The world honored the victims of the World War II Pearl Harbor attack on the tragedy’s 76th anniversary on Thursday, December 7. On December  7, 1944, Imperial Japanese forces bombed the U.S. naval base in Hawaii, killing more than 2,000 soldiers and innocent civilians. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war against Japan, solemnly declaring that this would be “a day that will live in infamy.”

While no one at LHS was alive when this happened, many students and faculty have family members who were. “My parents, who were in their very early teen years at the time it occurred, used to tell stories about the terror and alarm it struck in the hearts of American citizens at that time,” commented English Teacher Carla Gentile. “They often recounted how they first heard the news–while sitting in their respective living rooms with their families, who were anxiously gathered around the family radio. After all, they knew what that official declaration of war would mean:  Many of their friends and relatives would be drafted, and indeed they were,” added Gentile.

Every year, a ceremony is held in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists year-round. According to CBS News, “About 20 survivors of the original attack on Pearl Harbor gathered at the site near the attack on the U.S.S. Arizona to remember fellow servicemen killed in the early morning raid 76 years ago” (CBSNews.com). The U.S.S. Arizona, which exploded and sank after being bombed, held more than half of the victims of the attack. Almost everyone aboard the U.S.S. Arizona was killed during the attack, except for a handful of individuals. One of these survivors, 94-year-old Gilbert Meyer, feels very fortunate to still be alive and always makes sure to remember those who perished. “I think about my shipmates and how they were killed. It reminds me that we’re lucky we got off and we’ve made a good country for them,” Meyer said.

Today, children and adults who have heard the tales of the war continue to carry on the legacy of their grandparents. “My grandfather fought in the war, and he used to tell me about the day of the attack,” mentioned junior Chris Papini. “It was amazing to hear about everything that happened during that day, because it definitely had such a huge impact on history,” added Papini.