Nebraskans remember family members on Pearl Harbor anniversary

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - 81 years after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor--Lincoln residents and officials took time to remember.

Dozens gathered at the Auld Pavilion for a ceremony, which started at 11:55 a.m. or 7:55 a.m. in Hawaii’s time zone--which is when the attack happened on December 7th, 1941.

Not many survivors of the attack are still alive today but two sons of a survivor were present Wednesday morning.

Bob and Bill Dietrich talked about their father, William, who was stationed at Pearl Harbor on the USS Maryland.

He spoke at schools after the war, encouraging students to remember how the attack changed the world.

“He felt like it made his time worthwhile to go around and speak to them,” Bill said. “I know my own daughter expressed how important it was for her to hear her grandfather speak to her junior high English class. and after that time, she was able to talk to him more about his time in the service.”

William was also heavily involved in civic life in Grand Island, promoting education and patriotic essay competitions.

His name is engraved at the Veteran’s Memorial Park on the Pearl Harbor Monument.

“A date which will live in infamy.” Those are words read by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as America prepared to declare war on Japan.

That exact document FDR read that speech from was at the event at the Auld Pavilion, a Lincoln man owns the document.

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