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Guest Commentary: Honoring Greatest Generation Veterans On Pearl Harbor Day Week

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We are honored in Sun City West to have Veterans of many wars in our community, but this week we put a big spotlight on World War II veterans.

Among those Greatest Generation heroes living in Sun City West are people who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941 and eventually found their way to Arizona long after their years of service to our country.

Every Pearl Harbor Day, veterans gather not only at the Pearl in Hawaii, but also in downtown Phoenix where an anchor and signal mast from the USS Arizona have been on display for many years. Also on display in Phoenix are two massive guns from the USS Missouri. When you take time to listen to the stories told on Pearl Harbor Day from veterans who witnessed the attack, you are transported back in time and you learn about the impact that day had on their lives and the lives of hundreds of others.

For many, it is like Dec. 7, 1941 was just yesterday as they remember every detail about that day.

Hard to believe but next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. We have lost so many of the Greatest Generation and I treasure every moment I have spent speaking with veterans of that time period and equally treasure the time I have spent talking with veterans of all generations. Let us never forget our heroes past and present.

COVID-19 has made this Pearl Harbor Day week much different than others as services are socially distant and virtual all across the country, but we pause and remember Dec. 7, 1941 and we should never forget those who fought back, those who died and those who survived and are still with us to remind us of what is written on the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. — “Freedom Is Not Free.”

Editor’s Note: Gary Cohen is the host of the Rec Center Show on 103.1 FM KSCW which airs Tuesday’s at 8 a.m.