(Milwaukee, WI December 7, 20202) Today, Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell R. Lucas issued the following statement in remembrance of the American lives lost in the December 7, 1941 attack in Pearl Harbor:
“On today’s date, 79 years ago, 2,403 heroic Americans sacrificed their lives in defense of our great nation,” said Sheriff Lucas. “Thinking not of themselves but of their country, courageous Sailors and Airmen leapt into action to defend their vessels, their base, and the people of Hawaii from a surprise act of war. We are reminded today of the legacy of heroism left behind by the two Milwaukee County natives, Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh, commander of the USS Arizona, and 17-year-old Seaman Second Class Arthur Thinnes, who were killed in action on that infamous day at Pearl Harbor.”
“The history of a great nation is marred by tragedy and redeemed by triumph in the face of adversity, at home and abroad,” continued Sheriff Lucas. “As we, here at home in Milwaukee County, grapple with the great crises of our time, let us look to our forebears of the Greatest Generation as examples of the courage, integrity, and devotion to duty that we might emulate.”
