The annual reflection on Japan’s surprise attack on Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 — a cataclysmic event that triggered America’s involvement in World War II — is usually livestreamed from Pearl Harbor.
But this year, due to COVID-19, the 79th observance was broadcast for the first time without a critical presence: that of the aging eyewitnesses and other veterans who are able to relate firsthand the peril and uncertainty that the Unites States endured on Oahu and during the war years.
Nor were any members of the public on hand. Last year a dozen stooped Dec. 7 survivors, about 30 other World War II veterans and some 2,000 members of the public attended the commemoration on the back lawn of the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center.
>> PHOTOS: 79th Pearl Harbor attack commemoration goes virtual due to COVID-19
“Over the last few months, as we watched the pandemic get worse, we slowly dialed back on the on-site footprint of this ceremony for the sake of safety,” Scott Burch, acting superintendent of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, said in his remarks.
Instead of a public event, Monday’s ceremony, which included several speakers, was livestreamed from Contemplation Circle on the visitor center grounds. A series of virtual public programs including “untold stories” from World War II was offered leading up to the anniversary.
“I think what we see today here is the resolve despite a pandemic for us to be able to pay our respects and thank the Greatest Generation,” said Adm. John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Lou Conter, 99, one of two remaining USS Arizona survivors, was able to represent fellow war veterans — also virtually.
“Every year we rightfully honor the heroes who lost their lives on Dec. 7, 1941,” Conter said in a prerecorded video presentation from his home in Grass Valley, Calif. “Over the course of two hours, more than 2,400 servicemen and civilians were killed.”
Conter faithfully makes the trip out to Oahu every year that his health allows to remember the 1,177 shipmates who went down on the Arizona when a Japanese aerial bomb pierced the bow of the ship and ignited the forward gunpowder magazines.
He wasn’t able to come this year. But he’s already vowed to return when he’s 100.
“For thousands of people, the first day of the war was also the last day they saw of it,” Conter said. “The loss of those lives showed us what was at stake. At the same time, their courage ignited a spark that rallied Americans all across the country and redefined the meaning of service.”
Conter said it was his “distinct honor” to talk about fellow World War II veterans as images of unnamed wartime service members cycled through the video.
“Each of us bears a unique story,” he said. “Some of us were drafted. Many of us volunteered. Some people had to fight for the right to serve or even prove their loyalty.”
But they all share one thing in common: “Dec. 7, 1941, changed our lives,” Conter said. “Not just for those of us on the USS Arizona or in Pearl Harbor, but throughout the U.S.”
At 7:55 a.m., the approximate time when Japanese warplanes dropped out of the sky to attack Oahu, a moment of silence was held at the visitor center.
One of two surviving ship bells from the battleship USS Arizona was tolled a single time in memory of the 2,403 military members and civilians killed that day.
A flight of four Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters roared over a placid Pearl Harbor — with one arcing high into the sky in a “missing man” formation.
Rear Adm. Robert Chadwick, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, noted the diminished observance due to COVID-19 concerns.
“I’d like to offer my sincere regrets and most heartfelt aloha to the Pearl Harbor survivors and the other World War II veterans who could not join us here today,” he said during his remarks. “So to the warrior community of that group that we fondly refer to as the Greatest Generation — while you are not here physically, I can assure you you are here in our hearts, in our thoughts and in our gratitude.”
The Pearl Harbor destroyer USS Michael Murphy, a huge U.S. flag flying, conducted a pass-in-review rendering honors to the sunken Arizona and Pearl Harbor survivors and World War II veterans.
The Michael Murphy was itself recently hit with a COVID-19 outbreak that afflicted nearly a quarter of its approximately 300 crew, but ship personnel were able to bounce back in relatively short order, the Navy previously said.
This year’s theme was “Above and Beyond the Call” and focused on “Battlefield Oahu” and the fact that Dec. 7, 1941, encompassed the entire island of Oahu.
The Navy noted that it lost 1,999 sailors, the Marines 109, Army 16 and Air Force, then the Army Air Forces, 217 lives, with the civilian toll at 49 — totals that vary by source. The ceremony included a Marine Corps rifle salute and taps.
About five local World War II veterans and their families were expected to be given boat tours out to the Arizona Memorial after the ceremony — with a single family of up to five occupying a 150-person boat to protect against the virus.
Only five public programs — including the boat trip to the memorial — were to be offered afterward on the half-hour, with each boat limited to 50 people.
An annual U.S.-Japanese joint Pearl Harbor ceremony recognizing the loss of not only American lives, but also the 65 Japanese whose lives were lost at Pearl Harbor, will be held today, meanwhile, with very limited attendance due to COVID-19.
The ceremony is held on Ford Island within close proximity of the Arizona Memorial and reflects the reconciliation and deep ties between the United States and Japan that followed the war.
