JAY — Seventy-two years ago at 7:55 a.m., the Japanese air force bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, an action that launched the United States into World War II.

About two dozen people at VFW Post #3335 came to commemorate the devastating attack and to remember the more than 2,400 service members who were killed, and the hundreds who were injured.

Palmer Hebert, commander of the VFW post and a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, said Dec. 7 was the beginning of everything.

He said Japan had been on the March through China and other eastern countries. Then the Japanese empire hit the United States, which awakened the “sleeping giant,” as the U.S. was referred to at the time.

As the number of Pearl Harbor veterans grows smaller and smaller, he said, “We need to remember this day.”

Prior to the observance, VFW Chaplain Don LeSuer offered a prayer.

“We are thankful for those who gave their lives for this country. FDR (President Franklin D. Roosevelt) said this was a terrible thing to do to a country whose arms are always open to the oppressed,” said LeSuer.

WWII veteran, Erlon Rose, 89, was not at Pearl Harbor, but he served during the war.

“Some of these veterans remain with us today. The survivors have formed a bond,” he said as he described some of the horrific events that happened at Pearl Harbor that day.

He said 21 U.S. Naval ships were harbored at the port on Dec. 7, 1941 and many were sunk or severely damaged.

“Imagine the flames,” he said as he described the first few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Some of the U.S. battleships that were sunk or capsized that day included the U.S.S. Utah, the U.S.S. Arizona, the U.S.S. Virginia, and the U.S.S. California.

Hebert said a Japanese submarine and its crew were captured soon after the bombing. The Japanese planes returned to their country.

Also speaking at Saturday’s observance was Vietnam War veteran John Dube. He said as a member of the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association, he is recruiting younger members. The association has many chapters, including one in the Northeast to which Dube is a member.

“I am a proud sailor,” he said. “I retired in 1982.”

Resident Hyla Friedman donated a wreath to the Jay War Memorial in Chisholm marking the day as Pearl Harbor Day.

World War II veteran Erlon Rose describes the events at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Resident Hyla Friedman placed this wreath at the Jay War Memorial in Chisholm to mark Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 1941.

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