80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack marked in Hawaii

By Shin Watanabe / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

December 8, 2021

HONOLULU — The United States on Tuesday marked the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan, honoring the nearly 2,400 people who were killed in the bombing 80 years ago.

The annual ceremony on the Hawaiian island of Oahu was attended by 45 survivors of the attack, their relatives and veterans, among other participants. They observed a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., remembering the start of the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

In a pre-recorded remark that was broadcast during the ceremony, U.S. President Joe Biden said his country “must always remember what Pearl Harbor meant for our country, generation after generation.”

John Pildner Jr., 70, attended the ceremony as a veteran with his 95-year-old father, who served in World War II. The younger Pildner described Dec. 7 as “an emotional day.”

“I am a Navy man myself, so I understand the sacrifice,” he added.

Pildner said his country “certainly had some resentment towards the Japanese” when the war happened. “But as things evolved after the war, so much happened. In the years after and especially now, Japan has been an ally in the world,” he added.

According to the U.S. National Park Service, 2,341 U.S. servicemen and 49 civilians were killed in the Pearl Harbor attack.