TRAVERSE CITY — Local veterans gathered Thursday to remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the event that kicked off the United States’ involvement in World War II.
Eighty-two years ago, on Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed the U.S. naval base in a surprise attack killing 2,400 Americans and wounding 1,000 others.
Hundreds of men and women from Northern Michigan answered the call as members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Cherryland Post 2780 gathered for a ceremony to remember the lives lost and honor local World War II veterans.
“We do a lot of ceremonies throughout the course of the year, but [the Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony] is the one that means the most because this was an unprompted attack on our sovereign soil,” Quartermaster Derek Braun explained. “So, it’s really important that we remember it and we also pass along the memories and educations for it so that we don’t forget those lives that were lost that day.”
The post still has 13 members in their ranks who served in World War II.