Items that represent America’s entry into World War II and its eventual victory will be displayed at one of the area’s Dec. 7 commemorations Wednesday.
Two observances marking the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are on the schedule.
The Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors will hold a remembrance at 9:30 a.m. at the 40 et 8 bingo hall, 7607 N.E. 26th Ave., in Hazel Dell.
Washougal will host a morning civic commemoration that begins at 9 a.m. and includes afternoon activities in Camas.
If You Go
• What: Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors remembrance.
• When: 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
• Where: 40 et 8 bingo hall, 7607 N.E. 26th Ave., Hazel Dell.
• What: Washougal commemoration.
• When: 9 a.m. Wednesday.
• Where: City Hall, 1701 C St., Washougal.
The remembrance hosted by the Sons and Daughters group will include a copy of Pearl Harbor survivor Gordon Sage’s painting of the attack. The retired Evergreen High School art teacher was a 20-year-old Marine serving aboard the USS Maryland on Dec. 7, 1941.
Sage’s original canvas, measuring 5 feet by 7 feet, now is on display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
America’s victory is represented by wood from the deck of the battleship USS Missouri, where Japan surrendered in a ceremony in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945. The teak was salvaged when the battleship was at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, said Penny Ross.
The worker was told to get rid of the wood, but he piled it behind the shipyard’s sign shop. It was used to make frames for photographs and certificates, said Ross, whose father, Mark Ross, was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at Pearl Harbor.
Washougal’s civic event will start at 9 a.m. at City Hall, 1701 C St., with live-stream coverage of the national remembrance event from Pearl Harbor. There will be a 10:30 a.m. ceremony honoring WWII veterans at the Washougal Community Center, 1681 C St.
Wednesday afternoon in Camas, the Georgia Pacific, 401 N.E. Adams St., will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. with display about WWII, the mill and the community. At 2 p.m., the Liberty Theatre, 315 N.E. Fourth Ave., will show a 1970 film about the attack, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” There will be another showing at 7 p.m.
Another Southwest Washington resident will take part in a 7 p.m. event at the Oregon Historical Society, 1200 S.W. Park Ave., Portland. Earlier this year, Bethany Glenn of Kalama learned that remains of her grandfather who died at Pearl Harbor were going to be returned to the family for burial.
Ensign John C. England was one of 429 men who died when the USS Oklahoma capsized after being torpedoed.
Glenn will be part of a program called “Pearl Harbor Remembrance: Conflict Transformation across 75 Years.”
