Two Long Island residents who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor were honored Wednesday during a ceremony marking 75 years since one of the nation's darkest days.

Veterans from across Long Island gathered at the American Air Power Museum in Farmingdale to remember, reflect and salute those lost on Dec. 7, 1941.

Gerard Barbosa, 93, had just finished eating breakfast on board the USS Raleigh when a torpedo ripped through the hull of his ship.

"You have to be there to know how it really was," says Barbosa. "When you're trying to run to gun stations and the bullets are bouncing all over."

Seymour Blutt, 98, says he had a mop in his hand when the Japanese bombs began to fall. He says he ran for his life across a field as a hail of bullets rained down. Seconds later, the building he was in was blown up.

During the ceremony, a plaque commemorating the anniversary was unveiled. At the end of the ceremony, 75 roses and one white rose for the Sept. 11 attacks were blessed and brought on board a plane to drop over the Statue of Liberty.

The surprise bombing on the United States naval base in Hawaii killed more than 2,400 Americans.