Pearl Harbor attack remembered 68 years later

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — About 50 survivors and 2,000 others gathered at Pearl Harbor to remember those who died in the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack.

National Parks Service historian Daniel Martinez, left, greets Pearl Harbor survivors Louis Conter, center, and Arthur G. Herriford, right, before the start of the 68th anniversary ceremony of the attack at Pearl Harbor, Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 at Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Honolulu. Conter was aboard the USS Arizona while Herriford served aboard the USS Detroit.

The Navy and the National Park Service jointly hosted a ceremony Monday at a pier overlooking the sunken hull of the USS Arizona where the bodies of more than 1,000 sailors and Marines remain entombed.

This year's annual observance comes as U.S. troops are risking their lives in the more recent conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan. It also comes shortly after President Barack Obama decided to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.

The crowd observed a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the moment the attack began 68 years ago.

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