Survivors of Pearl Harbor Observe 51st Anniversary

In ceremonies across the nation, survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor recalled the horror they felt as they watched Japanese bombs claim the lives of those around them 51 years ago Monday.

Adm. Robert J. Kelly, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, told those gathered at the Battleship Arizona Memorial in Hawaii that the most important lesson from Pearl Harbor is that being prepared to defend freedom is the best way to preserve peace.

“At no time is this more relevant than at this very moment,” he said. “Encouraging as it is, the world is still very much unsettled, and dangerous.”

His talk was followed by a minute’s silence, broken by a fly-over by Hawaii Air National Guard jets.

This year’s ceremonies were low-key compared to last year’s 50th anniversary observance, which included a visit by President Bush. Bush this year laid a wreath at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, saying: “On that long ago day of infamy, brave boys became men, and brave men became heroes.”

The President announced that two new ships will be named in honor of the dead at Pearl Harbor. A destroyer will be named the Ross for Capt. Donald Ross, a Medal of Honor winner at Pearl Harbor. The second vessel, an amphibious dock landing ship to be called the Pearl Harbor, “is in a sense named for all who fought at Pearl Harbor, indeed for the entire generation of young men and women who entered the service inspired by the heroism of that day,” Bush said.

About 720 people attended the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn. national convention in Little Rock, Ark., and two dozen men, some shivering from freezing temperatures at Denver’s memorial, others trembling from age and poor health, thanked God that they survived the attack and prayed for the safety of Somalia-bound U.S. troops.