GREAT LAKES, Illinois (December 7, 2020) Capt. Ray Leung, commanding officer, Naval Station Great Lakes, gives his remarks in recognition of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the memory of those lost throughout World War II. 2020 marks the 79th anniversary of the attack. (U.S. Navy video by John Sheppard)
Transcript
Hi. I would like to share a few minutes with all of you to remember a moment in America’s history, the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shortly before eight in the morning on December 7th, 1941, Japanese forces launched an attack on Pearl Harbor. What the Japanese hoped to accomplish was to destroy the ability of the U.S. Pacific Fleet to counter expansion of the Japanese empire. Of the more than 90 ships anchored in Pearl Harbor, the big targets were the eight battleships. Seven were moored on Battleship Row near Ford Island, while the USS Pennsylvania lay in dry dock across the channel. It all happened so quickly. Within the first minute of the attack, all the battleships adjacent to Ford Island had taken bomb and or torpedo hits. The USS West Virginia sank quickly. The USS Oklahoma turned turtle and sank. At about 8:10 a.m., the USS Arizona was mortally wounded by an armor piercing bomb, which ignited the ship’s forward ammunition magazine. The resulting explosion and fire killed 1,177 Crewmen, the greatest loss of life on any ship that day and about half the total number of Americans killed. The USS California, USS Maryland, USS Tennessee, and USS Nevada also suffered varying degrees of damage in the first half hour of the raid. The attack lasted less than two hours but resulted in heavy US casualties and extensive damage to the battle fleet. American dead numbered more than 2,000, with more than 1,000 military and civilian wounded. 21 ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was sunk or damaged. The three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers were away from Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack and escaped damage. December 7th, 1941 marked a turning point in world history. The Japanese air attack on the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor trigger a world war of a size that we hope will never be seen again. The consequences of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and Hawaii were world shaking, and they continue to influence history to this day. The immediate result of the Pearl Harbor attack was seeming disaster to the sea power of the United States, but this has proved only temporary. The psychological effect of the American people was to arouse a fighting spirit that turned disasters into victories. Those who planned the Pearl Harbor attack triggered for themselves a disaster that was exact opposite of the dreams of conquest. Between the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945, more than 16 million Americans served on active duty. Over four million in the Navy. One million of those sailors were trained at Great Lakes. In the last 19 years, young Americans have joined and rejoined the American military. They have trained and retrained and trained some more to do their job and be doing it well. I believe America is a notion, an idea, a set of principles. In the essence of America, the Constitution may be our brain but the Declaration of Independence is our heart. The declaration holds that people are endowed by the creator with certain unalienable rights. That among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Today our vigilance is readiness. Readiness through public awareness, homeland defense, global training exercises with allied nations. How better can we remember those who fought at Pearl Harbor than to remain ever vigilant? In just this past 100 years, who but America has the world called upon time and time again for leadership in solving global crisis? World War I, World War II, the rebuilding of Europe and Asia, the Cold War, the Gulf War, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The world craves American leadership. What better way could we remember those who died at Pearl Harbor than being just that? Be ready. I hope you realize we, your Navy, plans to remember our Pearl Harbor and other World War II veterans and the others who served since then by being ready to act on their behalf and for the good of our nation. World War II veterans set the example for us and I hope that we have made you proud. Thank you. (slow dramatic music) (quick bugle music)