Little Rock’s Inland Maritime Museum on Sunday will once again commemorate the anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Dec. 7 will mark 84 years since the Japanese attack that killed almost 2,500 people, nearly wiped out America’s Pacific fleet and resulted in the country’s entry into World War II.
The one-hour remembrance ceremony will begin at 11:58 a.m., the local time when Pearl Harbor was attacked. There were 144 Arkansans stationed at Pearl Harbor the day of the attack; 23 were among the 1,177 killed when the USS Arizona exploded and sank.
The event will feature two speakers: a father and son pair.
The first will be retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Allan Malone.
His son, U.S. Navy Capt. Randy Malone, will be the keynote speaker.
The Maritime Museum, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, is home to a piece of Pearl Harbor history.
The museum hosts the USS Hoga (YT 146), a yard tug that saw action and saved lives as Japanese planes carried out their attack. A Woban Class District Harbor Tug, the boat was just over a year old when the attack occurred.
With a crew of 10 people, the Hoga helped pull people from the harbor’s waters, fought fires and helped move ships throughout the attack. According to the museum’s website, the Hoga’s most notable action was to push a sinking USS Nevada to safety so it didn’t block a narrow channel.
The Navy awarded the Hoga to North Little Rock for preservation in 2005, after the city competed with four other groups nationally to acquire it. However, it took 10 years until the Hoga could be transported from the Pacific coast to North Little Rock. It arrived at the Maritime Museum only two weeks before the state’s 2015 Pearl Harbor anniversary commemoration.
Prior to that, the boat spent decades serving the city of Oakland, Calif.
A Hot Springs VFW branch will also hold a Pearl Harbor event Sunday.
VFW Post 2278 will host a free breakfast at 7 a.m. Afterward, post commander Terry W. Daniell will “present a detailed minute by minute report as to what happened that dreadful day,” according to a post on its Facebook page.
Afterward there will be a remembrance service and a screening of the 2001 Michael Bay-directed “Pearl Harbor” film.
