ST. GEORGE — To recognize those who perished in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, American Legion Post 90 will host a mostly silent wreath-laying ceremony at St. George’s Tonaquint Cemetery on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 10:48 a.m. — the exact time of the attack 81 years ago.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony.
“The Pearl Harbor attack was a pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” said Bennett Navarro, Commander of American Legion Post 90 in St. George, in a news release. “It tested whether or not our country would answer the call when the future of our freedom and liberty were at stake.
“We’re gathering to honor the courage of those who fought back on that December day in Hawaii and to remember those who lost their lives.”
Described by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as, “a date which will live in infamy,” Japan’s attack of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, plunged America into World War II. The losses were devastating. It was a tragedy that left 2,403 killed and 1,178 wounded, along with four American battleships sunk and nearly 350 aircraft damaged or destroyed.
Those who fought back demonstrated the resolve and character that would come to embody U.S. service members of the Greatest Generation. Fifteen Medals of Honor were awarded, as well as 51 Navy Crosses and 53 Silver Stars.
While there are no known Pearl Harbor survivors living in St. George, veterans from several different branches of military service from throughout the community will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony, the news release said.
Click here for more information about Post 90.
For the United States, World War II had begun. The fate of the free world hung in the balance during what Roosevelt called “the mighty endeavor.”
The war touched every American. Towns throughout the United States sent their young men to battle all over the world to fight a tenacious enemy, the news release said.
Americans faced combat in the fetid jungles of Guadalcanal and New Guinea, the mud and mountains of Italy, the palm-tree-laden nightmare of Tarawa, the beaches of Normandy and sulfuric sands of Iwo Jima. Allied forces actively fought for 44 months before securing the unconditional surrenders of Axis forces Italy, Germany and Japan.
According to the press release:
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans.