Area military veterans and members of West Virginia Universitys ROTC programs will observe Pearl Harbor Day Wednesday, Dec. 7, at Oglebay Plaza on WVU s Downtown Campus.

The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at the plaza in front of Oglebay Hall, said John Horne, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 548. Veterans and members of WVU s Air Force and Army ROTC units will gather at Post 548 on Spruce Street before the program and march to the plaza.

The mast of the USS West Virginia, which was sunk during the Japanese attack on Americas fleet 64 years ago, stands in Oglebay Plaza as a tribute to veterans of the war. The bell from the armored cruiser USS West Virginia also occupies a spot on the plaza.

This years program will include placement of wreaths before the mast, taps, a 21-gun salute and bell-ringing, Horne said.

Maj. Rocco Blasi, an assistant professor in the Air Force ROTC program at WVU , will be the featured speaker. Garett Michaels, an Iraq war veteran and Army ROTC cadet, will serve as master of ceremonies.

More than 2,400 U.S. military personnel and civilians died in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that ushered America into World War II.

The USS West Virginia sank after being hit by seven torpedoes and two bombs, entombing 105 crew members. Afterward, the ship was refloated and refurbished for service during the war and was the first vessel to drop anchor in Tokyo Bay before Japan surrendered.

The ship was decommissioned after the war, and efforts began locally to have its mast transported to the WVU campus from Seattle, where the Navy was dismantling the vessel. A dedication ceremony for the mast was held March 17, 1961, and the mast was mounted in 1963.

VFW Post 548 has been leading Pearl Harbor Day ceremonies at the plaza since the 1970s. The Universitys Army and Air Force ROTC units have also been regular participants.