Arts & Entertainment

Stonehill Professor Remembers Pearl Harbor at Westwood Senior Center

Senior residents reminisced about the infamous event nearly 70 years ago.

Westwood senior citizens attended a lively discussion Thursday in remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II.

The lecture, held at the Westwood Senior Center, featured Gary Hylander, a professor of history at Stonehill College, who reminisced about the events that led up to the infamous attack on of December 7, 1941.

"The war in the Pacific began in the air at Pearl Harbor," Hylander said. "And it ended in the air at Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

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Hylander, who has spoken previously at the Senior Center, noted that this past spring marked the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II. His lecture Thursday gave an overview of increasing tensions between America and Japan leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and he spent a few moments focusing on the damage to the USS Arizona, mentioning how the ship is now on display in the Pacific as a large memorial site.

Hylander also took a moment to read Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech the day after the attack, dissecting the power and impact of the former President's words.

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The lecture was sponsored by New Pond Village, a retirement community in Walpole, where he also gives frequent historical lectures.

Hylander will be reappearing at the Senior Center on Thursday, June 22 at 10 a.m., to discuss D-Day and other aspects of World War II.


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