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Nashua honors Pearl Harbor’s 77th anniversary

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Dec 3, 2018

Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup Korean War veteran Bob Courtemanche, left, and World War II veteran Richard Mohrmann salute the playing of TAPS after they tossed the ceremonial funeral wreath into the Nashua River during Sunday's annual Pearl Harbor Day anniversary service in downtown Nashua.

NASHUA – Generations of military personnel, ranging from World War II veteran Dick Mohrmann to current servicemen, women and high school-aged Junior ROTC members, braved a chilly, steady rain Sunday morning, setting their eyes on flags and opening their hearts in remembrance of the U.S. casualties of the Pearl Harbor attack some 77 years ago this week.

“We gather to reflect on the events of Dec. 7, 1941, to honor those who lost their lives that day, and to be reminded of the lasting impact of this time in our nation’s history – how it shaped our past and present, and can shape our future,” Mayor Jim Donchess said in addressing participants and a handful of onlookers.

As they’ve done each December for decades, Mohrmann, 93, a corporal in World War II who served under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and Bob Courtemanche, a Korean War veteran and a director of the New Hampshire Korean War Veterans Association, alternately stood at attention and bowed their heads in prayer for the 2,403 American souls lost in the Japanese attack upon the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor.

Umbrellas of various sizes and colors hovered over the men and women as they stood at attention in Bicentennial Park, where the ceremony has taken place for a number of years on a Sunday morning on, or close to, Dec. 7.

Noting that 1,177 of the Americans killed were officers and crewmen on the U.S.S. Arizona, Donchess spoke of President Roosevelt’s declaration of war upon Japan the day following the attack.

The U.S. thereby “entered the biggest and deadliest war in history,” Donchess said.

As destructive as the Pearl Harbor attack was, Americans rose up and united as one in a surge of national pride and spirit that carried the nation through World War II.

That spirit of service continued through America’s subsequent armed conflicts, Donchess noted, naming Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan “and all the other conflicts in which our servicemen and women have fought, and continue to fight today, to protect our freedoms.”

Following a prayer led by Korean War veteran George Marineau, Nashua Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 483 chaplain, Mohrmann and Courtemanche picked up the ceremonial green funeral wreath and awaited orders.

They then marched to the railing along the Nashua River and tossed the wreath into the water, a tradition pays tribute to America’s soldiers and sailors who died at sea.

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.

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