Hillsborough County reflects on 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor

People from across the country gathered Wednesday to remember the loss of life and the start of a war that changed the world.

The observance held each year is to remember the events of December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked the U.S. Pearl Harbor Naval Station in Honululu, Hawaii.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, veterans laid a wreath in front of the memorial.

“Just out of the blue the Japanese blew Pearl Harbor away”, the 92 year old said.

There were similar ceremonies across the state including one at the mast of the USS West Virginia on the WVU campus in Morgantown.

“After about 10 days, I finally got a telegram from my parents that said ‘Are you OK?’ So I sent another telegram that said ‘No bones”. “I was on the boat deck and I saw the first Japanese plane come over”.

Seventy-five years on and President Barack Obama said that today’s friendship between the two nations is a testament that even the most bitter of adversaries can become the closest of allies. About half of the causalities occurred on the USS Arizona.

The ship still lies upright on the sea floor, a national cemetery to the 1100 crew who died.

“When you teach adolescents about this, you hope they will be in a position to prevent catastrophic events such as this”, said Fidrych.

More than 3500 Americans were killed or injured, 350 aircraft was destroyed or damaged and 8 battleships were sunk or damaged.

“I’m no hero. I didn’t do any heroic things. It didn’t do any good, but it made me feel a lot better”, said Groff. “I wasn’t there during the time of the attack, but we got there sometime after”.

Though three-quarters of a century have passed since the attack, Ballard said remembering Pearl Harbor remains an opportunity to honor veterans past and present.