PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Aging Pearl Harbor survivors on Tuesday heard reassurances their sacrifice would be remembered and passed on to future generations as they gathered to mark the 69th anniversary of the attack.
"Long after the last veteran of the war in the Pacific is gone, we will still be here telling their story and honoring their dedication and sacrifice," National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis told about 120 survivors who traveled to Hawaii from around the country for the event.
He spoke before the Park Service was due to dedicate a new visitors center for people paying their respects at the memorial to those who died on the USS Arizona, which was sunk during the attack. The remains of nearly 1,000 sailors and Marines are entombed inside.
"This facility is the fulfillment of a promise that we will honor the past," Jarvis said.
The new center has twice the exhibition space as the old one, offering a deeper understanding of the attack.
Merl Resler, 88, of Newcastle, Calif., was among the survivors who returned. He remembered firing shots at Japanese planes from the USS Maryland and standing in the blood of a shipmate hit by shrapnel 69 years ago.
"My teeth was chattering like I was freezing to death, and it was 84 degrees temperature. It was awful frightful," said Resler.
USS Pennsylvania sailor DeWayne Chartier was on his way to church on Dec. 7, 1941 but never made it.
"I got interrupted someplace along the line," said Chartier, 93.
He returned to Pearl Harbor from Walnut Creek, Calif., to mark the anniversary and see the dedication of the new visitors center.
"It is my duty. It is not just a visit," Chartier said. "I felt I should be part of it."
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