In Marshfield, a ceremony was held at the Veterans Memorial Park to recognize the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks.
Marshfield Director of Veterans Services, Carin Paulette, led the ceremony.
“I think for a lot of people, there’s so many ties to who was there, and it really set the standard for how America came together in a time of crisis, persevered, and still perseveres today,” said Paulette. “We’re free because of those men and women back in World War II.”
The Japanese attack in Hawaii on December 7, 1941 killed more than 2,400 U.S. personnel – including 68 civilians.
More than 19 Navy ships – including eight battleships were damaged or destroyed.
“It’s hard when you can’t see those memories, we’re not near Hawaii, so we don’t have that every day remembrance,” said Paulette. “It’s important to keep that alive with our youth, and the younger generation, so they can appreciate the world we live in today.”
The ceremony was held in front of the town’s World War II memorial, and the names of eight residents who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the war were read out loud.
Ed Timlin is the co-chair of the Trustees for the Veteran Memorial Parks.
“It’s one day, and we come here in commemoration of that sacrifice that those men gave,” said Timlin. “I think more importantly, is that – let’s not just do it one day. Let’s remember more days. Once a week, once a month, come down here, it’s a great place to come.”
Timlin says the Marshfield Veterans Memorial Park, located at the intersection of Routes 139 and 3A, is open to anyone in town to reflect and remember.
Ed Sullivan is a co-chair of the Trustees.
“Pearl Harbor was a terrible sacrifice, I’m a Vietnam vet, so I know exactly how it feels. The wives, the mothers, they work so much behind the lines, and they never get the credit. They have some of the deeper feelings,” said Sullivan. “I want the word to get out to the younger people so it will be carried on. It kind of drifted away from schools, and now we’re trying to bring it back so the younger people will be educated.”
