Local News

PHOTOS: Aging Survivors Return To Pearl Harbor, Recall '41 Attack

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By The Associated Press

Published December 8, 2019 at 7:38 AM HST

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U.S. Marines stand in front of the USS Missouri during a ceremony to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019.

Caleb Jones/AP

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Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Don Long listens during a ceremony to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday Dec. 7, 2019.

Caleb Jones/AP

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U.S. Marines stand in front of the USS Missouri during a ceremony to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 at Pearl Harbor.

Caleb Jones/AP

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Pearl Harbor survivors and active military members stand on stage during a ceremony to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

Caleb Jones/AP

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Marine Cpl. Zachariah Jeavons, 22, of Binghamton, N.Y., meets Pearl Harbor survivor Lou Conter, 98, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked in 1941, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 at Pearl Harbor.

Caleb Jones/AP

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A U.S. Navy sailor plays during a ceremony to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 at Pearl Harbor.

Caleb Jones/AP

A dozen frail survivors of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor returned Saturday to honor those who perished when Japanese planes pierced a quiet sunny morning and rained bombs on battleships below.

Some 2,000 members of the public joined the survivors, the youngest of whom are now in their late 90s, to commemorate the anniversary of the attack that launched the U.S. into World War II.

Lou Conter was the only survivor from the USS Arizona to make it to this year’s ceremony. The 98-year-old said it’s good to come back and pay respect to those who died.