RUSKIN, Fla. (WFLA) — Thursday marks the 82nd anniversary of the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt predicted would “live in infamy” as the attacks on Pearl Harbor ultimately led the United States to fight in World War II.
Since the attack, Dec. 7 has become the day to remember the lives of the 2,403 people who died on that fateful day in 1941.
To honor those lost, local veterans paid tribute with several ceremonies across Tampa Bay.
On Thursday, WWII Veteran Vern Wick in Ruskin is thinking of his childhood friends lost during the attacks.
“I got a couple buddies on the Arizona that are still there,” Wick said.
Marine Charles Bonney said he pays his respects to those who served, who lost their lives, and also to the people like his mother, Jayne Cambell Meyers Bonney, who was a nurse at Pearl Harbor.
“The ladies and gentlemen who were basically behind the lines, so to speak, taking care of and trying to keep these men alive and saving their lives,” Bonney said.
Vern and Wick both attended the annual Ruskin VFW Post 6287 Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony that was held at 9 a.m. Thursday.
It was held at a private property located at 2609 River Bend Drive in Ruskin.
