At 8:06 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, the USS Arizona was attacked in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
A powder magazine exploded, nearly ripping the ship in half.
On board were three men from Bayfield,: Ralph Fife, a 1940 graduate of Bayfield High School, and Eugene Berry and Harold Carmack, both 1941 graduates.
On Thursday, members of American Legion Post 143 honored their memories at the new Veterans Memorial at the Pine River Cemetery in Bayfield. Special guests at the event were their relatives, Jon Carmack, Vivian Tate and Elaine Berry Baird.
"It is our opinion that no other town of our size lost three residents that day in the USS Arizona," said Tony Schrier, a member of the Bayfield post. On that day, 1,177 members of the U.S. Navy and Marines died on the ship, almost half of the casualties in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of the servicemen, including the three from Bayfield, are entombed in the ship.
"These young men had decided to join the Navy, of their own choice, before a draft was implemented and the U.S. was not involved in any conflict," Schrier noted.
Post members lowered the three flags at the memorial to half-staff as Tim Lovejoy played "Taps." About 30 people were at the ceremony, and the many veterans in attendance stood at attention and saluted as the flags were lowered in the cold wind.
Bob Pope, a U.S. Marine veteran, read a poem about World War II sailors by Mac McGovern.
Jon Carmack of Durango said his father, Jack, was close to his big brother, Harold. Jack also enlisted in the Navy, waiting until the spring of 1942 because his father asked him to wait to spare his mother more grief, Carmack remembered. He returned home to Bayfield in 1945.
