At 92, Tom Berg made the trip from his West Coast home to Oahu to join roughly 3,500 others Sunday morning at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the bombing that brought America into World War II.

A survivor of the surprise Japa­nese attack, Berg has made the trip to Oahu multiple times to participate in the annual commemoration, and plans to be at Pearl Harbor again next year.

"Absolutely," he said.

Like many of his fellow survivors, Berg, of Port Townsend, Wash., comes to the site year after year to ensure the memory of what happened on that horrific morning on Dec. 7, 1941, remains strong, especially to younger generations.

"Preserving the memory is why I’m here and why I keep coming," said Berg, a petty officer first class and fireman on the USS Tennessee when the bombs started exploding nearby. "It’s very important."

That’s also why Ewalt Shatz, 91, keeps coming.

Shatz, of Moreno Valley, Calif., was an 18-year-old sailor on the USS Patterson when the Japa­nese planes started dropping their bombs. Once he realized what was happening, Shatz immediately jumped behind a .50-caliber machine gun and started firing away.

Sunday was Shatz’s fifth commemoration.

"I think this is just what people should do," he said, explaining the significance of the event. "Keep something like this going. The greatest part is the people who are here."

Preserving the memory was the theme of Sunday’s commemoration, which was attended by 60 Pearl Harbor survivors, including four of the nine USS Arizona survivors still living.

The survivors and the more than 2,400 military and civilians who lost their lives on Oahu during the attack were honored on the back lawn of the visitor center under a clear blue sky, not unlike the conditions on the morning of the bombing. A Hawaiian blessing, a flyover by two F-22 Raptor fighter jets and a period of silence coinciding with the 7:55 a.m. start of the attack 73 years ago highlighted Sunday’s ceremony, which was broadcast live on the Web to an estimated 16 million viewers worldwide.

Gov. David Ige and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer were among the officials in attendance.

Gen. Lori J. Robinson, commander of Pacific Air Forces and the keynote speaker, emphasized the importance of the ceremony’s theme and recalled, among other events, the role played by the four Arizona survivors in attendance. She also spoke of the heroics of emergency personnel who responded to calls for help that historic day, including Hono­lulu Fire Department members who initially were sent to the scene not knowing Oahu was under attack.

After receiving an alarm at 8:05 a.m., three engine companies were dispatched to Pearl Harbor.

"Without knowing it, the Hono­lulu Fire Department was going to war," Robinson said. "Three firefighters would never return, and six others would be seriously wounded."

She also lauded retired Brig. Gen. Robert Har­da­way, who attended Sunday’s ceremony with his granddaughter, as the first physician to arrive at the hospital where the wounded were sent.

During a total blackout ordered the night of the attack, Har­da­way performed lifesaving surgery under a blanket with flashlights and ended up working 48 consecutive hours, caring for more than 100 wounded servicemen, according to Robinson.

"It is critical our nation preserves the memory of these events, not only to honor those who sacrificed so much, but to capture the stories and lessons learned," she told the crowd. "The letters, the diaries, the photographs and the interviews from this time are a national treasure. And they are used to educate, commemorate and memorialize this great nation and this greatest generation and their sacrifice. By honoring our past, we inspire our future and assure the events of this day, 73 years ago, are not forgotten."

Kailua resident Herb Weatherwax, 97, was among those listening to Robinson’s remarks.

In 1941 Weatherwax was a private with the Army’s 298th Infantry Regiment at Schofield Barracks and was on a weekend pass when he heard a radio report about Pearl Harbor being under attack. On the way back to Schofield, Weatherwax saw the destruction from the bombings at Pearl Harbor and Wheeler Army Airfield.

Weatherwax said he attends the commemoration every year and volunteers at the visitors center four times a week to help keep alive the memory of what happened.

"This is something that every American should remember," he said.

Houston resident Ervin Brody, 91, an Army infantryman at Schofield at the time of the attack, echoed Weatherwax’s sentiments.

Brody saw the Japa­nese planes as they headed to Pearl Harbor and initially thought they were part of maneuvers. Then he heard the explosions at Wheeler and later learned of the destruction at Pearl Harbor.

Commemorating such significant historical events is important, Brody said.

"The younger people should remember this."

Berg, the USS Tennessee survivor, said he was in the boiler room of his ship, tending to the equipment, when the bombs struck. One almost knocked him off his feet, and another — the main hit on the Arizona — was so strong that the concussion from the blast came down the Tennessee’s smokestacks and blew fire from the boilers, singeing the eyebrows of some of his fellow sailors.

Throughout the attack, Berg was on a headset communicating with a fellow sailor on the navigation deck, who was describing the fiery chaos in the harbor.

When Berg eventually emerged from the boiler room, he was struck by one sight: "Wounded people all over."