Local Fleet Reserve Association Honors Pearl Harbor Vets

Wednesday marks 75 years since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor; the pivotal event that launched the United States in World War II.

Seventy-five years is a long time, but not long enough for many Americans to forget what happened on Dec. 7, 1941.

Members of the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) were on hand at the Capitol Veterans Memorial to honor the 429 sailors who lost their lives on the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor

Flags were at half-staff at the capitol today for Wednesday’s event. During Pearl Harbor, 429 sailors died aboard the USS Oklahoma their names are immortalized at a memorial here

The local FRA began their events commemorating those sailors at 8 a.m. with a wreath laying ceremony and a 2-bell ceremony.

News 9 met one veteran, who was 15-years-old at the time, but says that the events of Pearl Harbor inspired him to enlist in the military.

“The next day when I went to school which was Dec. 8th. The teachers were all bringing radios so we all got curious. [We asked] ‘why were you all bringing radios?’ And [they] said, ‘Haven’t you heard?’” said apprentice seaman in the US Naval Reserve, Sheridan Marquardt.

Though this chapter of the FRA were here specifically here to honor those who perished aboard the USS Oklahoma, they also honored the more than 2,400 Americans who died that day at Pearl Harbor.