Veterans Memorial Garden honors the dozens of Nebraskans killed at Pearl Harbor

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A ceremony was held Thursday at the Auld Pavilion in Antelope Park to mark Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The event honored veterans who served in World War II and those who died at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

This year’s speaker was Peg Murphy, whose father, Ed Guthrie, was a Pearl Harbor survivor.

“The surprise attack lasted just over an hour and left a surreal scene in the harbor,” Murphy said. “Over 2,400 people died, including 46 Nebraskans.”

Guthrie lived to be 102 years old and was an officer in the Nebraska Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

After the war, he gave numerous talks to high school students about the attack.

Diane Bartels with the Veterans Memorial Garden event committee, which hosted the ceremony, said it’s important to continue sharing the story with future generations.

“People know it was the beginning of World War II, and they know what Hitler and the emperor of Japan wanted to do to the Western countries of this world,” she said. “And we would, of course, been a part of that. So, we would be living in a much different country if they had been successful.”

The ceremony included taps and the posting of the colors by the Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska Honor Guard.

Also featured was the Southern Lutheran Men’s Quartet, which sang the Navy Hymn.

Bartels said the committee welcomes anyone to visit the garden and learn more about the war. There you can find Guthrie’s name on the Pearl Harbor memorial.

“These were men and sometimes women who have given their lives for our country,” she said. “We would not have the environment of our state and of our country if we don’t remember those who made it all possible.”