I was delighted to see that remembering Pearl Harbor made the front page of today's Philadelphia Inquirer.

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - "Battle stations!!!"

The Klaxon's blare blew Jack McElroy out of his bunk on the Helm, a Navy destroyer in this ill-fated Pacific Ocean port.

The West Catholic High School graduate, newly minted as a petty officer, was dog tired after the midnight-to-4 a.m. watch at his post in the boiler room. He was barely asleep when the alarm sounded about 8 a.m. - and annoyed by what he thought was a drill.

"In peacetime, 'general quarters' on a Sunday morning was unheard of. And as far as I knew, we were still at peace," recalled McElroy, 87, born in Philadelphia and now living in Folsom, Delaware County.

As Japanese warplanes rained hundreds of bombs onto the U.S. fleet here - sinking battleships still tied to piers, destroying aircraft on the ground, killing and wounding more than 3,000 U.S. personnel - McElroy learned in a heartbeat what President Franklin D. Roosevelt would tell the world: This was no drill, it was the lightning-in-a-blue-sky attack that pulled the United States into World War II exactly 66 years ago Friday.

A recent past president of the Philadelphia-area chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors' Association, Horanzy said the rate of attrition among survivors has been escalating.

"We used to have 150 members. We're down to about 28 or 29 because they're passing away. When we have meetings, we're lucky if we can get four or five to come who aren't too sick," he said.

At 87, Mario Chiarolanza, an Army air corpsman at Pearl Harbor, is remarkably spry. A resident of Lafayette Hill, he still works part-time as a Montgomery County Courthouse tipstaff.

Born at 25th and Cambria Streets in North Philadelphia, Chiarolanza enlisted at 20 and trained as an airplane mechanic. In May 1941, he shipped out for Hawaii. As a corporal second class, he was the crew chief in charge of maintenance for the 72d Fighter Squadron.

Hawaii was "pretty nice duty" before the war, he said, and hell on that Dec. 7. He was walking to church when the Japanese attacked and took cover in a coconut grove.

"I saw the bombs dropping. I saw the airplanes exploding. I saw the guys dying. Yes, I've seen a lot," he said.

He went to Pearl Harbor last year for the 65th anniversary. He plans to be in Willow Grove on Friday.

If he had the Ramsdell siblings in front of him, he said, he would tell them simply: "Be proud of your father forever. And thank you for his service."

It's because of them that there was not another unprovoked attack on the United States for so many years.

One of the reasons it's so important to remember Pearl Harbor is that by remembering, we remind enemies and potential enemies that we remember.

For some great pictures, check out Michelle Malkin's post.

And remember.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds links a USAToday interview with five Pearl Harbor survivors:

Ten years ago, about 15 Pearl Harbor survivors were part of the pool of veterans who mingled with visitors, according to Skip Wheeler, a National Park Service ranger at the Arizona memorial who coordinates the volunteer effort. Now there are just these five.

One of the regulars, Air Force veteran Bill Cope, died on Nov. 25 at age 94.

"The attrition level is here, and we know that every day that they show up, it's sort of like a gift," Arizona Memorial historian Daniel Martinez said.

Rodrigues said there are only 19 members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association still on Oahu. "The Arizona had 233 survivors, and I just got word ... that there are only 25 living," he said.

"I hate to say it, but we know that our time is coming," he said. "I don't go to church, but I say my prayers."