12-08-2022 4:39pm

Remembering Pearl Harbor in Roscoe

The Roscoe VFW Color Guard fires three volleys during the Pearl Harbor ceremony at Riverside Park, Dec. 7, the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

It’s been 81 years since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a naval base in Hawaii.

On Dec. 7, 1941, more than 2,335 Americans lost their lives, including 2,008 Navy personnel, 109 Marines, 218 Army and 65 civilians.

Dec. 7 has become a day of remembrance, a day that changed the course of history and launched America into World War II.

Roscoe VFW Post 2955 commemorates the event every year with a ceremony at Riverside Park in Roscoe. The purpose of the program is to ensure that the attack is never forgotten. The ceremony has taken place every Dec. 7, since the late 1980’s.

Each year a wreath is placed in the Rock River following a program that begins at 11:45 a.m. each year.

On this Pearl Harbor Day, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, VFW Commander Ruben Hernandez memorialized those who have died while defending our country. “We are inspired by the vigilance and perseverance of those who have gone before us, and we must be ever vigilant. Because of World War II and Sept. 11, 2001, we must not let our guard down.”

Hernandez talked about John Rosatto, the eldest Roscoe VFW Post 2955 member, who enlisted in the Navy a few years after the Pearl Harbor invasion.

Rosatto has served three consecutive years as Post Commander.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, Rosatto walked down to the riverbank and placed the commemorative wreath in the water, a symbolic gesture honoring the dead of all military services.

Chaplain Gary Holms offered a prayer for those who perished in the invasion.

The Post 2955 Color Guard fired three volleys followed by the playing of Taps at 11:58 a.m., the exact time Pearl Harbor was invaded 81 years ago.