Wednesday marks 75 years since the day that has lived in infamy, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The history is perhaps best learned through the memories of World War II veterans like 93-year-old Gerard Barbosa, of East Meadow.

As a 17-year-old gunner's mate, Barbosa fought during the Japanese surprise attack in Hawaii. He was serving aboard the USS Raleigh, one of eight battleships pounded by unrelenting airstrikes.

Barbosa remembers bombs and bullets from Japanese warplanes raining from the sky.

"I could hear the bullets bouncing in front of me and hitting the bulkhead against the wall," he recalls. "I hear this big explosion and I thought the ship was coming out of the water."

All Barbosa could think about was saving his ship and destroying the enemy.

When the smoke had cleared, 21 American ships were sunk or damaged, 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, and more than 2,400 Americans were killed.

The attack plunged America into World War II. Barbosa spent the next three years fighting in Europe, including the invasion of Normandy on D-Day.

He was wounded by bomb shrapnel, but made it out alive. The emotional scars of war still linger to this day.

The attack on Pearl Harbor is for many a distant chapter in the nation's history. It's why Barbosa has made it his mission to tell the story about the sacrifices made by the fallen to preserve the nation's freedom. He says he's proud to honor their memories by sharing his own.

"Lot of people call us heroes. We don't call ourselves heroes," he says. "We know what we were there for and we tried to do that job."