Remembering brutal attack on Americans

Thursday, Dec. 7 will mark the 82nd anniversary of the horrendous sneak attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which killed 2,403 Americans and injured 1,178. President Franklin Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.”

While there continue to be ceremonies commemorating National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day at Pearl Harbor and across the nation, this year for the first time in about the last 15 years it apparently won’t take place on the American Veterans Memorial Pier in Bay Ridge.  

The Kings County Veterans of Foreign Wars, which has been conducting the memorial tribute, is no longer a viable boroughwide organization and has no command structure. The last county commander was Brooklyn resident Jack Sanford, a Navy veteran, who had been hosting prior ceremonies. 

I was informed that the Kings County group was merged with the Queens County organization under the aegis of VFW NY District No. 1. When I contacted the District 1 VFW commander, he told me there were no plans to hold a ceremony in Bay Ridge.  So I guess the bottom line here is unless another veterans’ post or group comes forward, no commemoration will take place.

In the meantime, the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier Museum at Pier 86 at the foot of West 46th Street in Manhattan will hold a wreath-laying toss from the ship at 11 a.m. If you purchase a ticket to the museum you will also be permitted to witness the ceremony.

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Since the celebration of the Festival of Lights also begins on Dec. 7, we extend our best wishes for a holy and Happy Hanukkah.