Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which still bears the scars of that infamous Sunday 67 years ago.

So it's fitting that the newly proclaimed World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument would include five sites at Pearl Harbor — the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Utah Memorial, the USS Oklahoma Memorial, six bungalows on Ford Island and three mooring quays that were part of Battleship Row.

The monument — established by President Bush yesterday — should make it easier to preserve the sites and the historic objects contained there. It's a worthy tribute.

But the national monument goes further. By encompassing other sites as well, it protects significant areas beyond Hawai'i's shores where Americans fought and sacrificed during the vast Pacific War.

This includes three sites in Alaska, including Attu Island, the site of the only land battle fought in North America.

The monument also recognizes a different kind of sacrifice — the shameful internment of loyal Japanese-Americans during the war. By including California's Tule Lake Segregation Center National Historic Landmark and Camp Tule Lake in this designation, the broader lessons of the war can be brought to life for successive generations who visit these internment sites.

All nine of the monument's sites are important pieces of our national heritage. They are worthy of their new status, and worth protecting.