Today's Observances

AP: Survivors Observe Pearl Harbor Anniversary---

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - About 2,000 sailors, veterans, community leaders and guests bowed their heads Wednesday in remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor that hurled the U.S. into World War II 64 years ago.

Four F-15s flown by the Hawaii Air National Guard roared above the bay, including one jet that veered off from the group to symbolize the 2,390 people killed. The USS Chaffee passed by the sunken USS Arizona, where more than 900 sailors remain entombed.

The crowd, which included about 20 Pearl Harbor survivors, observed a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. — the exact time the surprise attack began in 1941.

"Dec. 7, 1941, was not just a day of infamy. In many ways it was a day of discovery for America and for the world. It changed us, it hurt us, it made us stronger — as did Sept. 11," said Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Navy's most senior sailor.

"It did not defeat us. That is why we return here, why we will always return. And that is why we must never forget the events and sacrifices of that terrible day," Mullen said.

Survivors later laid wreaths in honor of ships that were destroyed. Trumpeters from the Pacific Fleet Band played taps.

The crowd gathered on a grassy area outside the visitors' center from which tourists take boats to the Arizona Memorial, erected over the sunken battleship.