As Pearl Harbor is remembered,Hemet Survivor

Gery Porter is busier than ever, a fate that he accepts as a fact of life -- and death.

Every few months, the national treasurer for the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association receives notice of another chapter folding. Chapters are required to have enough members to have seven officers. And 68 years after Japan attacked the U.S. Navy base in Hawaii, many of the estimated 4,700 veterans who remain were mere teenagers at the time.

Porter said the chapter he presides over in Hemet in Riverside County now uses honorary members to meet charter requirements.

And today, on the attack's anniversary, Porter is in Hawaii to mark the deaths of his shipmates aboard the USS West Virginia.

He doesn't usually attend the annual rites unless there's a survivors convention, but he made an exception this year.

"I decided to go because the man who had been presenting the wreath passed away a few years ago," Porter, 87, said by telephone before he left.

The National Park Service and the Navy are hosting a ceremony today at the Naval Station Pearl Harbor's Kilo Pier commemorating the attack. Bands will play, rifle volleys will be shot, colors presented, wreaths laid and those who survived -- and perished -- will be remembered.

Porter said he lost 122 of his approximately 900 shipmates.

Aside from "a few aches," he is pleased that he is healthy enough to attend.

"We had a unique experience in the history of the country, and it is important to honor our men who are deceased," he said.

In an interview in 2005, Porter said the Hemet chapter's membership had decreased from 36 to 25. Today, it is in the neighborhood of 15 actual survivors, with six or eight or nine able to attend the monthly meetings at Hemet Elks Lodge No. 1740.

Porter described the meetings as "upbeat." Recent deaths are remembered but not dwelled upon, he said.

Nancy Larghey, 84, agreed: "It's very cheerful," she said.

Larghey is one of the honorary members and writes the chapter's newsletter. Her husband, the late Peter Larghey, was a member. Peter Larghey, who died in 1999, was in the Marines and had been reassigned to the Pearl Harbor port from the USS St. Louis before it was damaged in the attack.

According to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, 3,581 military and civilians died in the attack, six battleships were destroyed and 188 aircraft were lost.

Porter knows he will be receiving more notices of chapters folding for lack of members.

"We just have to accept it," Porter said, while adding: "I've attended a lot more funerals at Riverside National Cemetery than I would like."

Pearl Harbor

Japan, began to wage war to expand in the Far East. In 1938, this led the United States to place an embargo on exporting aircraft to Japan. The government also froze all Japanese assets in the U.S.

The Japanese came up with a plan to bomb Pearl Harbor and invade Thailand, the Malaysian Peninsula, and the Philippines.

Pearl Harbor, a U.S. base on Oahu Island in Hawaii, was home of its Pacific Fleet and about 50,000 American troops.

About 7:55 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941 , the Japanese staged a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, catching ships stuck at dock and planes stuck on the ground. The next day, the U.S. declared war on Japan to enter World War II.

The war with Japan ended with the Japanese surrender in September 1945.

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