After 80 Years, Infamy of Attack on Pearl Harbor still remembered

Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Maxwell Higgins | 211207-N-MQ631-1055 NORWICH, Conn. (Dec. 07, 2021) Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) New London Command Master Chief Kellen Voland delivers remarks during a Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony held at the city hall of Norwich, Connecticut. The ceremony marks the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombings in Oahu, Hawaii. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Maxwell Higgins)  

NORWICH, CT, UNITED STATES

12.09.2021

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Maxwell Higgins 

Subase New London

“[On] December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” said President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the nation following the tragic events of that day.
Sailors from Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) New London and Naval Submarine School joined community leaders, veterans, and citizens in Norwich, Connecticut to honor those lost in that infamous attack eighty years ago as the Norwich Area Veterans Council led a Remembrance Ceremony at City Hall, Dec. 7.
“I stand before you, along with these Sailors from Naval Submarine School, representing some 6,500 active duty shipmates serving at our Nation’s first and finest submarine base,” said SUBASE Command Master Chief Kellen Voland, a guest speaker at the event. “I am so honored and thankful that we are all here to remember and to participate in this event. I say that I am thankful that we are here purposefully.”
The attack killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 battleships. It was a tremendous loss and a severe blow to U.S national security. The defense of Hawaii and the U.S. west coast could have been in even more peril had it not been the case that three aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were out to sea on maneuvers at the time of the attack.

Voland recounted the story of then Commander Cassin Young, commanding officer of repair ship USS Vestal (AR-4) in Pearl Harbor during the attack. Young had assumed command of Vestal after completing his tour of duty as SUBASE’s 12th Executive Officer in 1941.
Blown off the repair ship but managing to get back on board, Young was able to lead his crew in getting fires aboard Vestal under control and in assisting in the rescue of survivors from nearby battleship USS Arizona, critically damaged in the attack.
The families of two Norwich Sailors lost aboard Arizona attended the ceremony and were presented flowers by Submarine School Sailors in veneration of their family member’s sacrifice.
“This December 7, 2021, we gather to remember those Connecticut shipmates and brothers-in-arms,” said Voland “We mourn Harry Carlson and Mike Quarto of USS Arizona and all those lost eighty years ago.”
A bell was tolled for Carlson, Quarto, and each of the seventeen Connecticut residents who lost their lives during the Pearl Harbor attack.
“Remember Pearl Harbor,” concluded Voland. “Today we do, and may we never forget.”
-USN-

• Date Taken: 12.09.2021
• Date Posted: 12.09.2021 15:05
• Story ID: 410823
• Location: NORWICH, CT, US