It's a date that, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, will live in infamy: December 7, 1941. Today is the 74th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in the U.S. Territory of Hawaii.

Shortly after the president's speech, the U.S. declared war against Japan and brought the U.S. into World War II.

The nation has just come out of the Great Depression from 1929 - 1939, which saw high unemployment, decreasing consumer spending and investments and a dismal financial outlook for many Americans following the stock market crash of 1929.

It was also during this time in the 1920s that men were born who would soon serve their country as mere teenagers and later be called part of “The World’s Greatest Generation.”

Several Bossier Sheriff's Posse members remember the war well. They share their stories with us today.

"The greatest generation is not necessarily the service members who went. It was also the people, the women that went to the factories to help build the planes, World War supplies. We needed farmers for the food. They were all the greatest generation. Just coming off the Depression, that helped us be able to cope in a lot of things, to do without during rationing and those times."
-- Ray Urban, 95-year-old U.S. Marine Corps WWII veteran

"Don’t expect someone to give you something. Realize that anything that you have, anything that you accomplish in this world, you’re going to get out there and sweat, and drub and work for it. Because God honors work. He says it’s honorable. Every man ought to earn his bread through the sweat of his brow."
-- John Williams, 88-year-old U.S. Navy WWII veteran

"I can’t thank these men enough who serve on the Posse," said Sheriff Whittington in a news release. "Some served in the military in World War II, others in Korea or Vietnam, and then other men who may not have worn a military uniform, but they volunteer their time to serve the residents of Bossier Parish. Helping alongside our Posse are volunteers with the Ladies’ Auxiliary, and these men and women know what it means to serve others. Thank you for your selflessness and giving hearts. We sincerely appreciate it."

Hear more remarkable stories of service in this video recorded in the summer of 2014:

More From News Radio 710 KEEL