Legion leaders pay respects at Pearl Harbor
American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett, Auxiliary National President Sharon Conatser and Sons of The American Legion National Commander Kevin Collier visit the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. Photo by John Raughter

Legion leaders pay respects at Pearl Harbor

American Legion leaders attended a special ceremony in Hawaii Dec. 7 that commemorated the 74th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and honored the military veterans who returned to the scene of infamy.

“Today and for every tomorrow, we owe a debt to the men and women who gave their last full measure of devotion on December 7 and throughout World War II – time will not dim the glory of their deeds and the legacy they left behind,” said Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command.

One such man is Sterling R. Cale. A banquet guest of The American Legion Department of Hawaii, Cale was a 20-year-old pharmacist mate assigned to the U.S. Naval Hospital Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

On the morning of the attack, Cale was at a receiving station in the shipyard when he noticed planes diving at ships. For an instant he thought it was some sort of training exercise. When he saw the “rising sun” on the Japanese wing tips, he said, “My God, those are Japanese planes, and we are being attacked.”

He still recalls the charred bodies and ash that he recovered when he was put in charge of a burial party tasked with removing bodies from the USS Arizona. “All black ash. One corpse didn’t have a head,” he said.

To call Cale, 94, a survivor is an understatement. Later reassigned as a corpsman with the 1st Marine Division, he landed at Guadalcanal. After the war, he transferred to the Army and fought in the frozen regions of North Korea and saw duty in Vietnam before retiring as a command sergeant major.

A resident of Honolulu, Cale is a frequent speaker before classes and groups interested in Pearl Harbor. "I tell all my students, ‘Remember Pearl Harbor,'" he said. “It could happen again. Only next time, we should be like the Boy Scouts – be prepared!”

Lou Conter, 94, made the pilgrimage back to Pearl Harbor from Grass Valley, Calif. He is one of seven USS Arizona survivors still alive. “You have to pay your respect to the real heroes who lost their lives that day. We’re dwindling down,” he said aboard the memorial to the ship that he once served.

American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett was moved by the remembrance ceremony. “There are so few Pearl Harbor survivors left at this point in history. We must do what we can to capture their stories,” he said. “All of the services were represented today. For many of the Pearl Harbor survivors, it will be their last chance to make this trip.”

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey made the visit to the site of the sunken ship named for the state that he now leads.

“It’s incredibly important to honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans,” Ducey said. “To be here and meet the survivors of Pearl Harbor and to see what happened here on December 7 and to pay a debt of gratitude on behalf of all of the people of the state of Arizona. I think it’s significant to all Arizonans and all Americans for what happened here and for what happened in the years that followed.”

Auxiliary National President Sharon Conatser said, “They preserved our freedom. The youngest generation doesn’t always realize or remember what the Greatest Generation did. I think it’s important that we remind them.”