SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The USS Midway Museum held a commemoration ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack Tuesday morning to pay tribute to all those who were at Pearl Harbor.
The ceremony included members of the U.S. Navy, military veterans, families of Pearl Harbor survivors as well as the San Diego community. The ceremony included a wreath laying and missing-man flyover.
"There's a couple of things that we hope people take away from the ceremony today. One, how much courage and bravery people at Pearl Harbor and all of those in WWII had in defending freedom for the United States, but we also want them to learn that freedom isn't free and we as Americans have to be ready," one attending member said.
Cmdr. Bralyn Cathey, the commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn (DDG-113), was the ceremony's keynote speaker. The USS John Finn is named after Navy Chief Petty Officer John Finn who was the first Medal of Honor recipient during World War II for his courageous actions in the face of death during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
On Dec. 7, 1941, the surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Navy took the lives of more than 2,400 military members and civilians. It led to America's involvement in World War II.
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