Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal The Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal, also known as the "Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Medal", is a bronze commemorative medal which was established by the United States Congress on November 5, 1990 (P.L. 101-510, 104 Stat. 1721). To have been eligible for the award, "a person must have been a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who was present in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, and who participated in combat operations that day against Imperial Japanese military forces attacking Hawaii. A person who was killed or wounded in that attack shall be deemed to have
Pearl Harbor in 1887. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941, was the immediate cause of the United States' entry into World War II. Pearl Harbor was originally an extensive shallow embayment called "Wai Momi" (meaning, “Waters of Pearl”) or "Puuloa" (meaning, “long hill”) by the Hawaiians. Puuloa was regarded as the home of the shark goddess, Kaahupahau, and her brother (or son), Kahiuka, in Hawaiian legends. According to tradition, Keaunui, the head of the powerful Ewa chiefs, is credited with cutting a navigable channel near the present Puuloa saltworks, by which he made the