PEARL HARBOR — Ward Whitmore gripped the metal railing of the USS Arizona Memorial with both hands as the wind snapped an American flag on the open-topped shrine. He stared pensively at the rusting circle of steel that used to be gun turret No. 3.

His gun turret. The one he crewed with 11 other sailors. In late November 1941 he left for Washington state. Two weeks later, 1,177 shipmates on the Arizona were killed, many entombed in the hull.

"It breaks your heart," said Whitmore, now 86. "The minute you step foot in the museum over here, the tears come to your eyes. And when you go on board, it's about the same feeling."

Yesterday, Whitmore was one of the dwindling number of World War II veterans to attend a commemoration marking the 64th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack. Those in attendance included about 24 survivors of the attack, along with about 2,400 civilians, military people and families.

Many of the vets have long since made peace with the Japanese attackers.

"You figure they were just doing what they were told to do," said Whitmore, whose Navy boxing sweater is on display in the Arizona Memorial's museum. He now lives in Oregon and walks with a cane.

With more than 1,100 World War II veterans dying daily, and wars continuing in Iraq and Afghanistan, many still express the need to "Remember Pearl Harbor" and never let the nation's guard down again.

"We compare Sept. 11 with Dec. 7, showing what can happen when you are really unprepared," said R. G. "Bob" Kinzler, 83, an 'Aiea Heights man who was in the Army and stationed at Schofield Barracks at the time of the attack.

"We have to make sure the events of Dec. 7 are not forgotten, especially by the younger generation," he said.

With a solemnity befitting the loss of 2,390 military and civilian lives, wreaths were placed for the eight battleships that saw the greatest loss of life. The detonation of an aerial bomb in the Arizona's forward magazine was so devastating it sank to the bottom in nine minutes. Twenty-one ships were sunk or damaged.

SACRIFICE REMEMBERED

Remembered at the commemoration were the sacrifices of the nation's reserve forces. Arizona Memorial historian Daniel Martinez said virtually all members of the Navy Reserve were on active duty in 1941, and over the next four years, the Navy grew from 383,000 to 3.4 million.

The destroyer USS Chafee passed by and rendered honors to the Arizona at 7:55 a.m. — the time of the attack — and four Hawai'i Air National Guard F-15 fighters streaked overhead in a "missing man" formation. The ceremony also included echo taps and a 21-gun salute.

Other O'ahu bases also were hit in the attack; 189 were killed at Hickam Field, and 18 sailors and a civilian contractor died at Naval Air Station, Kane'ohe Bay. Commemoration ceremonies also were held at those bases.

"It was a difficult time for all Americans because we were not prepared for war," U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said at the Pearl Harbor commemoration.

But "the spirit of America united and galvanized the people — it gave us the strength in the face of adversity and made us unwilling to accept defeat."

Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chief of naval operations, recognized Inouye, whose service in World War II spoke to the heroism of all WW II vets, he said.

A Medal of Honor recipient, Inouye charged a German machine-gun nest in Italy, throwing grenades and firing a machine gun even after his right arm was shattered by a rifle grenade. The combat injury cost him the arm.

"True to the motto of your unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, you went for broke," Mullen said. Inouye was given a standing ovation.

Rick and Patricia Dime, vacationers from the Chicago area, attended the commemoration. Both of their fathers, now deceased, served in the military.

"It does bring back memories of them and some of the things they had seen and experienced defending the country," Rick Dime said.

President Bush referenced the watershed moment in U.S. history in a speech yesterday, saying the strike on Pearl Harbor "was the start of a long war for America — a massive struggle against those who attacked us, and those who shared their destructive ambitions."

TWO REJOIN ARIZONA

Two veterans made a permanent return to the Arizona yesterday when their ashes were interred within the hull by divers. Harry Fitch was an ensign whose duties included spotting shells from the big guns that could fire 17 miles. Kenneth Edmondson, who died at 82, was one of the few Arizona sailors to make it out of the ship from below decks.

Lamar S. Taylor, 90, made the trip from Macon, Ga., for the commemoration and wore the uniform and rank of Navy commander, his retirement rank.

"This is brand new. About four years ago, my daughter bought it for me," he said of the uniform.

An ensign on the battleship California, Taylor, now confined to a wheelchair, tried to stand as much as he could during the program.

The California was hit forward and aft by two Japanese torpedoes in the early minutes of the Pearl Harbor raid. It was later hit by a bomb.

"We had a lot of crewmen below decks, and we saved them by cutting open the deck," Taylor said. "We had some good times before that, and we have a lot of things we'd like to forget."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.