Posted on 01/15/2008 5:09:08 PM PST by SandRat
American Veterans Memorial Post 89 members Leo J. Pimple, left, Jim Hodges, along with Cub Scout Aaron Wallace from Pack 437 prepare a special American flag to be raised Monday morning at Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery. (Ed Honda-Herald/Review)
SIERRA VISTA — Several survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor were on hand Monday for the local leg of “Old Glory’s Journey of Remembrance.”
Organized by the White House Commission on Remembrance, the journey of a U.S. flag that flew at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the 66th anniversary last month, is making its way to Washington, D.C.
Mesa resident Lambert Modder, 86, is the president of Arizona’s chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. Modder was among the handful of those survivors present Monday at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Other Pearl Harbor survivors on hand Monday were Bill Tobler of the USS Tennessee; Edward Boyles, who was at Wheeler Airfield during the raid; Joe Bailey of the USS Whitney (AD-4); and Fred Toczko, who was at Hickam Field when the attack came.
“I was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed,” Modder said. He and his buddies were headed to get cash advances on their paychecks that day, but their plans took an unexpected course. “Anyway, we didn’t get that done because the planes came over.”
The turnout for the flag-raising ceremony was strong Monday, with some 200 people all told. The 36th Army Band and the Village Meadows Elementary Children’s Choir provided the music.
“I come to places like this, even locally, and you’d be surprised how the vibe just takes a hold of you,” Modder said.
Speakers were U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords; Randy Groth, the civilian aide to the secretary of the Army for Arizona, and Sierra Vista Mayor Bob Strain.
Giffords honored the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, as well as all veterans and active-duty military personnel. And not only to remember the men and women who have served and sacrificed, but also to remember the reason for their service and sacrifice is important also, Giffords said. “Also, to ensure that the freedoms that they fought and died for are protected and nourished,” she said.
She talked about the accumulating stress from redeployment to the Gulf War arena on the U.S. military and their families back home, as well as our responsibility and obligations for future veterans.
“Thanks to them and their families,” Giffords said. “Today’s servicemen and women are tomorrow’s veterans.”
The Old Glory Journey of Remembrance tour will come to a conclusion Memorial Day in Washington, D.C.
Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery is in good company with other stops on the flag’s journey, which include well-known American landmarks such as the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania and the Vietnam War and Korean War memorials in Washington, D.C.
Herald/Review reporter Gentry Braswell can be reached at 515-4680 or by e-mail at gentry.braswell@svherald.com.
God Bless our WWII Vets!!
Go to the top for an image of the next generation helping honor past generations.
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