Dozens honor Pearl Harbor victims
By JEFFERY SMITH THE LEADER

Jason Cox The Leader Pearl Harbor survivor Don Bosket places a wreath at the base of the flag pole at the Bath Rod & Gun Club Sunday during the 27th Annual Pearl Harbor Ceremony. Boy Scouts Zachary Harrian (left), 13, and Michael Kretschmann, 11, of Troop 45 of Bradford raised the flag at the ceremony.

BATH Dozens soldiered through the snow Sunday afternoon to honor the memory of the nearly 2,400 U.S. military personnel who were killed Dec. 7, 1941 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

"We come together today to honor those brave heroes," said Richard A. Yartym, a U.S. Army medic during the Korean War, who organized the event, "to show our respect."

Undersheriff David Cole, guest speaker at the 27th annual ceremony, said veterans are responsible for the freedoms this country offers.

"You don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore," said Cole, outside the Bath Rod & Gun Club. "We owe them so much."

Don Bosket, a Pearl Harbor survivor who attended the ceremony, placed a wreath at a flagpole to honor those who died.

Members of a local Boy Scouts troop raised the American flag outside the club, after which the American Legion firing squad fired off a salute as "Taps" was performed.

Flags were flown at half mast Dec. 7 as part of national Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Yartym also honored four Chaplains who went down on the U.S. Troop Ship Dorchester when it was torpedoed Feb. 3, 1943.

The men where responsible for saving hundreds of lives by gathering the men on deck and handing out life jackets.

The four Chaplains were Clark V. Poling, Alexander D. Goode, John P. Washington and Rev. George L. Fox.