By Al Benson
Aurora’s annual Pearl Harbor Day memorial luncheon saluted World War II veterans and outstanding high school youth.
Several hundreds packed Gaslite Manor in Aurora for the 52nd annual event by Navy League Aurora Council and Aurora Rotary Club. Navy League Aurora Council is a nonprofit group supporting active and retired military and their families.
Army Col. (R) Rick Todas of Aurora, Aurora Navy League president, was the emcee. West Aurora High School’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps color guard opened the event by presenting the colors. Mackenzie Serasin, West Aurora AFJROTC cadet, sang the national anthem.
Aurora Rotary Club’s Gretchen Timm announced recipients of 35th annual Ted Brattin Civic Youth Awards, $100 grants. Recipients included Kyra Nitsche, Waubonsie Valley; Lethzeylee Gutierrez, Illinois Math and Science Academy; Taniya Latiker, East Aurora; Lauren Verthein, Metea Valley; Molly Griffin, Aurora Central Catholic; Miguel Garcia, Mooseheart; Kaitlyn Gerrick, Yorkville; Gabriela Hernandez, Naperville North; James Miller, Oswego; and Ethan Wang, Naperville Central. The awards were launched by the late Brattin, a former Aurora businessman and U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
Keynote speaker Brigadier General William H. Weir, Illinois National Guard deputy commander, gave remarks on the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy base in Honolulu, Hawaii. He held up a Honolulu Star Bulletin headline as a visual aid.
According to Weir, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to relieve an oil shortage due to an embargo imposed by the U.S.. He added that American intelligence failures and new Japanese mini-submarines armed with torpedoes contributed to U.S. losses.
Aurora deputy mayor Guillermo Trujillo led the pledge of allegiance. Todas asked attendees to remember Bob Moga of Big Rock and formerly Aurora, and Herschel Luckinbill, formerly of Montgomery, veterans who passed away recently. After several World War II veterans reflected on their service, West Aurora AFJROTC cadet Serasin sang the Navy hymn to close the memorial.
Funds raised by the luncheon enable Aurora Navy League to support Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at West Aurora High School and NJROTC units at East Aurora High and Mooseheart Child City and School.
Founded by the late president Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy League of the U.S. is a civilian organization that provides community support to the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, Air Force, their families and youth leadership programs including Naval Sea Cadet Corps, NJROTC and AFJROTC.
U.S. president Joseph R. Biden, Jr., issued the following National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day proclamation:
“December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked our forces at Pearl Harbor and other locations in Hawaii, taking the lives of 2,403 service members and civilians and leading the United States to declare its entrance into World War II. It was a day that still lives in infamy 80 years later.
“As we mark National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we honor the patriots who perished, commemorate the valor of all those who defended our Nation, and recommit ourselves to carrying forth the ensuing peace and reconciliation that brought a better future for our world. Today, we give thanks to the Greatest Generation, who guided our Nation through some of our darkest moments and laid the foundations of an international system that has transformed former adversaries into allies.
“A decade ago, I paid my respects at the USS Arizona Memorial — where 1,177 crewmen lost their lives on that terrible December day. To this day, beads of oil still rise to the surface of the water — metaphorical “Black Tears” shed for those lost in the attack. Reading those names etched in marble was a mournful reminder of the sacrifices and the human cost of protecting our Nation and the ideals this great country represents.
“Our Nation remains forever indebted to all those who gave their last full measure of devotion eight decades ago. We will never forget those who perished, and we will always honor our sacred obligation to care for our service members, veterans, and their families, caregivers, and survivors.
“The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, as amended, has designated December 7 of each year as “National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.”
Now, therefore, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., president of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 7, 2021, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I encourage all Americans to reflect on the courage shown by our brave warriors that day and remember their sacrifices. I ask us all to give sincere thanks and appreciation to the survivors of that unthinkable day. I urge all Federal agencies, interested organizations, groups, and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff on December 7, 2021, in honor of those American patriots who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.
“In witness whereof,, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.”
—Joseph R. Biden. Jr.