Local Young Marines Travel to Hawaii for Pearl Harbor Anniversary Commemoration

BRADENTON — Youth members of the DeSoto Young Marines unit in Bradenton recently traveled to Hawaii to participate in the 73rd anniversary Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration. While there, the Young Marines also led the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Honolulu.

In total, 141 Young Marines from nine states traveled to Hawaii to participate in the commemoration, which included a wreath laying ceremony.

“Our youth members met some of the survivors of that historic event of 73 years ago, and such meetings left invaluable positive impressions,” said Michael Kessler, national executive director and CEO of the Young Marines. “You simply cannot put a price on getting the opportunity to talk to those from that generation who made headlines in the service of our country. The oldest veteran was 102 years young and filled with experiences that many of our schools feel are not that important. Our goal is to capture that information before it is lost forever."

The Young Marines performed a wreath laying ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the Punchbowl, in memory of all the brave men and women who are interred there.

During the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Honolulu, they carried the banners of the 12 capital ships that were attacked. The parade’s objective was to honor the heroes and survivors of Pearl Harbor and World War II, to pay tribute to veterans, active duty military members and military families, to celebrate freedom and to keep in remembrance the heinous events of Dec. 7, 1941.

The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501c(3) youth education and service program for boys and girls, age eight through the completion of high school. The Young Marines promotes the mental, moral and physical development of its members. The program focuses on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

Since the Young Marines' humble beginnings in 1959 with one unit and a handful of boys, the organization has grown to over 300 units with 11,000 youth and 3,000 adult volunteers in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Germany, Japan and affiliates in a host of other countries.