Veterans in Jacksonville honor Pearl Harbor survivors, fallen sailors

On Saturday, several groups in Jacksonville honored the sacrifice and bravery of service members at Pearl Harbor.

Dec. 7 marked 78 years since the surprise attack by Japanese forces claimed more than 2,400 American lives. Another 1,000 people were hurt.

It’s part of the reason Leon Austin enlisted in the Navy.

“I wanted to fight for my country after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor,” he said. “My father had to sign for me, I was only 17.”

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Now 91 years old, he joined other veterans at the Fleet Reserve Association Branch 290 in Atlantic Beach Saturday.

They hosted a remembrance ceremony to make sure the sacrifice and bravery that day are never forgotten.

“I want them to always remember those people died for their country,” Austin said.

The ceremony has been a tradition for the association for more than 50 years, almost as long as the branch has been serving veterans. It was established in 1963.

While veterans laid bouquets and saluted their fallen shipmates, something else weighed on their minds -- the shootings this week at Pearl Harbor and Naval Air Station Pensacola.

“The world is…. People have changed,” Austin said. “It makes no sense why a person would murder people that they don’t even know. Makes no sense at all.”

The group’s goal this Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day was to make sure Americans never lose sight of the lives lost and price paid for freedom.

“Thirty years in the Navy, and I’m proud of that. I’d do it again,” Austin said.

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