100-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor Earl “Chuck” Kohler was a 17-year-old Seaman 1st Class when he stormed the Ford Island base in central Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941, with bombs and machine gun bullets raining down down on him as he grabbed a .50 caliber machine gun, jumped into a plane and started firing into the sky. Now a Concord resident, he is a fixture at the annual beacon lighting, which this year marked the 83rd anniversary of the surprise attack that killed 2,403 Americans and plunged the U.S. into World War II.

From a press release: “The Beacon lighting is a tribute to the people who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor,” noted Pearl Harbor survivor Earl “Chuck” Kohler.

The rotating lantern was installed in the late 1920s to support transcontinental aviation. To allay fears that the beacon could be used as a navigational aid by enemy submarines, the system was disabled during World War II and only used for one night on Pearl Harbor Day in 1964 at the suggestion of retired Admiral Chester Nimitz, the wartime commander , returned to service with the US Pacific Fleet.