Bannock County Veterans Services remembers the attack on Pearl Harbor on its 81st anniversary - East Idaho News
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Bannock County Veterans Services remembers the attack on Pearl Harbor on its 81st anniversary

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POCATELLO — Dozens gathered near Pocatello’s Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in the frigid morning cold Wednesday to once again pay their respects for the 2,403 lives lost on Dec. 7, 1941 in Hawaii.

The tradition began decades ago with Pocatello native, retired U.S. Navy Chief Christopher Harame, a Pearl Harbor survivor.

Bannock County Veteran Services Coordinator Melissa Hartman told EastIdahoNews.com that she began working with the Bannock County Veterans Services 23 years ago and one of her first events was joining Harame and his wife, Cusine Zaaccardi. The couple, Hartman said, would play Hawaiian music on a boombox and, while wearing Hawaiian shirts, would scatter rose petals in the Portneuf River.

“It just left such a huge impression on me,” she said. “This was such an important event for him every year.”

Harame was 92 years old when he died in 2013, but the memorial tradition has lived on since his death.

Hartman explained the importance of keeping the memory of events like the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center in 2001. “We’re losing our history,” she said, with the death of each survivor of those events. Days of remembrance, like this annual Pearl Harbor tribute, keep those important memories alive — and with it, the promise made to remember and honor those who died.

The Bannock County Veterans Memorial building has that promise front and center daily, Hartman continued.

Inside the memorial building is a small museum that undergoes a rotation of wartime displays. A quick visit to the building and museum, she continued, is a must for all residents.

“If you’ve never seen the museum, or if you haven’t seen it in the last month, you should come,” she said.

Bannock County Pearly Harbor remembrance, 2022
Members of the Idaho State University ROTC Honor Guard stand at the flags of the United States and Idaho after the petal ceremony is completed. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoNews.com

Bannock County Pearly Harbor remembrance, 2022
Bannock County Commissioner Jason Dixon welcomes those who gathered in remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoNews.com

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