HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Relatives of one of the first Alabamians to die in World War II recalled his sacrifice with a cemetery ceremony nearly eight decades after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
A wreath-laying was held Sunday for Luther Isom of Huntsville, WAAY-TV reported. The 20-year-old sailor was serving aboard the USS Arizona when it was attacked by Japanese aircraft and sunk 79 years ago Monday on Dec. 7, 1941.
Isom’s body was one of about 110 recovered from the Arizona after the attack, which claimed the lives of more than 2,300 U.S. troops. Isom was originally buried in Honolulu before his was reinterred at Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville after the war.
Nephew Mark Ivey never met Isom, but he said events like the wreath-laying, which about a dozen people attended, help keep the man’s memory alive.
“These kind of activities mean so much, I think, to keep those thoughts alive for these kinds of sacrifices and these kinds of individuals are not forgotten,” Ivey said.
Isom was the first World War II casualty from Madison County.
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