December 7th marks the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders called on residents to remember the 2,403 men and women who died on the day the United States entered World War II.

That long-ago Sunday morning began like any other on the sunny and serene Hawaiian Islands.

But the illusion of peace was shattered shortly before 8 am, when the first Japanese bombers and torpedo planes dropped their deadly cargo on the unprepared ships, naval yard and airfields at Pearl Harbor.

The next day, while addressing Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 a “day that shall live in infamy.”

“The shock of Pearl Harbor was as great as the shock of the attack on the World Trade Center generations later,” said Freeholder Gerry P. Little. “A nation that had been divided before the attack came together to defeat an enemy and preserve freedom in the world.”

Little, liaison to the Ocean County Veterans Service Bureau, asked county residents to honor the sacrifices made by both our veterans of past wars and the servicemen and servicewomen who continue to defend our nation today.

“Remember those who have served and those who continue to serve their country,” Little said.

“Seventy-four years ago the United States entered a conflict to end tyranny in the world,” Little said. “Today, our brave men and women are defending their nation from new threats to peace. Let us pay tribute to all of our veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.”

Ocean County is home to more than 68,000 veterans, the most of any county in New Jersey.

Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari, liaison to the Ocean County Office of Senior Services, said the deeds of America’s Greatest Generation will never be forgotten.

“More than 12 million Americans served in World War II. Today less than one million survivors are still with us,” Vicari said.

Vicari’s late father Hugo served in the United States Army and was a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge.

Little’s father, Paul, 91, is a U.S. Navy Pacific Theater veteran.

[TLS]