WEBVTT

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- Hi.

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I would like to share
a few minutes with all

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of you to remember a moment
in America's history,

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the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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Shortly before eight in the
morning on December 7th, 1941,

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Japanese forces launched
an attack on Pearl Harbor.

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What the Japanese hoped to accomplish was

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to destroy the ability
of the U.S. Pacific Fleet

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to counter expansion
of the Japanese empire.

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Of the more than 90 ships
anchored in Pearl Harbor,

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the big targets were
the eight battleships.

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Seven were moored on Battleship
Row near Ford Island,

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while the USS Pennsylvania lay

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in dry dock across the channel.

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It all happened so quickly.

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Within the first minute of the attack,

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all the battleships
adjacent to Ford Island

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had taken bomb and or torpedo hits.

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The USS West Virginia sank quickly.

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The USS Oklahoma turned turtle and sank.

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At about 8:10 a.m.,

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the USS Arizona was mortally wounded

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by an armor piercing bomb,

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which ignited the ship's
forward ammunition magazine.

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The resulting explosion and
fire killed 1,177 Crewmen,

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the greatest loss of
life on any ship that day

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and about half the total
number of Americans killed.

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The USS California, USS Maryland,

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USS Tennessee, and USS Nevada
also suffered varying degrees

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of damage in the first
half hour of the raid.

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The attack lasted less than two hours

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but resulted in heavy US
casualties and extensive damage

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to the battle fleet.

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American dead numbered more than 2,000,

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with more than 1,000 military
and civilian wounded.

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21 ships of the U.S. Pacific
Fleet was sunk or damaged.

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The three U.S. Pacific
Fleet aircraft carriers

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were away from Pearl Harbor at the time

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of the attack and escaped damage.

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December 7th, 1941 marked a
turning point in world history.

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The Japanese air attack
on the United States fleet

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at Pearl Harbor trigger a world war

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of a size that we hope
will never be seen again.

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The consequences of
Japan's surprise attack

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on Pearl Harbor and
Hawaii were world shaking,

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and they continue to
influence history to this day.

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The immediate result of
the Pearl Harbor attack

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was seeming disaster to the
sea power of the United States,

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but this has proved only temporary.

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The psychological effect
of the American people was

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to arouse a fighting spirit

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that turned disasters into victories.

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Those who planned the Pearl
Harbor attack triggered

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for themselves a disaster
that was exact opposite

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of the dreams of conquest.

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Between the attack on Pearl
Harbor on December 7th, 1941

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and the surrender of
Japan on August 14, 1945,

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more than 16 million Americans
served on active duty.

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Over four million in the Navy.

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One million of those sailors
were trained at Great Lakes.

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In the last 19 years,

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young Americans have joined

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and rejoined the American military.

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They have trained and
retrained and trained some more

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to do their job and be doing it well.

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I believe America is a notion, an idea,

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a set of principles.

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In the essence of America,

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the Constitution may be our brain

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but the Declaration of
Independence is our heart.

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The declaration holds
that people are endowed

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by the creator with
certain unalienable rights.

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That among those are life, liberty,

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and the pursuit of happiness.

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That to secure these rights,

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governments are instituted
among men deriving

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their just powers from the
consent of the governed.

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Today our vigilance is readiness.

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Readiness through public awareness,

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homeland defense,

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global training exercises
with allied nations.

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How better can we remember
those who fought at Pearl Harbor

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than to remain ever vigilant?

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In just this past 100 years,

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who but America has the
world called upon time

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and time again for leadership
in solving global crisis?

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World War I, World War II,

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the rebuilding of Europe and Asia,

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the Cold War, the Gulf War,

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the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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The world craves American leadership.

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What better way could we
remember those who died

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at Pearl Harbor than being just that?

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Be ready.

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I hope you realize we,

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your Navy,

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plans to remember our Pearl Harbor

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and other World War II veterans

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and the others who served since then

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by being ready to act on their behalf

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and for the good of our nation.

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World War II veterans
set the example for us

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and I hope that we have made you proud.

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Thank you.

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(slow dramatic music)

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(quick bugle music)