President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden commemorated the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by visiting the WWII memorial in Washington D.C. Tuesday morning (watch above).
.@POTUS & @FLOTUS make a sunrise visit to the World War II Memorial to mark National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. pic.twitter.com/Fcg4Gt1Ka1
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) December 7, 2021
The first lady left a bouquet of flowers at the base of the pillar honoring veterans from New Jersey in remembrance of her father, Donald Jacobs, who was a Navy signalman in the war.
The president saluted a wreath that contained a wild sunflower, the state flower of Kansas, in honor of former Sen. Bob Dole. Dole served in WWII and died over the weekend at age 98. He was instrumental in the creation of the national WWII monument.
In a White House proclamation issued last week for National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, the president expressed “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.”
80 years ago tomorrow, our forces at Pearl Harbor were attacked. It was a day POTUS F. D. Roosevelt said would live in infamy, and 80 years later, I join @POTUS Biden in asking all Americans to reflect on the courage shown by our brave warriors that day. https://t.co/cmw1V1xo3M
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) December 6, 2021
On Dec. 7, 1941, more than 2,400 people were killed when Japan launched a surprise aerial attack on Pearl Harbor. The event catapulted the U.S. into the global conflict.
Approximately 30 survivors are expected to attend a memorial event at Pearl Harbor later this afternoon. “They will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the same minute the attack began decades ago. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro is expected to deliver the keynote speech,” according to The Associated Press.