真珠湾攻撃から７８年、９８歳で死去の生存者は戦艦アリゾナの元へ

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】1941年に旧日本軍が米ハワイの真珠湾を奇襲攻撃してから78年となった7日、オアフ島で追悼式典が行われた。真珠湾攻撃は、それまで孤立主義をとっていた米国が第2次世界大戦に参戦するきっかけを作った。（写真は米ハワイ・オアフ島のアリゾナ記念館前で行われた真珠湾攻撃78年の追悼式典で、敬礼するミサイル駆逐艦ウィリアム・P・ローレンスの乗組員たち）
　日本軍の爆撃を受けた戦艦アリゾナが沈む湾に臨む場所で行われた式典には退役軍人のほか、デービッド・バーンハート内務長官やハリー・ハリス駐韓米大使も出席。スピーチや礼砲と共に犠牲者を悼み、生存者をたたえた。真珠湾攻撃による犠牲者は２４００人を超える。
　この日の午後には、爆撃で炎上したアリゾナから救出された生存者の一人だったローレン・ブルーナーさんの水葬が営まれた。今年９月に９８歳で亡くなったブルーナーさんは生前、真珠湾攻撃で命を落とした仲間たちと共に葬られたいと語っており、ブルーナーさんの遺灰は海底のアリゾナの元へ沈められた。
　アリゾナに埋葬された生存者はブルーナーさんが４４人目だが、慰霊施設「アリゾナ記念館」の広報担当ジェイ・ブラウン氏によれば、アリゾナと仲間たちの元へ帰る乗組員はブルーナーさんが最後だという。
　ブルーナーさんの死去により、生存者は３人となったが、３人はいずれも家族と共に埋葬されることを望んでいる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/09-11:35）

With speeches and salutes, veterans and officials on Saturday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the 1941 sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, which brought a previously reluctant United States into World War II.
A ceremony in Hawaii honoring survivors was attended by US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Washington's ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris.
It was held within sight of the sunken USS Arizona, which was bombed in the opening moments of the attack that killed more than 2,400 Americans.
Later in the day, the remains of Lauren Bruner, who died in September aged 98 and was among the last sailors rescued from the Arizona after it exploded into flames, was interred in the wreckage.
Bruner had expressed in years past his wish to be buried alongside fellow sailors who died on that fateful day.
This is the last surviving crewman of the USS Arizona being returned to his ship and his shipmates, Pearl Harbor National Memorial spokesman Jay Blount told AFP.
Bruner will be the 44th USS Arizona survivor interred on the ship. The remaining three living sailors who survived the attack will be laid to rest with their families.
One of them, 98-year-old Lou Conter, attended the memorial alongside some 120 members of Bruner's family.
At sunset, National Park Service and military divers took the urn containing Bruner's ashes and lowered it to his final resting place in the hull of the ship's wreckage.
- 'Glad to see them' -
Bruner was among six men who had gathered at the back of the doomed battleship on December 7, 1941 as Japanese warplanes bombed the ship, when a sailor onboard a nearby vessel threw them a line.
The 21-year-old, who was badly burned and had been shot twice in the leg, managed to grab the rope that pulled him and his comrades to safety.
At the time, president Franklin D. Roosevelt described the surprise attack on the US Navy base near Honolulu as a date which will live in infamy.
A total of 1,177 sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona were killed and more than 900 could not be recovered from the ship, according to the National Park Service.
Bruner went on to fight after recovering from his injuries, taking part in battles in the Aleutian Islands and in the South Pacific. He retired from the Navy in 1947.
He explained his decision to have his remains interred in the sunken ship at a 2014 news conference.
Well, I studied it for a long time, Stars and Stripes quoted him as saying. All my family and friends have been buried in various places, cemeteries.
But it seems like after a while, nobody pays attention to them anymore after about five years. I hope that a lot of people will still be coming to the Arizona. I would be glad to see them.
Saturday's ceremony took place three days after a disgruntled sailor at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard shot dead two people before killing himself.
On Friday, another shooter -- a Saudi military trainee -- opened fire at a navy base in Florida, killing three people before he was gunned down.
Officials said security was beefed up during the ceremony marking the Pearl Harbor attack anniversary.