Long Island Air Force Association memorializes 82nd anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack
The Long Island Air Force Association memorialized the 82nd Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by carrying on its annual "dropping of the roses" tradition.
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Long Islanders remembered "a day that will live in infamy" at the American Air Power Museum in Farmingdale on Thursday.
The ceremony honored the 2,403 soldiers and civilians who died that day, as well as 17 local World War II veterans.
"As the memories of Pearl Harbor and World War II recede deeper into the crevices of our mind, we have to take these opportunities to pay tribute to those that are still here with us," says retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Bill Stratemeier.
The Long Island Air Force Association memorialized the 82nd Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by carrying on its annual "dropping of the roses" tradition.
The tradition dates back to 1970, started by Joseph Hydrusko, a Navy medic at Pearl Harbor during the attack. Each year since the attack, Hydrusko would fly his aircraft and drop one American Beauty rose into New York Harbor. Hydrusko passed in 1983, and on Thursday, his friends continued his tradition.
Among the 83 roses collected from the ceremony, one white rose honors those lost in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Each year at the time of the attacks, the roses are released over the Statue of Liberty.
