American Legion Post 90 to hold quiet ceremony on anniversary of Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor

ST. GEORGE, Utah (Dec. 3, 2020) – To remember those who perished in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, American Legion Post 90 will host a wreath-laying ceremony at Tonaquint Cemetery on December 7 at 10:48 a.m. – the exact time of the attack 79 years earlier. The public is invited to attend. Post 90 asks that all attendees wear a mask and practice social distancing.

Described by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as, “a day which will live in infamy,” Japan’s attack of Pearl Harbor plunged America into World War II. The losses suffered were catastrophic. There were 2,403 killed and 1,178 wounded, along with four American battleships sunk and nearly 350 aircraft damaged or destroyed.

Bravery was in abundance the morning of Dec. 7. Fifteen Medals of Honor were awarded, as well as 51 Navy crosses and 53 Silver Stars.

Those who did not die foreshadowed the grit and character that embodied U.S. service members of the Greatest Generation. Service and sacrifice were demonstrated over the next 44 months of war as the fate of the free world hung in the balance.

Battles were fought in far-flung places many Americans hadn’t heard of, from the fetid jungles of Guadalcanal and New Guinea to the mud and mountains of Italy, the palm-tree laden nightmare of Tarawa to the beaches of Normandy and sulfuric sands of Iwo Jima.

Six St. George area veterans will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony. For more information on Post 90, visit http://www.post90.org.