Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony at Virginia War Memorial

The Virginia War Memorial and the Navy League of the United States, Richmond Council, will co-host the 80th Commonwealth’s Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 11 a.m.

John Maxwell, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, will be the keynote speaker.

The annual ceremony will be held outdoors in the Memorial’s Shrine of Memory-20th Century at 621 South Belvidere Street. The public is invited to attend.

The Commonwealth’s Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony will include the presentation of wreaths in memory of the Virginians who died on Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941 when the forces of Imperial Japan attacked U.S military bases in Hawaii, including the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. More than 2,400 Americans died and more than 1,100 were wounded during the surprise attack. Of those killed, 41 were listed as native Virginians.

“The name of each Virginian who perished on that fateful day will be read and remembered with the tolling of the ship’s bell from the USS Virginia, which is on permanent display at the Virginia War Memorial,” said Dr. Jay Fielder, president of the Navy League’s Richmond Council, who will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the annual program.

“We are pleased to continue the tradition of co-hosting the Commonwealth’s Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony at the Virginia War Memorial,” Virginia War Memorial Director Dr. Clay Mountcastle said. “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s ceremony was held as a virtual event.  We are pleased to return to an in-person format this year.”

The Memorial will be open to the public from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Dec. 7. The Virginians at War documentary film Pearl Harbor will be shown all day in the Reynolds Theater and visitors will have the opportunity to see the Memorial’s newest major exhibit, “Who They Were: Lives Worth Knowing” which includes a tribute to John Hildebrand, Jr., one of the  sailors from Virginia who died during the Pearl Harbor attack.

For more information about the 80th Commonwealth’s Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony, please call the Virginia War Memorial at 804.786.2060 or visit www.vawarmemorial.org or www.dvs.virginia.gov .

There is no admission charge to the Memorial or for this event.