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Local Veterans Honor Pearl Harbor Day With Ceremony At Falls Mill Bridge
By: WOUB Contributing Writer
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At least two dozen people visited the Falls Mill Bridge in Logan Saturday afternoon to pay tribute to those killed 72 years ago in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that launched the U.S. into World War II.
First Sgt. Mike Menrath served as the guest speaker at the event, while Drew Rolston served as the chaplain.
A wreath was placed in the Hocking River by Fred James, a retired Navy veteran and commander of the American Legion, to memorialize the occasion.
Logan High School students Tyler Bowlby and Riley Kelch performed “Taps” to a somber crowd overlooking the Hocking River, and the Hocking County Honor Guard fired three volleys into the air.
In Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2,500 people gathered for a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the minute the bombing started 72 years ago.
A vintage World War II-era airplane — a 1944 North American SNJ-5B — flew overhead to break the silence.
The Hawaii Air National Guard has used its fighter jets and helicopters to perform the flyover for many years, but federal budget cuts prevented it from participating this year.
About 50 survivors returned to Pearl Harbor for the ceremony.
“I come back to be with my comrades — meet the ones who are still alive, and we’re going fast,” said Delton Walling, who was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania at the time of the attack.
The Navy and National Park Service co-hosted the ceremony, which was open to the public.
Their theme for the event, “Sound the Alarm,” explores how Americans answered a call to duty in the wake of the attack.
The current U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., said the U.S. remembers the warning from those who survived.
Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia delivered the keynote address.
The Vietnam War veteran is currently secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, which is responsible for managing overseas cemeteries for fallen American troops.
Later in the day, Pearl Harbor survivors joined military and government officials in a parade through Waikiki.
This article was contributed by Brenda Mankin – the Logan Daily News
The Associated Press contributed to this report.