Tioga County Pays Tribute on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

On December 7, 1941, more than 2,500 people were killed in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

77 years ago today, the blue sky above Pearl Harbor was darkened by the bombs of Japanese forces in a surprise attack. Brave service members fought back fiercely with everything they could muster and instead of crushing our Nation, the attacks only made us stronger.

On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we honor the memory of those killed and wounded and we pay tribute to the heroes whose courage helped out nation recover from such a vicious attack.

Owego and Tioga County will remember their first WWII Fallen Hero of Pearl Harbor along with four deceased survivors on Pearl Harbor Day. The special remembrance ceremony will take place on Friday, December 7th in the Delmare Dale Sibley Memorial Hall of the Glenn A. Warner Post 171 Veterans of Foreign Wars on Main Street in Owego. The ceremony will begin at 12:55 p.m.

Owego Seaman Delmar Dale Sibley, 23-years-old is entombed on the Battleship USS Arizona along with 1,117 other brave sailors and marines. On the day of the attack, there were four other Tioga County servicemen stationed at Pearl Harbor. These four, since deceased, survived the attack. They were Army Air Corps Sergent Charles Bill Kennedy of Owego, Amry Sergent Rochard Hopkins of Berkshire, Army Technical Sergent Donald Stocks of Owego and Marine Lester Dunham of Owego. The lives of these men will also be honored.

[via History/VFW Post 171]