Organizers commemorating Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day with return of annual tradition - East Idaho News
Pocatello

Organizers commemorating Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day with return of annual tradition

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POCATELLO — Bannock County Veterans Services will once again pay homage to the 2,403 people who died during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

The attack, which happened on Dec. 7, 1941, propelled the nation into World War II. The words of then U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt recounting what happened on America’s airwaves the following day as he officially declared a state of war between the U.S. and Japan is now an iconic moment in the nation’s history.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan,” FDR said to Congress. “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”

The remembrance ceremony, which involves tossing flower pedals into the Portneuf River to remember those who served, was started by retired U.S. Navy Chief Builder Christopher Harame. He was aboard the USS Detroit at the time of the attack. He died in 2013 and so did the tradition.

Members of the community brought it back in 2021 and organizers are looking forward to doing it again this year to commemorate the attack’s 81st anniversary.

The event will happen Wednesday on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge on West Fremont Street in Pocatello. It will kick off at 11 a.m. Lunch will be served immediately following inside the nearby Memorial Building at 300 North Johnson Avenue.

christopher harame
Christopher Harame in 1941, left, and more recently. | Courtesy: Lynn Flickinger

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2022
Event flier | Lynn Flickinger

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