National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 74th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony

Date: October 23, 2015
Contact: Scott Ishikawa, 808-533-4165
Contact: Rainey McKenna, 808-260-8815

(PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII) –The National Park Service and the United States Navy will host the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015 at Kilo Pier at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is observed annually in the United States on December 7th. Its purpose is to remember and commemorate the 2,390 American casualties who were lost during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and on the island of Oahu on 7 December 1941. On August 23, 1994, United States Congress, by Public Law 103–308, designated December 7th of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. It is a tradition to fly the Flag of the United States at half-staff until sunset to honor the dead. 

The ceremony will be attended by more than 3,000 guests, including Pearl Harbor Survivors and WWII veterans. The ceremony will be broadcast live via webcast so that those who cannot travel to Hawaii can still participate and honor the sacrifices made by "The Greatest Generation." The webcast will include a special behind-the-scenes look at the ceremony and will feature oral history interviews with Pearl Harbor Survivors and WWII veterans and a live chat during the 74th commemoration. 

This year's ceremony will feature Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Kennedy, the Donald L. McLachlan Professor of History Emeritus at Stanford University, as the keynote speaker. Highlights of the ceremony will also include music by the Navy's U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, morning colors, a Hawaiian chant, a rifle salute by the U.S. Marine Corps, wreath presentations, and echo taps in recognition of the men and women who survived the attack and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country on December 7, 1941. 

A moment of silence will be observed at 7:55 a.m., the exact moment the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. The guided missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) will render pass-in-review honors to the USS Arizona and all Pearl Harbor Survivors. A missing man flyover will be conducted. 

To learn more about the 74th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony and to watch the live webcast on Dec. 7, including the USS Oklahoma Ceremony and the Interment of USS Arizona survivor Joseph Langdell, visit www.pearlharborevents.com.