[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 163 (Tuesday, November 15, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1467-E1468]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LONG BEACH REMEMBERS PEARL HARBOR

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALAN S. LOWENTHAL

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 15, 2016

  Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, on December 7, 1941 Japanese military 
forces attacked, without warning, United States' military bases and 
personnel in Hawai'i. The culmination of a decade of tense relations 
between the Empire of Japan and the United States, the attack took 
place as Japanese diplomats conferred with their American counterparts 
in Washington D.C., allegedly to repair relations between the two 
countries. The results of the attack stunned Americans: eighteen naval 
vessels sunk or damaged, including all eight of the battleships 
stationed at Pearl Harbor, 347 military aircraft destroyed or damaged 
on their fields, 3,581 military personnel killed or wounded. Of this 
number, over 2,000 were naval personnel who died while defending their 
ships from the relentless assault of Japanese aircraft.
   The events at Pearl Harbor compelled the U.S. Congress to declare 
war against Japan, and, several days later, its Axis partners Germany 
and Italy. America now entered the worldwide conflagration raging since 
1939, joining with its allies, fighting a two-front war, and mobilizing 
the vast resources of the nation to ensure ultimate victory by 1945. 
This war changed the world, and changed the United States. Every part 
of the nation contributed to the war effort, as millions fought at the 
fronts, millions of citizens on the home front powered the Arsenal of 
Democracy that produced the ships, the aircraft, and weapons that 
fueled victory in Europe and in the Pacific.
   December 7, 2016 is the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. 
In commemoration, the Historical Society of Long Beach will open an 
exhibition, ``Long Beach Remembers Pearl Harbor,'' both to summarize 
the consequences of the attack, and to detail the effects of major 
changes on the city of Long Beach and the surrounding areas created by 
World War II.
   Long Beach has had a deep connection with the United States Navy 
dating to the years after World War I when ships of the Pacific fleet 
were first home ported in San Pedro bay, a few hundred yards from 
downtown Long Beach. By the 1930s, three dozen naval vessels rode at 
anchor in the bay, including the great warships of Battleship Division 
1. The USS Arizona, the USS West Virginia, the USS Pennsylvania, and 
many other ships called Long Beach and the Long Beach Naval Station 
home. The city built a Navy Landing so sailors could easily transit 
from the ships to visit the amusement zone in downtown Long Beach.
   Officers and enlisted military personnel also resided, with their 
families, in the city and became part of the social fabric, marching in 
parades during holiday celebrations, active in

[[Page E1468]]

civic events, and helping out in perilous times. If one event 
solidified the Navy's presence, it was the earthquake of 1933. Minutes 
after a major quake rolled through southern California in the early 
evening of March 10--killing over one hundred, injuring thousands more, 
and collapsing buildings in a dozen communities, officers aboard Navy 
vessels ordered their men into the city. Several thousand Blue Jackets 
pulled survivors from damaged buildings, patrolled the streets, fought 
fires, and set up field hospitals. Naval personnel spent weeks in Long 
Beach and other cities providing medical care, hot meals, and security. 
As the city recovered, the City Council, the police department, and the 
school district offered proclamations thanking the sailors, Marines, 
and Coast Guard personnel who rallied to help during the crisis. By 
1935, Long Beach proudly proclaimed itself the ``Navy Capitol'' of the 
United States.
   Seventy-five years on, we are now losing the men and women of the 
Greatest Generation. Of the 16 million who served the country during 
the war, only about 500,000 are estimated to still be with us in 2016. 
We are losing them at the rate of 500 per day. The Historical Society's 
exhibit will spotlight some of the contributions of that generation.
   Through the artifacts, the photographs, and the letters the 
Historical Society compiled for the exhibition the Long Beach military 
members who served aboard the ships come alive, as people we can see 
and say hello to on any street in Long Beach. Their voices may be 
stilled, but we have not forgotten them or their action at Pearl Harbor 
on that terrible day 75 years ago.
   I congratulate The Historical Society of Long Beach on this 
wonderful exhibition and I encourage all those interested to 
participate in its Opening Ceremony on Dec. 7th, 2016 at 6 pm to see 
the exhibit, which will run until April 18, 2017.

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