President Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the World War II Memorial in Washington on Tuesday to honor Americans who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor exactly 80 years ago.
After a short motorcade to the National Mall, Mr. Biden and Mrs. Biden approached a wreath in the center of the memorial adorned with a wild sunflower, the state flower of Kansas, in honor of the late Sen. Robert Dole, who was wounded in World War II. He died Sunday after a long and storied political career and will lie in state at the Capitol.
Mrs. Biden touched the memorial’s wreath with her right hand before a moment of silence and Mr. Biden made the sign of the cross before walking to the New Jersey pillar at the oval-shaped memorial between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
Mrs. Biden laid a bouquet at the New Jersey pillar in honor of her father, Donald Jacobs, who served as a U.S. Navy Signalman in the war.
The first couple walked to the Pacific Tower and stood side-by-side to view the memorial before the motorcade brought them back to the White House.
The morning ceremony was one of many that will unfold to mark National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
SEE ALSO: Survivors gather to remember those lost at Pearl Harbor
The surprise attack by the Japanese on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, killed more than 2,400 Americans and prompted the U.S. to declare war against Japan.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously declared Dec. 7 a “day of infamy” in an address to a joint session of Congress.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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