At least 30 survivors, and more than 120 World War II veterans, will be attending the 80th commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
Due to COVID-19, last year’s ceremony was the first time none of the survivors could attend the event.
The National Park Service says this year’s ceremony is invite-only in order to observe COVID safety guidelines. But this year is one of the most important for organizers.
"We may never have a chance to do this again. I mean, I hate to bring up their advanced age, but that’s the simple fact," said Jim Neuman, a historian with Navy Region Hawaiʻi. "These veterans are in their late 90s, some 100 years old, and we never know when we’re going to have a chance to do this again."
"And because they typically come out in the milestone years, we may never see them coming in from the mainland. They want to be here. They want to come to Pearl Harbor for this event, and we want to welcome them. And to honor them in person like this is priceless to us," Neuman said.
The event will be live-streamed at pearlharborevents.com. The Dec. 7 event starts at 7:40 a.m.
