Flags at half-mast today will be just about the only indicator of the shocking attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 that catapulted the United States into World War II. Most of those who recall the stunning news of the Japanese attack have left us now, although the nation continues to mark the occasion annually on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

In 1981, the Gazette-Journal had the foresight to interview a number of local veterans who were in or near Hawaii on the day of the attack. Just to refresh everyone’s memory, we present a few summations of that day, in their words.

Paul Farber of Bena watched the Arizona explode, the Oklahoma capsize and witnessed “countless torpedoes dropping from countless planes.” He was a seaman aboard the Ramapo. Also on the Ramapo was Bynum Aldridge of Ware Neck, who was eating grapes on deck, enjoying another lovely morning in Hawaii, when the first Japanese plane dropped torpedoes that hit the West Virginia. “I stood there frozen at first, with t...