Above: Paul Donnelly played the trumpet to mark the 64th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour.IT WAS a quiet morning in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, 64 years ago, when Japanese forces bombed an American fleet, sparking the beginning of America’s involvement in World War II.
The 7 December 1941 attack was remembered last week at the Springvale Necropolis’ war graves.
Ex-American servicemen, now living in Australia, and the Dandenong RSL held a special ceremony at the American Service Memorial.
In the 1941 incident, more than 3500 US servicemen lost their lives, bombarded unexpectedly by more than 400 Japanese planes.
Those who perished were paid tribute to in the ceremony by the laying of a cross and United States-related material at the foot of the memorial.
The day after the attack, then US president Franklin Roosevelt signed a Declaration of War against Japan, awakening America’s military forces.
