It has been 80 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor, which started the Pacific War.

On Oahu, Hawaii, where Pearl Harbor is located, a ceremony was held to commemorate the victims.

The ceremony was held at the venue of Pearl Harbor overlooking the memorial hall of the battleship Arizona, which was sunk by the attack by the former Japanese army. Attended.



As a measure to prevent the infection of the new coronavirus, the number of attendees was limited to about half of the average year, and seats were set up at intervals.



At the ceremony, a silent prayer was offered at 7:55 am local time on the 7th and 2:55 am Japan time on the 8th, when the attack on Pearl Harbor began, in memory of approximately 2,400 victims.

The U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Deltoro, who gave the speech, said, "We will never shake the peace and security built by sacrifice and will take over forever. To protect freedom and democracy, we will never withdraw and around the world. We are with allies and others, "he said, appealing for his determination to maintain peace.



Apart from this ceremony, a memorial ceremony co-sponsored by the United States and Japan, which began in 2016 when Prime Minister Abe and President Obama visited Pearl Harbor, will be held on the 9th.

Honolulu High School Students Learn Discrimination against Japanese Americans

Eighty years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a local high school in Honolulu began a curriculum to learn about discrimination against Japanese Americans during the Pacific War.



In February 1942, about two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, in the United States, a presidential decree issued by then-President Roosevelt said that about 120,000 Japanese Americans "may cooperate with the Japanese army." , Was forcibly housed in a facility built in mountainous areas.



Under these circumstances, many Nikkei became volunteers in an attempt to show their loyalty to the United States.



In particular, the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regiment, centered on Japanese Americans, sent to the European Front, put up the slogan "GoForBroke" in a fierce battle with the German army, and caused many deaths. However, it produced great results.



However, discrimination against Nikkei continued after the war.



In response, politicians such as Daniel Inouye, who once belonged to the 442nd Regiment and served as a senator for 50 years after the war, continued to work to establish the position of Nikkei in American society.



Then, in 1988, President Reagan officially apologized for the detention, and the U.S. Congress also admitted that the detention had infringed human rights, apologized to Nikkei, and enacted a law stipulating that the government would compensate. Did.



The US Navy will also commission a destroyer named "Daniel Inouye" on December 8th this month.



This is the first time that a Nikkei name has been given to a U.S. Navy vessel.

U.S. Veterans "I will never have a grudge against Japan"

Herb Elfling, a 99-year-old American veteran who experienced the attack on Pearl Harbor, told reporters, "I thought it was training for the U.S. military at first, but the Zero battle was approaching. Not the United States. It was a Japanese plane, and then I heard a roar, "he recalled, recalling the magnitude of the shock he received 80 years ago.



He said with a gentle expression, "I have been to Pearl Harbor many times since then. The United States is a friendly country and I will never have a grudge against Japan."

President Biden also mourns the victims

80 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Biden visited the memorial to the soldiers who died in World War II in the capital Washington on the 7th with Mrs. Jill to mourn the victims. rice field.



"We pay tribute to the patriots who lost their lives, praise the courage of all those who have protected the country, and pledge to promote peace and reconciliation that has brought about a better future for the world." Did.



President Biden is calling on the people and government agencies to raise a half-mast on this day to show his condolences, and the white house also has a half-mast on the roof.