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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Spokane remembrance of 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor scheduled for Tuesday

Hawaiian leis adorn a wreath honoring Ray Garland, the final living serviceman in the Inland Northwest present during the Japanese attack who had also been a member of the Lilac City chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association in December 2019. (DAN PELLE)
By Kip Hill kiph@spokesman.com(509) 459-5429

The widow of a surviving Pearl Harbor veteran has vowed once again to commemorate the attack at a ceremony Tuesday morning in Riverfront Park.

“There’s just something in me that says I’ve got to do this as long as I can,” said Vina Mikkelsen, wife of the late Denis Mikkelsen, late last month.

The commemoration will occur at the Pearl Harbor memorial at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena beginning at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, Mikkelsen said. There will be short remarks and those who choose to may place leis of flowers on the memorial.

The region’s last known Pearl Harbor military survivor, Ray Garland of Post Falls, died in 2019. Denis Mikkelsen, a U.S. Navy radioman assigned to the USS West Virginia, died in 2013.

An estimated 2,403 Americans died during the attack on Dec. 7, 1941, including 68 civilians. The United States declared war on Japan the next day.