PEARL HARBOR, Hawai'i — One of Hawai'i's signature rainbows made a brief appearance during the 67th anniversary of the morning attack on Pearl Harbor today.

Starting at 7:40 a.m., just minutes before the 7:55 a.m. air assault by Japanese bombers in 1941, today's services brought together Pearl Harbor survivors, World War II veterans and other war veterans from across the country.

Many make the pilgrimage annually, some only occasionally. But all relived the horror of the day that went down in infamy. The day where the country was under siege.

Like 87-year-old John Eriksson. Dressed in a suit, his lapels covered in his pins and medals, Eriksson said he had been stationed in Pearl Harbor during the attack. In a wheel chair today because his legs aren't as sturdy as they used to be, Eriksson was a platoon sergeant in the barracks at the time of the attack.

"I was here shooting at them," said Eriksson, of Arkansas. "We had no defense. But it lasted three or four hours. I was a platoon sergeant. I still have two bullets in my chest.

"I think about this every day. And I'm glad to be here."

About 40 Pearl Harbor survivors were in attendance today for the ceremony hosted by the navy and the National Park Service that included a wreath laying at the USS Arizona Memorial.

In all, there are 3,000 to 5,000 Pearl Harbor survivors still living. Unified by the one event, they all remember clearly what they did and where they were the moment of the attack. They stood in crisp salute as the USS Chung-Hoon sailed past Kilo Pier and and the Hawai'i Air National Guard rumbled over head in the "missing man" formation.

The memorial service began on the pier and included day-long events that included tours to the USS Arizona Memorial, the single most visited attraction in the Islands at Pearl Harbor. The memorial is part of the newly created World War II Valor in Pacific National Monument, established by President Bush last Friday.

The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 killed more than 2,390 Americans and sunk or severely damaged 21 boats; 323 planes were damaged or destroyed.

And not one of them calls himself a hero.

Not Yuell Chandler Jr., who remembers he almost got clipped by a crashing Japanese fighter bomber landing on a highway.

"I remember I had my gun, but no ammo," said the 90-year-old Chandler, who lives in Hawai'i. "I only had my bayonet. It was my first time in battle and I almost got killed.

"I thought the world was gonna end. I was only 22."

"The world changed that day," said Paul DePrey, National Park Service USS Arizona Memorial superintendent. The day made a dramatic departure from "being an idyllic Hawaiian setting to a battlefield."

Not Gilbert Meyer. The 85-year-old Texan, remembers how he had just gone to sleep after serving his duty on the 3rd watch. The first explosion rocked the starboard side of the USS Utah and it still wasn't enough to rouse him. But when the second hit and the ship was severely listing and rolling, it got his attention.

"I knew something was wrong," said Meyer. "I climbed out fo the ship in only my skivvies. I took my new pair of shoes with me, but I lost them along the way.

"It was chaos. I am not a hero. Every time I go back to my ship, I shed a tear. Every time I read my friends' names, I say a little prayer for them."

And not, Thomas Griffin, who was a pilot during the famed Doolittle raid on Japan in April 1942. Griffin, the keynote speaker today, needed help getting up the stairs to the podium, but his voice boomed with feeling as he recalled how the famed Doolittle raiders did their job, hitting targets in Japan.

" We took Japan entirely by surprise," said Griffin,92, "They thought they had another 24 hours before we arrived. We were 15 and a half hours in the air. Our mission was a success because it made the Japanese change their plans of attack on Midway and from that time on, Japan was on the defensive."