Historic Ships In Baltimore Hosts Annual Pearl Harbor Ceremony
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- The date that lives in infamy is December 7, the anniversary of the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Thursday, Maryland remembered the historical event with a ceremony aboard the last warship afloat that saw combat that day.
"76 years ago today at 07:55 the first attack came and if you've been to Hawaii you look north and there's two mountain ranges on each side and they came right down through the middle of them," said Vice Admiral Charles Wray of the U.S. Coast Guard. "They also came around the east side and they came around the west side, but the main wave came right down; when you come across that mountain range you see Pearl Harbor laid out there."
Vice Admiral Wray recalled the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney action at Pearl Harbor that day.
"The Japanese attacked at 07:55 and Taney they sounded general quarters and within a matter of ten minutes they were manned and ready," he said.
Signalman First Class Harry Nelson, though not aboard at Pearl Harbor, served on the Taney during the war.
"And I watched kamikazes coming and they were as close as here and they (Taney gunners) shot down four of those and I'm standing there watching," Nelson recalled.
"But it's also important as we honor them to celebrate the patriotism, courage, perseverance and fidelity of people like Mr. Nelson and the tens of thousands who served beside him in that great war, " Admiral Wray said.
Historic ships in Baltimore hosts the Pearl Harbor ceremony aboard the USCGC Taney each year.
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