Dec. 7, 1941, was similar to Sept. 11, 2001.
The United States was attacked. A nation was stunned. And the events led to a number of area residents going to war.
One big difference, however, was in the immediacy in how we learned of the events. In 2001, we watched the attacks unfold before our eyes on television.
In 1941, we listened. Seventy-one years ago today around 2 p.m., radio bulletins began interrupting a football game and "Sammy Kaye's Sunday Serenade."
"We have witnessed this morning the attack of Pearl Harbor and a severe bombing of Pearl Harbor by army planes, undoubtedly Japanese," was a report heard on WCAE radio in Pittsburgh that afternoon. "The city of Honolulu has also been attacked and considerable damage done. This battle has been going on for nearly three hours."
The next day, Monday, Dec. 8, the Dunkirk Evening Observer reported: "WAR DECLARED BY U.S. AGAINST JAPANESE."
Ceremonies today are being held to remember a day of infamy in the United States. The public is invited to attend services at the VFW Samuel Cimino Post 6472, 13 N. Main St., Silver Creek at 10:55 a.m., and in Dunkirk at American Legion Post 62 on Central Avenue at 10 a.m.
