We’re privileged to live near hallowed ground: the battleground where 2,000 Americans lost their lives on December 7, 1941 during the attack on the military bases on Oahu. It’s humbling to live and work in a place where the history is never locked away in a book or museum, but part of our everyday lives.
Each morning I climb the stairs to my office in Building 1102 at Hickam Field past the scars of that day. In those days, what is now the headquarters of the US Pacific Air Forces was the barracks for the Airmen of the Hawaiian Air Force. One hundred eighty-nine men lost their lives in my building, another 303 were wounded. I remember them each time I see the bullet holes in the stairsand the walls outside. Seeing those battle scars everyday is a constant reminder of the importance of the work we do to keep the peace in the Pacific.
Technology allows us to participate in the remembrance ceremonies, even from far away.
The National Park Service and the U.S. Navy will host a joint memorial ceremony commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7, 2014 on the main lawn of the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, looking directly out to the USS Arizona Memorial, at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.
Follow the remembrance ceremony live on the Web.
This Pearl Harbor Day, pause a moment and remember the heroes of December 7th and all our World War II veterans. May the fallen rest in peace, and the veterans enjoy the peace so dearly bought and bravely won.