GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Grand Rapids Home for Veterans is home to 36 World War II veterans, all with different memories of how they heard about Pearl Harbor.

To honor these veterans and the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, the GRHV held a service for residents, volunteers and community members on Wednesday to share their stories of the war, and of those who served.

"We're here as a family, that's what this is all about,"said Bill Campbell, organizer of the event. Campbell has handled the event'd details with the GRHV for 27 years. "Let's remember to remember Pearl Harbor and be on guard that something like this never happens again."

Source: All photos by Cory Morse | Mlive.com

Beverly Summers, an Air Force veteran and a GRHV volunteer, had a cousin who served in the Marines during World War II and was stationed at Hawaii's Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack.

"Corporal Delong joined the Marines in August 1949. He was from a small town in Ohio and he was to return to the mainland the following year to attend a Marine school and study mathematics," she said. "He was stationed on the U.S.S. Arizona. He was in a beautiful part of the country, I'm sure he was enjoying his duty. He was 29 years old. The U.S.S. Arizona lost 1,177 men that day. 1,008 were sailors and 69 were Marines, like my cousin.

"After 75 years, my cousin is still on the U.S.S. Arizona, entombed," said Summers.

Over 2,400 soldiers and civilians died during the attack, and 1,200 more were injured. Two battleships were sunk and five were damaged, among plenty of other wreckage, said Dick Harms, a former historian with the city of Grand Rapids and a curator at Calvin College.

"Of those at Pearl Harbor, there were 77 brothers," said Harms. "Of these 77 men, 62 were killed. 80 percent. In 23 sets of those brothers, both brothers were killed. Only one set of brothers had both brothers survive."

Mary Judnich, a representative from Senator Debbie Stabenow's office, spoke at the memorial to tell a story of a Pearl Harbor survivor whom she had met.

"I know that survivors of Pearl Harbor, the few who remain, worried that this day would be forgotten as they pass on," she said. "We will not forget."

Judnich and Harms, as well as former Kent County Commissioner Ted Vonk, all talked about the importance of sharing stories and teaching younger generations about Pearl Harbor and its effects on America still seen today.

"These brothers, fathers and sons are the kinds of stories that make this loss real," said Harms. "We come here today to remember the sacrifice. We simply can do no less."