and preserve for history the sacrifices and lessons of Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific for generations to come,” Fargo said.

The visitor’s center, across the harbor from the Arizona memorial itself, houses a museum and theaters where the public can learn about the attack. Visitors must stop at the center to board ferries to the memorial.

But the land underneath is sinking, creating the need for a new facility on more stable ground. The center has also run out of space because the large number of visitors — estimated at some 1.5 million annually — far exceeds what memorial operators expected when the current building opened in 1980.

Fundraisers have collected $32 million of the $50 million needed for the new center. The park service hopes to break ground next summer and complete construction about two years later.

Associated Press writer Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.