For the ‘precious few’
Pearl Harbor memorial service dedicated to those survivors still among us
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U.S. Marine Corps Veteran of World War II Clayton Narveson speaks with Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally after Monday’s Pearl Harbor Day of Rememberance ceremony held at the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville. - Ken Leinart
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Members of the Oak Ridge High Navy JROTC program place a wreath of remembrance during Monday’s Pearl Harbor Day of Remembrance program at the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville. - Ken Leinart
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Tennessee Lt. Governor Randy McNally (standing right) was the keynote speaker at Monday’s Pearl Harbor Day of Remembrance program at East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville. - Ken Leinart
Before giving the invocation Monday, Dec. 7, the Rev. Pat Polis, a veteran, reminded those in attendance at East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery just exactly why they had gathered on a cold, blustery day.
“The survivors are a precious few,” he said. “Remembering them is all that more critical.”
Dr. Polis was speaking of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and those who survived it.
There was only one World War II survivor present for Monday’s ceremony. And though he wasn’t involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Clayton Narveson was in attendance.
“He was not at Pearl Harbor, but he survived the Battle of Iwo Jima,” Monday’s coordinator of events, Larry Sharp, said before introducing the Marine.
In the year of COVID-19, having a World War II veteran attending was rare.
National news coverage of the ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, revealed that for the first time since Pearl Harbor memorials have been held, there were no veterans of World War II, or the attack on Pearl Harbor, in attendance.
The keynote speaker of the Tennessee event was Lt. Gov. Randy McNally.
McNally told about the attack, the number killed and the number wounded. But, he said, the attack on Pearl Harbor awakened a sleeping giant in the form of the United States of America. McNally said the attack gave the United States a sense of unity and resolve.
The ceremony was closed with the playing of “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes, a rifle volley by the East Tennessee Veterans Honor Guard, and the playing of “Taps” by Dan Maxwell.
Also during the ceremony, members of Oak Ridge High School’s Navy JROTC placed a wreath in honor of those lost at Pearl Harbor.
