EASTHAMPTON –– On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, much of the world was already embroiled in World War II. The United States, however, was in peacetime, and U.S. Navy personnel at Pearl Harbor were unaware that hundreds of Imperial Japanese aircraft were en route to bomb them.
More than 2,400 Americans would be killed that day –– a day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed would “live in infamy.”
Some 60 people gathered at the Pearl Harbor Veterans Memorial Bridge, near the Easthampton-Northampton line, on Thursday morning to mark the 76th anniversary of the attack.
After joining together in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, they listened to proclamations from Easthampton Mayor Karen Cadieux and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz. The t wo mayors then honored Pearl Harbor attack victims and survivors, including six from western Massachusetts, by tossing a wreath of red, white and blue flowers from the bridge.
The Pearl Harbor attack, which thrust the U.S. into the deadliest war in history, “reminds us of our resilience,” Narkewicz said.
According to Cadieux, the annual ceremony is important because it keeps the memories of the attack “alive and in our hearts.”
Police officers from the Easthampton and Northampton departments attended, a few briefly closing off the section of Route 5 where the bridge crosses the Oxbow of the Manhan River.
“The citizens of Easthampton are grateful,” Cadieux said, addressing the veterans in attendance.
Most of those present were veterans, and many were in dress uniform for the ceremony, including those in the color guard.
“It’s our responsibility to continue this remembrance,” Marine Corps veteran John Rutovitch said.
Rutovich goes to the ceremony every year, and was at the bridge’s original dedication as the Pearl Harbor Veterans Memorial Bridge. The legislative effort to rename the bridge over the Oxbow was led by Edward Borucki, a Southampton resident and Pearl Harbor survivor who died in 2015.
Joe Grabon, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, attended the event with other members of the Florence Veterans of Foreign Wars. Grabon said it’s important to continue to remember the Pearl Harbor attack and the subsequent war, given their profound impact on American history.
“We’re not speaking German or Japanese,” Grabon said. “The number of men lost and the pure number of men going into the services after Pearl Harbor was phenomenal. It was total war. There was no partial commitment.”
Eleanor Kwolek, of Easthampton, said she attended the event because all five of her brothers fought in World War II. It is important to remember their sacrifices, she said.
However, Purple Heart recipient and World War II veteran Phillip Girard said he has positive and negative emotions regarding the ceremony. To Girard, the ceremony is important, but he also said people care less and less about remembering the Pearl Harbor attack.
“It doesn’t have the importance that it used to,” Girard said. “They don’t even teach it in schools anymore.”
Girard served with the U.S. Army and was a sergeant. His company fought in the Philippines and other Pacific islands where they engaged with the Japanese, trying to stall their imperial expansion.
“People don’t care enough anymore, and they don’t know what we go through or have gone through,” Girard said.
At the end of the ceremony, taps were played and members of Easthampton American Legion Post 224 performed a rifle salute.
This story was updated to note that the rifle salute was performed by member of Easthampton’s American Legion Post 224.