Wichita to observe 74th anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbor

The “date which will live in infamy” will again be remembered this year.

On Monday at 10:55 a.m., the exact time at which Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Jim Denison will sound the siren for Wichitans to stop, pause and reflect on what happened on Dec. 7, 1941.

Denison, a Vietnam War veteran who has helped organize the local Pearl Harbor observance since 1984, has organized an observation Monday at the Robert J. Dole Veterans Administration Medical Center auditorium, Building 4, 5500 E. Kellogg.

The Wichita chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association disbanded in 2011, after a 70th anniversary memorial, when its membership dwindled to a few survivors.

Denison is hoping the sons, daughters and grandchildren of members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association will come to the event Monday.

“This is the 74th anniversary,” Denison said. “All you have to do is look at what’s going on around the world. Everybody is on pin cushions. We need to be on alert.”

The slogan from survivors was “Remember Pearl Harbor, Keep America Alert.”

In less than two hours on Dec. 7, 1941, 2,402 Americans were killed and more than 1,000 wounded.

Almost immediately after the attack, Americans came together to build planes, ships and military vehicles.

Cities such as Wichita were transformed almost overnight into major manufacturing centers.

Since he was young, Denison has collected stories about and artifacts from Pearl Harbor.

On Monday, Denison plans on taking two of his most cherished items in the collection to the observance – fuel oil from the USS Arizona and a piece of the Arizona battleship.

“To me, it is history that should be remembered,” Denison said.

At least one Pearl Harbor veteran may attend Monday’s service, Denison said late Sunday.

Earl Schaeffer Jr. was a turret gunner on a B-17 and was working on that fateful Sunday morning on the switchboard in the communications shack on the hangar line of Hickman Field. When the planes flew over Hickman, he recognized them as Japanese Zero fighters. He was given a gun and told to go out and help arm the U.S. aircraft that hadn’t been bombed yet.

“While we were doing that, those Japanese planes just kept strafing us,” Schaeffer told The Eagle on the 70th anniversary of the attack in 2011. Schaeffer, 93, lives in an assisted-living center in Ellis County.

The program on Monday will include a color guard from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base. The keynote speaker will be Col. Albert Miller, commander of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing.

Music will be provided by the Eisenhower High School Jazz Ensemble Band of Goddard.

“The families of the Pearl Harbor Survivors will be remembered,” Denison said. “I want to do them fair. The history in today’s schools is not being taught. People do not know of Dec. 7, and it changed the world forever – economically, borders and politics. It all goes back to Dec. 7, 1941.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Wichita to observe 74th anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbor."