Arizona Memorial
Many Americans are not even aware that 2016 marks the milestone 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and that currently there are only five Pearl Harbor survivors living today. In honor of this milestone anniversary Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige established a 75th Commemoration of Pearl Harbor Committee, composed of government and military officials and Hawaii business leaders to design events with global outreach.
As a proud military mom I feel a responsibility to show respect to the five remaining survivors and to the entire United States Military who lost so many brave souls that fateful day. For the first time these special anniversary events will extend beyond Pearl Harbor’s historical sites to Waikiki, the National Cemetery of the Pacific and the Aloha Stadium. In Waikiki, military-themed movies will be shown on Waikiki Beach, beachfront and under the stars, ticketed Gala events and a concert at Aloha Stadium.
Even if you are not able to travel to the island of O’ahu this year to celebrate in person, there are many ways you can support the survivors by visiting the official website www.pearlharbor75.com and if you are active on social media platforms be sure and use the hashtag #pearlharbor75 as you share family stories of those that served during that time.The 11-day schedule of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day events will be added overtime, updates to schedules and other important information will be updated on that official site. Many of these special events will have capacity control restrictions so the time to book your trip to attend these special events is now before everything is sold out. Also be advised that many of the events will be simulcast globally by satellite for those that cannot attend in person.
I would like to give a personal shout out to the marching bands in four Burke County High Schools :
that have come together to participate in the celebration-the band directors, students, parents and community coming together to help each student raise the approximate $2500 per student travel expenses for this once in a lifetime experience. (An additional shout out to East Burke’s band for also traveling to Normandy to take part in the 70th commemoration of D-Day) which fits into the vision of the Burke County Public School System “vision of inspiring students to be life-long learners who can compete successfully on the global stage”- according to BCPS Superintendent Larry Putnam. You can also check out their Facebook Page EBHS Bands to 75th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor ** All students and chaperones are expected to cover their own travel expenses, so many fundraisers have been held and BCPS has created an account for contributions from the community – all donations sent directly to BCPS will be divided among the four schools to help defer the cost of the trip.
Join into the celebration theme of “Honoring the Past,Inspiring the Future” in anyway that you can !
To get started booking your trip to O’ahu contact Linda Dancer Toll Free 1-888-811-1888 ext 331 or email [email protected]
