LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – While flames and chaos of the attack on the servicemen, women, and ships occupying Pearl Harbor beaches have long subsided, Michigan still remembers the thousands lost to the attack from Japan more than 80 years ago. 

“Michiganders and Americans everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to the members of the United States Armed Forces who died at Pearl Harbor, as well as to those who survived and fought with great honor and bravery in the Second World War while defending the people and principles of our nation,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement.  

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In the aftermath of the attack, 2,403 servicemen and women were laid to rest, and 1,178 others would live on with physical and mental scars. 

“It is fitting to observe a day in honor of everyone who served in the United States Armed Forces at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and to reflect upon their sacrifices and on the losses endured by their families and loved ones,” Gov. Whitmer added. 

Of the more than a half a dozen veterans from the Michigan Legislature, former Navy servicewoman, Representative Jaime Greene (R-Richmond), shared some reflections about the importance of remembering what happened on Dec. 7, 1941. 

“We need to honor and remember those who tried to hold down the port and to fight back when they were attacked,” Rep. Greene said in an interview with Michigan News Source, “We need to remember those who died in service to our country, and we also need it as a reminder that we can never become complacent.” 

Rep. Greene served as a cryptologist, joining her brother and grandfather who also served in the Naval Forces, and shared how the day has great significance to her life and the war as she served on a ship named after Admiral Chester Nimitz – who commanded the Pacific Fleet following the Dec. 7 attack.

“I actually served on the aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz, which was named after the admiral who then signed the surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri,” she said in the interview. 

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Of the 102 ships stationed at Pearl Harbor, 69 received no damage at all according to Pearl Harbor officials, but of the ships that did sink, nearly half experienced a total loss including the USS Arizona, Oklahoma, and Utah.  Nearly half of the American casualties from Pearl Harbor came from the sinking of the USS Arizona, which lost 1,177 men. 

For Rep. Greene, the day should also be a reminder of those who were caught off guard, and “we need to make sure that we are never caught off guard again.” 

“It is important that we continue to have a strong military, to have a well trained military –  to be prepared at all times for anything that could come at us,” she added. 

Currently, the USS Nimitz is the oldest serving U.S. commissioned aircraft carrier in the world, which was first commissioned in 1975. 

In the years following the attack, 613,543 Michiganders answered the call to serve in the armed forces according to the governor’s office. 

In conjunction with the Presidential proclamation, Michigan also ordered all United States and Michigan flags to half-staff across the state.