LEWISTON – All veterans and the public are invited to a memorial service commemorating the 66th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The service will be held at noon Friday, Dec. 7, at Trinity Episcopal Church, corner of Spruce and Bates streets.

The program will open with an invocation by the interim rector, the Rev. Bennett Barnes, followed by singing of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

District 3 Maine American Legion Public Relations Officer Paul Bernard will recall the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The service songs will be sung followed by taps by Bugler Richard Leblanc.

The Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, leaving 2,403 dead and 188 planes destroyed. Eight battleships were damaged or destroyed and the fleet was crippled.

The attack brought the United States into World War II. On Dec. 8, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt declared the day of the bombing “a date which will live in infamy.”

“America in an instant became the land of the indivisible,” said former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw, author of “The Greatest Generation.”

All veterans attending are asked to wear their caps. For more information, call Jerry DerBoghosian at 353-7435 or 782-5700.

Bernard encourages all American Legion Posts to observe the 18th anniversary of “Operation Just Cause” in Panama when 18 Army soldiers, four Navy Seals and two Marines died and 325 were wounded.

Bernard said there will be no District 3 meeting in December.

Anyone interested in joining an American Legion Post in the district can e-mail [email protected]. Those wishing can also view upcoming events at www.maineamericanlegion.com.