NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 7A
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2005 MEMORIAL
Ceremony honors Pearl Harbor victims
BY AUDREY McAVOY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — About 2,000 sailors, veterans, community leaders and guests bowed their heads Wednesday in remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor that hurled the U.S. into World War II 64 years ago.
Four F-15s flown by the Hawaii Air National Guard roared above the bay, including one jet that veered off from the group to symbolize the 2,390 people killed. The USS Chaffee passed by the sunken USS Arizona, where more than 900 sailors remained entombed.
The crowd, which included about 20 Pearl Harbor survivors, observed a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. — the exact time the surprise attack began in 1941.
"Dec. 7,1941,was not just a
day of infamy. In many ways it was a day of discovery for America and for the world. It changed us, it hurt us, it made us stronger
as did Sept. 11," said Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Navy's most senior sailor.
"It did not defeat us. That is why we return here, why we will always return. And that is why we must never forget the events and sacrifices of that terrible day." Mullen said.
Survivors later laid wreaths in honor of ships that were destroyed. Trumpeters from the Pacific Fleet Band played taps. The crowd gathered on a grassy area outside the visitors' center from which tourists took boats to the Arizona Memorial, erected over the sunken battleship.
The attack on Pearl Harbor and other military bases on Oahu lasted two hours, leaving 21 U.S. ships heavily damaged
and 323 aircraft damaged or destroyed.
Gilbert Meyer was 18 and asleep aboard the USS Utah when a torpedo slammed into his ship. A second torpedo jolted him wide awake and rolled the Utah over, forcing the crew to scramble out.
"The Japanese planes came over and the bullets starting hitting the hull, and it made such a noise I knew I had to get the hell out," said Meyer, now 82. "Battleship row was all smoke."
... You just can't describe the chaos that existed that day."
Today the USS Utah — still holding the bodies of 58 soldiers — sits half-submerged on the other side of Pearl Harbor from the USS Arizona.
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, told the crowd that America "stood up and changed the course of history for mankind"
Bob Jordan/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pearl Harbor survivor Walter Youder, 83, holds a flag during a ceremony commemorating the 64th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wednesday, Dec. 7, days at Veterans Memorial Island in Vero Beach, Fla.
after the attack.
"It was a day when weaker souls would have surrendered. Out of the ashes and oil, out of the waters came a resilience,
lessons of determination, an unwavering spirit of the American people," Inouye said.
Inouye was 17 when he saw Japanese planes drop bombs
on Oahu. He later enlisted in the Army, losing his right arm fighting in Italy with the heavily decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
FLIGHT SAFETY
C. M. Guerrero/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Passengers from American Airlines flight 924 leave the plane after arriving at Miami International Airport from Colombia on Wednesday in Miami.
Passenger shot, killed by air marshal
BY JOHN PAIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI — An agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday after he bolted frantically from a jetliner that was about to take off, officials said. No bomb was found.
The man, identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, was gunned down on a jetway just before the American Airlines plane was about to leave for Orlando, near his home in Maitland.
It was the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air
marshal had shot at anyone. Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Doyle said.
According to a witness, the man frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing 757, flailing his arms, while his wife tried to explain that he was mentally ill and had not taken his medication.
The passenger indicated there was a bomb in his bag and was confronted by air marshals but ran off the aircraft, Doyle said.
The marshals went after him and ordered him to get down on the ground, but he did not comply and was shot when he apparently reached into the bag, Doyle said.
The plane, Flight 924, had arrived in Miami from Medellin, Colombia, just after noon, and the shooting occurred shortly after 2 p.m. as the plane was about to take off for Orlando with the man and 119 other passengers and crew, American spokesman Tim Wagner said. Alpizar had arrived in Miami earlier in the day from Ecuador, authorities said.
After the shooting, investigators spread passengers' bags on the tarmac and let dogs sniff them for explosives, and bomb squad members blew up at least two bags.
No bomb was found, said James E. Bauer, in charge
of the Federal Air Marshals field office in Miami. He said there was no suspected connection to terrorists.
The concourse, where the shooting took place was shut down for a half-hour. But the rest of the airport continued operating, officials said.
Gardner said she heard the woman say her husband was bipolar — a mental illness also known as manic-depression and had not had his medication.
There were only 33 air marshals at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush administration hired thousands more, but the exact number was classified.