December 7, 2009. 68 years later, Pearl Harbor welcomed back over 35 Pearl Harbor Survivors who made their annual visit back to where they were when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and other surrounding Military installations on the island of Oahu. I was fortunate enough to snap a few pictures during the commemoration ceremony and talk with many of those who witnessed the attack a little over a week ago, and I would like to share some of those photos as well as some of the stories I heard while there.
The program kicked off with Kahu Kauila Clark giving the Hawaiian Blessing for the morning, followed by Captain Richard Kitchens, the Commanding Officer of Naval Station Pearl Harbor welcoming all those in attendance. Paul Deprey, Superintendent of the National Park Service at Pearl Harbor introduced the moment of silence, which brought a passing through of the USS Lake Erie around Ford Island.
The Hawaii Air National Guard presented the Missing Man Flyover in spectacular fashion as well, followed by a plethora of wonderful speakers and speeches, highlighted by Allen Millett, the keynote speaker who is the director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans.
The tail end of the presentation brought wreath presentations by the State of Hawai'i, the United States Armed Forces, the National Park Service and many of our Pearl Harbor Survivors in attendance-A Rifle Salute, provided by seven United States Marines, ended the program with a water tribute as well fronting the USS Arizona Memorial and Ford Island.
I was fortunate to reconnect with a good friend of Home of the Brave Tours down at the ceremony that morning. Al Bodenlos and I enjoyed a lengthy conversation about his experience that morning, where he remembered "the planes were flying so low that you could see the faces of the pilots. They shot at my shuttlebus I was on by inches, with bullets whizzing all around and everyone diving for safety into a nearby ditch." His most vivid memories of that morning were the USS Arizona blowing up and the USS Oklahoma rolling over as he helplessly watched other ships sink to the harbor floor. Al has taken our Victory Tour many times in the past and we proudly had him join us a few days after the commemoration this year as well!
