Some 82 years ago, then-President Franklin Roosevelt described a deadly attack on a United States military base in Hawaii as “a day that will live in infamy.” Today, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is observed in honor of the more than 2,400 Americans killed when Japanese fighter planes attacked.
Today, there are very few veterans still alive who were in the military during the events at Pearl Harbor. But many people can remember their parents, grandparents or friends recounting their experiences.
Take Raymond L. Collins, an Atlanta-area Vietnam veteran who didn’t think he’d live to be 30. A former Marine who retired as a lieutenant colonel, he is now 85 and counts himself among the old veterans who never forget.
Collins was stationed at Hawaii’s Camp Smith for several years and remembers the camp’s beautiful view of Pearl Harbor of the 1970s. He said he worked for a short time for former Vice President John McCain’s father, who was over the Pacific command there.
Although nearly a generation had passed since the attacks, tensions remained.
“We always saw the reminder,” Collins said of the military members stationed there. “We visited the memorials on a regular basis and paid our respects.”
Pearl Harbor continues to be an active U.S. naval base near Honolulu, and annual remembrances are held there as observers remember the attacks that killed 2,400 Americans, injured more than 1,000 and damaged or destroyed around 20 American naval vessels – including the USS Arizona and USS Utah – and nearly 200 airplanes.
The Pearl Harbor attack led to the United States declaring war on Japan and becoming involved in World War II. For many years, Pearl Harbor Day held personal significance for much of the country – just like generations today remember the events of Sept. 11, 2001. But as the numbers of World War II veterans has dropped to only thousands, Pearl Harbor has receded and become just another chapter in history.
Drew Keenan, commander of VFW Post 2681 in Marietta, said it’s important to continue to draw lessons from that momentous day. He said the post observes Pearl Harbor Day with a ceremony every Dec. 7.
Keenan served in both the Navy and the Marines, and his father was a World War II veteran. At one point, the younger Keenan was head of the Veterans Oral History Project for the Library of Congress and the first person he interviewed was a World War II submariner who happened to be on the same vessel as his dad – the USS Chub.
Keenan remembers his father describing the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. His father, James, was 15 years old when his father heard the news come over the radio. His mother dropped her cooking to hear what had happened.
“I remember my dad being angry,” Keenan said. “He always remembered the terrified look on his mother’s face, and the next day he went down and joined the Army.”
Officials soon discovered Keenan was underage and released him from service, but he managed to eventually join the Navy and served on a submarine. He stayed in until the war was over.
Keenan said people can become students of history and look at Pearl Harbor today with an eye toward heeding its warnings.
“It’s interesting that we were very complacent prior to World War II,” he said. “History has a way of repeating itself … The farther back you look, the further forward you see.”
Collins, who has lived in the Atlanta area since 1987 and is a member of the Marine Corps League in Woodstock and a member of local chapters of the American Legion and VFW, said many military-oriented organizations continue to hold ceremonies on Pearl Harbor Day. In the past, Collins has joined other military veterans for a small group service in front of the Atlanta History Center where they meet in front of the World War II memorial and remember those who lost their lives.
“All these organizations that I belong to bend over backwards in remembering Pearl Harbor and 9/11 and other major events,” Collins said. “These old veterans never forget. You can look them in the eyes, and you see the history there in their eyes.”