CHARLESTON, W.Va. — December 7, 1941 was a date described by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a day “which will live in infamy.”
That day was the time of the Pearl Harbor attacks 74 years ago. The surprising military strike was made by Japan against the United States in Hawaii killing more than 2,400 people and injuring upwards of 1,000, which then brought the U.S. into World War II.
On Monday, several ceremonies in West Virginia marked National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
World War II Veteran Wetzel Sanders, 92, is one of the approximately 10 Pearl Harbor survivors remaining in West Virginia.
“Every two or three days I think of something that happened to me or something to my buddies,” Sanders said.
Sanders was honored during a ceremony held in downtown Charleston hosted by the American Legion’s John Brawley Post No. 20.
In 1970, former Gov. Arch Moore honored the West Virginia survivors with special Pearl Harbor licence plates. Sanders said back then there were 137 people who were alive. Now, there’s only a few still living in the Mountain State.
Sanders said the attacks impacted his life forever, but he said he can still remember several moments about that day.
“We were shooting this one plane. It come down and I believe it tried to hit the hospital to kill us, as many as they could, but when he crashed, he missed the top of the hospital and crashed into an empty house. Me and two of my buddies run around and it cut him in two right at the bottom of his ribs. He kicked him in the mouth laying there and I said ‘I don’t think you need to do that. He’s been dead for two, three minutes,” he said with a laugh.
During Monday’s ceremony, many patriotic songs were played and hymns were sung to reflect on the victims. The performances were given by the Earl of Elkview/Duke of Dunbar. Sanders also helped lay a wreath, then saluted the American flag.
This year’s address was given by Captain James McCormick.
A separate ceremony was also held in Morgantown on Monday.