Ogden community pays honors to Pearl Harbor with 21 gun salute
Dec 7, 2021, 4:51 PM | Updated: 9:36 pm
OGDEN, Utah — The American Legion in Ogden gathered with community members to honor those killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor 80 years ago today. They believe the lessons learned that day are just as important for our country right now.
American Legion Post 9 held a small memorial ceremony along the Ogden River for the more than 2400 Americans killed that day. The 21 Utahns killed in the attack were also remembered.
“I just felt that we needed to do a tribute to the fallen,” said Steve Ross, vice-commander of American Legion Post 9 in Ogden.
“My grandfather was a World War II vet. He was army,” said Ross.
His father was an also an army veteran, and so is he. So, Ross will always memorialize the devastation and sacrifice of that day.
“We lost a lot of good soldiers, lost a lot of good ships, a lot of good men,” Ross said.
Just as Americans were urged to remember that attack in 1941, the Utahns who gathered today vowed to never forget that date which will live in infamy. They tossed roses into the Ogden River, symbolizing the blood spilled by American troops, and fired a 21 gun salute.
“The fact that the Japanese attacked us there is something that we have to remember,” said Terry Schow, an American Legion national executive committee member. “I’m honored that my little granddaughter could be here to understand the significance of that loss of life.”
More than a dozen US ships and 200 war planes were destroyed.
Decorated Korean war Veteran John Cole was 14, living in Colorado, with little news. His family didn’t get the news immediately. When they did, he said, he felt like our future hung in the balance.
“Very apprehensive,” Call said, describing his feelings. “Living in the mountains, not a lot of information, other than that we were at war.”
Cole joined the Marines three years later, but did not see combat in World War II. At the time, he thought losing so many battleships could have been a death blow.
“But, that’s the way with the American people: when they get challenged with something that immense, they usually pull together. I think we may need something like that again right now, because we’re getting too far apart,” said the Marine Corps veteran.
He hopes America today can meet its rising challenges, and find a way to pull together again.
