Governor Matt Bevin has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half staff Saturday in observance of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
State officials say lowering the flag to half staff is in memory and honor of the more than 2,400 Americans who died in the surprise attack on the U.S. Fleet’s Pearl Harbor base in the early morning hours of December 7, 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy” and signed the Declaration of War against Japan the following day, December 8, 78 years ago.
Of the 1,177 sailors and marines who died on the USS Arizona, at least 19 were Kentuckians.
At one time, more than 100 Pearl Harbor survivors lived in Kentucky. By the attack’s 70th anniversary in 2011, officials indicate their numbers had dwindled to 18.
Governor Bevin encourages all individuals, organizations, and government agencies to join in this tribute.
