Seeking a few good veterans

Although the number of Pearl Harbor veterans continues to dwindle, it doesn’t mean they’ll be forgotten, at least not in Newport Beach.

The tall ship Lynx, a 122-foot topsail schooner based in Newport Beach, will host a remembrance of Pearl Harbor on Thursday that includes laying a wreath in the Pacific Ocean and a cannon salute.

The educational foundation that runs the Lynx is looking for World War II veterans to participate in the ceremony, which is in its fifth year, but they’re often tough to find.

Jeffrey Woods, director of operations for the Lynx Educational Foundation, said it’s hard to fill the ship because the event is in the middle of the week, and also perhaps because there are fewer World War II survivors living today.

American Legion Post 291 in Newport Beach probably has between 50 and 60 members who are World War II veterans, out of the post’s 2,400 members, Post 291 Commander Randy Eling said.

“Our ranks are thinned out as the World War I and World War II guys go out,” he said. “Most of our membership right now is probably made up of the Vietnam-era people.”

The Lynx event will honor those surviving older veterans, and also remember U.S. troops in Iraq, Woods said.

“It’s a really great tribute the way we do it,” he said. They read patriotic speeches, raise and lower the flag, float a ceremonial wreath and give a cannon salute, he said.

“We educate them on what this ship represents and the era it came from also,” he said. The Privateer Lynx is a reproduction of an early-1800s ship like those that were commissioned to defend the U.S. before it had an official Navy.

The Lynx was close to Pearl Harbor on a recent trip to Hawaii, Woods said. A crew took the ship there from Newport Harbor to participate in a Fourth of July celebration and then make a goodwill tour of the islands.

They went by Pearl Harbor and fired the cannons as a salute, Woods said, but security in the harbor is tight and they couldn’t dock the Lynx there.

Last year a Pearl Harbor survivor was on the Lynx for the ceremony, but he died in 2005. Woods said even though he’s not from the World War II generation, he remembers the sacrifices those soldiers and their families made.

“I always think about it,” he said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Pearl Harbor Day remembrance

WHEN: 9 a.m. to noon, Thursday

WHERE: The Privateer Lynx sails from the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, 151 E. Coast Highway, Newport Beach

INFO: Tickets are $50 per person or $45 for seniors. For reservations, call (866) 446-5969.