Navy wing, veterans mark National Pearl Harbor Day

Strategic Communications Wing ONE Sailors gathered Monday at State Capitol Park to honor Sailors lost in the 1941 attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base. They included, from left, Master-at-Arms Senior Chief Ruben Villanueva, Command Master Chief Jeffrey Bottoms, Master-at-Arms Chief Shawn Buckman and Master-at-Arms Chief Kenneth Brenek. (Courtesy photo/Released)

Navy wing, veterans mark National Pearl Harbor Day

Army veteran Jerry Ashley, left, and Air Force veteran Karen Douthit carry the colors during a ceremony honoring veterans and the 2,403 U.S. personnel who died in the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on United States Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. American Legion Post 353 of Mustang and organizer Laquetha Guthrie Young, regent of the Oklahoma City chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, hosted a 10:30 a.m. Wreaths Across America statehouse ceremony Monday at the Oklahoma Veterans Memorial at State Capitol Park. (Air Force photo by John Parker/Released)

Navy wing, veterans mark National Pearl Harbor Day

Published Dec. 11, 2015
By Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Members of the Fleet Reserve Association, USS Oklahoma Memorial Branch 268, gathered Monday at the USS Oklahoma Memorial at the State Capitol Park to lay a wreath in honor of those killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor 74 years ago.

Branch 268 shipmates met at 8 a.m., as they have for more than 20 years, for the ceremony. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9969 and other military organizations also participated Monday.

"It's a tradition we feel privileged to carry on to help those remember Pearl Harbor and the sacrifice our servicemen and women made for our country," said Bob Delaney, Branch 268 vice president. "We also honor all U.S. servicemen and women who paid the ultimate price in service to our nation in all U.S. conflicts."

Branch 268 is named for the USS Oklahoma, which was moored in Battleship Row Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. Moored outboard alongside USS Maryland, Oklahoma took three torpedo hits almost immediately after the first Japanese bombs fell.

As the ship began to capsize, two more torpedoes struck home, and the Sailors were strafed as they abandoned ship.

Within 20 minutes after the attack began, the ship had rolled until halted by the masts touching bottom, its starboard side above water. Some of Oklahoma's men were still alive inside the upturned hull, and their rescue became the focus of an intense effort over the next two days.

Four hundred and twenty-nine Sailors died that day aboard the Oklahoma. Thirty-two Sailors survived.