Pearl Harbor survivors living on the North Olympic Peninsula will celebrate today’s 60th anniversary of the Japanese attack with flag-raising ceremonies, panel discussions, visits to schools and by traveling to national ceremonies.
More than 3,500 Americans were killed or wounded when Japan attacked the naval base at Pearl Harbor and other military installations on Oahu, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941 — which President Franklin D. Roosevelt called “a date which will live in infamy.”
Twelve ships were sunk or beached and 164 aircraft were destroyed in the early morning attack.
Pearl Harbor survivors Sid Carr, 77, of Sequim and Bill Mills, 83, of Sequim will recount the attacks for Port Angeles High School students.
They will speak to history classes from 7:45 a.m. until noon at the school, 304 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles.
Earl “Jonesey” Jones, 78, of Sequim, will speak to Sequim Middle School students at 10:30 a.m.
The school is located at 301 Hendrickson St.
Meanwhile, Lee Embree, 86, of Port Angeles will participate in a panel discussion at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mont.
Fellow survivors Tom Berg and Don Watts are attending ceremonies in Hawaii, and Bud Coggeshell, 81, of Port Angeles and John Somers of Port Angeles are in Fredericksburg, Texas, attending the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association’s 60th anniversary commemoration at the National Museum of the Pacific War.
Back home, the Naval Undersea Warfare Museum will host an official Pearl Harbor ceremony at 11 a.m. today in Keyport.
And north of Sequim, C.W. “Wink” Mays, 79, will raise a flag during an 11 a.m. memorial ceremony at Marlyn Nelson Park, located at the end of Port Williams Road.
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