Obama lays wreath at Pearl Harbor memorial

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - President Barack Obama has laid a wreath at a memorial honoring those killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The president was joined at the USS Arizona Memorial by his wife, Michelle, late Thursday afternoon. After a moment of silence, the Obamas scattered flower petals in the water.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attacks, which claimed the lives of 2,390 Americans and brought the United States into World War II.

The president is in Hawaii for his annual Christmas vacation. Several White House staffers who traveled to the Honolulu area with Obama joined the president at the Pearl Harbor memorial.

Earlier Thursday, Obama took his family to the beach, then stopped for shave ice, a Hawaiian version of the snow cone.