About 75 Utahns are among the survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor expected to receive a commemorative medal authorized by Congress as part of this year's 50th anniversary of the Japanese strike.
Anyone serving in the armed forces or working for the Navy or War Department on Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941, is eligible for the bronze commemorative medal that is being struck by the U.S. Mint.More than 3,000 Americans died in the Japanese air strike. Many of those who survived the attack are affiliated with the 13,000-member Pearl Harbor Survivor's Association, which was given the task of tracking down veterans and civilians who are eligible for the medal.
In Utah, that job went to Salt Lake resident Arthur Buell, state chairman of the survivors association, who was on the repair ship U.S.S. Medusa in Pearl Harbor during the attack.
Buell said he sent copies of a government letter about the medal to all of the association's 95 state members. So far, about 75 of those members have completed applications that have been approved by the Department of Defense.
Families of civilians or veterans who survived the attack 50 years ago but have died since are also eligible for the medal. Buell believes there are a number of Pearl Harbor survivors or their families in Utah that he does not know about and has not been able to contact.
The Pentagon may have anticipated the difficulty contacts in the states would have finding survivors when it established a Washington-based phone line for inquiries and applicants: 800-545-4052.
Determining eligibility for the medal has been complicated, in part, by the absence of some Army records that were destroyed in a 1973 fire at military warehouse in St. Louis.
State chapters of the survivors association have also been given the charge of organizing the ceremonies close to Pearl Harbor Day where the medals will be presented. "Orders are to get a member of the congressional delegation to conduct the ceremony, and I've tried to do that," Buell said.
"I can't get anybody from the congressional delegation to commit to it. I'm looking at the latter part of November for a presentation," he said. "They say Congress (will be) in session and they can't make any promises."
The ceremony isn't likely to be held on Pearl Harbor Day itself because Buell and other members of the survivors association plan to be at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 for special ceremonies planned at the memorial there.