"If you want to feel like you were there, it was organized confusion and nobody knew what was going on," said Pearl Harbor survivor Al Collins.

From a VFW hall in Springfield more than six decades later, they read the old headlines and they remembered.

"The worst thing about it was the people that were burnt. They had hundreds of 'em in the barracks there and nothing to ease their pain or nothing, it was terrible," said Pearl Harbor survivor Guy Piper. "I saw these three planes coming and I saw one get the California."

"Everybody was running every which way, and we didn't know what to to run from," said Collins

When the smoke started to dissipate from the onslaught of bombs and bullets, more than 2,000 Americans died.

On this day, Americans across the country, including the Ozarks, pause to remember Pearl Harbor and our World War 2 heroes.

"It was total dedication. They volunteered to sign up the next day and went over there," said Chip Milner, who served in Vietnam.

The time to pay homage is fading. The number of World War 2 veterans left in the United States is fast disappearing, dying at a rate of more than 900 a day.

Those who fought, survived and are still able to tell their story said the lessons of the World War 2 should also be remembered.

"We ought to know what's going on around us, instead of forgetting that it can happen," said Collins.

Last Nov. 17, a planeload of World War 2 veterans took part in the first Ozarks Honor Flight, which takes our heroes to Washington, D.C., to see the National World War 2 Memorial. The next Ozarks Honore Flight is tentatively scheduled for next April 13.

The veterans fly free, the guardians and volunteers pay their way. Donations are always welcome for future Honor Flights. You can send tax-deductible contributions right here to KY3.

We also have a special phone number to call and make a donation 417-268-3390.