COEUR d'ALENE - There are some dates in life, said Winton Elementary teacher Nancy Mueller, that you remember exactly what you were doing.

You remember the time of day, where you were and who you were with. There are days you will never forget.

Dec. 7, 1941, was such a day for many veterans, including Vic Eachon.

"We were piling wood out in the backyard. Mom come out of the house and she said, 'The Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor.' and the rest was history," the Coeur d'Alene man said.

Eachon was 16 at the time, and joined the Navy when he was 17. His older brother, Bob, also joined the Navy, and both served during War World II.

The two were at Winton Elementary on Friday for the school's annual Dec. 7 assembly to honor veterans.

Bob, 89, and Vic, 86, enjoyed the hour-long ceremony highlighted by spirited students who sang, danced and delivered sharp speeches.

Many wore red, white and blue as they belted out tributes to the different military branches - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

"They did an excellent job," Bob Eachon said.

Students like fifth-grader Nick Nazemi were pleased to do their part to honor veterans.

"They gave their lives and honor to us to give us freedom," he said.

Another fifth-grader, Alex Barrett, said "These veterans really devoted their lives to help the U.S."

Some vets arrived late, hobbling in slowly with the assistance of canes or walkers. Some needed help down the steep stairs to the gym.

No matter.

They were determined to be there for the Dec. 7 event in its seventh year.

About 20 veterans, seated in the center of a packed gymnasium, rose slowly and saluted as fifth-grader Dallas Dixon sang the words to "Taps."

For some, tears fell.

They remember where they were on Dec. 7, 1941.

- Jim Shepperd was in Coeur d'Alene when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor that killed 2,390 servicemembers and launched the U.S. into World War II.

"We went home and looked on the map to see exactly where Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was. I really wanted to join the service, but was too young. When I graduated from high school I enlisted in the Navy," wrote Shepperd, who attended Friday's assembly.

- Cope Gale, also at the assembly despite difficulty walking, wrote: "On the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor I was going to school at the University of Idaho. That Sunday morning I was getting ready to play golf. I had been an Army Horse Soldier, Calvary, but in 1941 I enlisted in the Navy."

- Ray Garland of Coeur d'Alene was 19 when he joined the Marine Corps in July 1941. "On Dec. 7, 1941 I was stationed in Pearl Harbor on the USS Tennessee. I was the youngest crew member aboard the ship. I was on watch from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. that day. I was just about to raise the flag on the ship when the first wave of the attack began. The USS Tennessee was right behind the USS Arizona and the direct hit on it also caused damage to our ship. I was thrown and burned and spent the next several days in a hospital."

Veteran Dusty Rhoads, who attended the assembly, said for many vets the Dec. 7 attack on the U.S. "hurts real deep."

The pain is still there.

"That was one of my reasons for going into the service when I did," said Rhoads, who served 26 years with the Air Force.

Bud Oakland was 15 when the bombs fell that morning 71 years ago. He was feeding hogs and cows on the family farm in Minnesota when word came via the radio bombs fell at Pearl Harbor that Sunday morning.

The next day, he was off to the newly formed Minnesota State Guard.

"We were trained as if we were in boot camp except we carried wooden rifles, not real ones," wrote Oakland, who served with the Navy from 1944 to 1946.

The Coeur d'Alene man appreciated the students' efforts on Friday, calling the assembly the best yet.

"It was very nice, very nice," he said. Such events are important, he said, so "the rest of our generation will recognize what went on as part of Dec. 7."

Assembly organizer Nancy Mueller has long supported and worked with veterans. Her father, Neil Dammarell, was a Marine who served in World War II.

A student read these words attributed to Dammarell: "I was on Craig Mountain cutting Christmas trees with a friend and a couple of teachers from the local school. We were listening to the radio and heard that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. I joined the Marine Corps in 1942."

Mueller said in talking with veterans, she has learned much about their sacrifices and love of country. And what they have told her, she said, made one thing very clear.

"It has become so apparent to me the importance of not forgetting," she said.