KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Around 81 years ago, around 2,400 military servicemembers died in an air raid attack at Pearl Harbor. The attack marked a turning point in U.S. history, and soon after the country formally entered World War II.
Pearl Harbor was a naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack happened just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes destroyed almost 20 U.S. vessels, including eight battleships. The day after the attack, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, according to the Library of Congress.
He called it "a date which will live in infamy" during a joint session of Congress on that day. The request for war marked a shift away from the country's policy of isolationism.
To observe the day, the American Legion Post Two in Knoxville held its annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony. People gathered at the Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery to pay tribute to people impacted by the attack.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said that of the 16 million servicemembers who served in World War II, only around 240,000 were alive as of August 2022.