Pearl Harbor remembrance held at Lake Springfield

Posted on December 7, 2018
A Pearl Harbor remembrance at Lake Springfield featured keynote speaker Chief Warrant Officer 5 (ret.) Bobby Edwards.  (Dave Dahl)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – On a sunny but chilly day on Lake Springfield, sons and daughters performed the customary wreath-laying into the water to conclude the state’s annual Pearl Harbor remembrance.

“Our mission as soldiers is clearly understandable by the base of three simple words: duty, honor, and country,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 (ret.) Bobby Edwards, now the board chairman for the Elks, whose club hosted the event.

The assistant adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, Brig. Gen. Mark Jackson, said it’s not tanks, planes, or ships which make the American military the greatest.

“As Roosevelt so clearly explained, it is the righteous might of the American people that protects our soil and delivers absolute military victory,” he said.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was 77 years ago Friday.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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