On Sunday, Dec. 10, the Manchester Veterans Council will conduct an 82nd anniversary observance in memory of those lost in the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.
Organizers hope to see a few new faces at this year’s event, which starts at Arms Park at 12:20 p.m.
Army Maj. (retired) Daniel Beliveau, commander of the Manchester Veterans Council, said he has noticed the number of those attending seems to dwindle each year, but he believes it’s important to mark the day.
“I think it’s as important to remember Pearl Harbor as it is to remember 9/11,” said Beliveau, who again will serve as master of ceremonies. “If we start to neglect those things, we’re just going to let history fade away. There’s an old quote I always remember that goes, ‘Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.’ It’s just something we need to keep in mind.”
At the ceremony, those from the Queen City who perished on that “Day of Infamy” (Dec. 7, 1941) will be honored with the placement of a wreath in the Merrimack River. There will be a three-volley rifle salute, the playing of taps, and the national anthem.
Nine service members from New Hampshire were killed the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when Japan attacked the U.S. military bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
The attack brought the United States fully into World War II until its end in 1945 with the surrender of the Empire of Japan on Sept. 2.
Beliveau said the weather in Manchester on a typical December day doesn’t always encourage attendance.
“I do think part of it is the weather. I’ve noticed when it’s really cold and bad we don’t get much attendance,” Beliveau said. “If it’s sunny, even if it’s cold we’ll get a good attendance.
“I think also the people that would tend to attend are getting older. The older folks can’t deal with the cold, standing around for an hour, and some of the younger generation, the younger veterans, they just don’t think it’s that big a deal, I guess.”
Asked what he would say to people to boost attendance at events like the city’s Pearl Harbor Day observance, Beliveau chuckled.
“If I was a salesman like my brother, I would have something ready to go — my brother could sell ice to Eskimos,” Beliveau said. “I would just say how it’s important to remember these days, otherwise they’ll melt away into obscurity.”
As has become tradition, during the ceremony Beliveau will read aloud the names of all nine Granite State servicemen killed that morning:
Ensign Edward B. Cloues, USN, of Warner, USS Arizona; Seaman 1st Class David L. Crossett, USN, of Manchester, USS Utah; Yeoman 2nd Class Bruce R. Edmunds, USN, of Epsom, USS Arizona; Pvt. Carlton H. Hartford (town unknown), Hickam Field; Fireman 3rd Class Edwin C. Hopkins, USN, of Keene, USS Oklahoma; Pvt. Joseph Jedrysik of Manchester, Hickam Field; Pfc. Orvell Vaniel King Jr., USMC, (town unknown) USS Nevada; Seaman 1st Class Joseph S. Rozmus, USN, of Manchester, USS Arizona; and Pvt. Maurice J. St. Germain, USAAF, of Manchester, Hickam Field.
Servicemen’s family
Beliveau asks anyone related to the nine New Hampshire servicemen killed who would like to attend the Manchester ceremony to contact him via email at [email protected].
“They were preparing to change shifts, eat breakfast and attend religious services,” Beliveau said. “No one was prepared for what would happen next. Most of us were not around when the attack occurred but it is important to remember those who gave their lives for our country. It is important for us to continue this tradition of remembering those who gave their all so we can continue to enjoy the freedoms we very so often take for granted.”
Next Thursday marks the 82nd anniversary of “a date which will live in infamy,” when an air attack by Japanese forces on U.S. naval and air installations at Pearl Harbor took the lives of 2,403 American Navy, Marine and Army personnel. Another 1,178 were wounded.
Sixty-eight civilians were killed and 35 injured. The heaviest loss of life on an American ship took place on the battleship Arizona. Of the 1,512 men on board, 1,177 were killed.
Eighteen U.S. Navy ships were sunk or badly damaged, and nearly all the planes at the Hawaiian bases were destroyed or damaged.
A ceremony was held in 2009 to unveil a sign naming the bridge that brings motorists across the Merrimack River and into Manchester-Boston Regional Airport the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. About 18 Pearl Harbor survivors living in New Hampshire at the time attended the event.
Four Manchester natives were killed in the attack. Seaman Rozmus died aboard the USS Arizona. Pvt. St. Germain and Pvt. Jedrysik died at Hickam Field. Seaman Crossett was shot twice by a Japanese fighter as he headed to the crow’s nest of the USS Utah.
On Aug. 23, 1994, Congress designated Dec. 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Every year, remembrance events are held at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, culminating in a commemoration ceremony on Dec. 7, according to the National Park Service website.
