By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
The city and the West Haven Veterans Council will observe Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on the Veterans Walk of Honor in Bradley Point Park at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 7.
All veterans are invited to participate in the solemn service, which will commemorate the 82nd anniversary of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
The public is also invited.
The annual ceremony, held in front of the Walk of Honor’s William A. Soderman Memorial, will commence with a presentation of the colors by the West Haven Police Honor Guard and a flag-raising by the West Haven Fire Department Honor Guard.
It will feature remarks by Mayor Dorinda Borer.
West Haven Fire Department Chief James P. O’Brien will read the names of the 18 Connecticut servicemen who died in the Japanese bombing of the U.S. Navy base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. A firefighter will toll the department’s chrome bell each instant a name is called.
Connecticut’s last known Pearl Harbor survivor died in 2020 at age 99.
The Pearl Harbor tribute will include the Pledge of Allegiance, the national anthem, and opening and closing prayers.
It will also include a wreath-laying by Veterans Council members and taps played by retired West Shore Fire Department Lt. Kevin McKeon.
What a day this was, I can’t imagine what these men went through and their families,