Pearl Harbor 75th anniversary remembered in Bay Ridge wreath ceremony

Veterans, Clergy and Community Leaders Gather at American Veterans Memorial Pier

December 7, 2016 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

VFW County Commander Gary Wasserman tosses a memorial wreath into the water in Bay Ridge. Eagle photos by Arthur De Gaeta

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The Bay Ridge community gathered on Wednesday for a memorial tribute to the brave veterans who sacrificed so much to defend our nation during World War II in honor of Pearl Harbor Day.

The Brooklyn Council of the Kings County Veterans of Foreign Wars held a remembrance ceremony in Bay Ridge on the American Veterans Memorial Pier (formerly called the 69th Street Ferry Pier) at 11 a.m.

On Dec. 7, 1941, there was a horrific attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on America’s Pacific fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to it as, “A date which will live in infamy.” A total of 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 were wounded.

The memorial tribute, conducted by Brooklyn VFW County Commander Gary Wasserman, included tossing a memorial wreath from the pier to represent the lives lost at Pearl Harbor.

Rev. Edward Kane, pastor of Holy Family Church of Canarsie, himself a veteran, delivered the invocation and spoke at the ceremony.

There were nearly a dozen veterans in attendance, including women veterans.

Members of the FDNY were there to show support and happily posed for photos with the vets.

Photographer Marc A. Hermann, a resident of Bay Ridge, dressed up in full uniform as a WWII naval soldier, toting a gun and carrying the American flag.

John Quaglione, deputy chief of staff and press secretary for state Sen. Marty Golden was in attendance representing Golden. Brooklyn County Auxiliary President Barbara Wasserman attended, along with members of the VFW Brooklyn County Auxiliary.

Wasserman told the Brooklyn Eagle, “The attack on Pearl Harbor has come to stand as a testament to future generations — that while our homeland may be attacked, our enemies will never defeat our republic or our way of life. We are celebrating the greatest generation so that they are never forgotten.”