PEARL HARBOR — As the years go by, their numbers diminish, but not their spirit.

For the 30 Pearl Harbor survivors at yesterday's 67th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, there was no place they'd rather be.

Some had been there for dozens of memorial tributes; for others, it was their first since the Japanese attack in 1941.

Pearl Harbor survivor George Smith choked back tears as people came up to him after the 90-minute tribute to thank him for his service.

At 85, there isn't much that Smith hasn't seen. One of the youngest men aboard the USS Oklahoma, which sank in 12 minutes after taking three torpedo hits, Smith helped save as many as he could bring to shore with him. He had been on deck on watch that morning, on machine-gun duty, when the attack started, he said.

"I feel very proud that I've survived," said Smith, of Washington. "I'm very honored by all these people. I'm no hero. I was simply doing my duty."

To mark the moment, the commemorative service started at 7:40 a.m., just minutes before the 7:55 a.m. assault by Japanese planes in 1941. The moment of the attack was marked with a moment of silence that united the 2,000 in attendance. There are 3,000 to 5,000 Pearl Harbor survivors still alive today.

Unified by the one event, they all remember clearly what they did and where they were the moment of the attack. They stood in crisp salute as the USS Chung-Hoon sailed past Kilo Pier and the Hawai'i Air National Guard rumbled overhead in the "missing man" formation.

Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the Pacific Fleet, praised the men who gave so much.

"You rallied an entire nation," Willard said, directing his remarks to the Pearl Harbor survivors. "Today's ceremony brings us to the very start."

The attack launched the U.S. into World War II, and "Remember Pearl Harbor" became the rallying cheer to unify the country behind the war. Six military sites on O'ahu were attacked, killing 2,390, destroying or damaging more than 320 aircraft and sinking or damaging 21 vessels.

Yesterday's memorial service began on the pier and included daylong events that included tours to the USS Arizona Memorial. The memorial is part of the newly created World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, established by President Bush on Friday.

In his wheelchair, with his daughter hovering by his side, 87-year-old John Eriksson wore his medals and pins proudly. This was his first trip back to Hawai'i since the Pearl Harbor attack, when he was a 28-year-old platoon sergeant sleeping in a barracks.

"I was here shooting at them," said Eriksson, of Arkansas. "We had no defense. But it lasted three or four hours. I still have two bullets in my chest. I think about this every day. And I'm glad to be here."

And not one of them calls himself a hero.

Not Yuell Chandler Jr., who remembers he almost got clipped by a crashing Japanese fighter bomber landing on a highway.

"I remember I had my gun, but no ammo," said the 90-year-old Chandler, who lives in Hawai'i. "I only had my bayonet. It was my first time in battle, and I almost got killed.

"I thought the world was gonna end. I was only 22."

Not survivor Gilbert Meyer, 85, who remembered how he had just gone to sleep after standing the third watch. The first explosion rocked the starboard side of the USS Utah, and it still wasn't enough to rouse him. But when the second hit came and the ship was severely listing and rolling, it got his attention.

"I knew something was wrong," said Meyer, a Texan. "I climbed out of the ship in only my skivvies. I took my new pair of shoes with me, but I lost them along the way.

"It was chaos. I am not a hero. Every time I go back to my ship, I shed a tear. Every time I read my friends' names, I say a little prayer for them."

And not Thomas Griffin, a pilot during the famed Doolittle raid on Japan in April 1942. Griffin, yesterday's keynote speaker, needed help getting up the stairs to the podium, but his voice boomed with feeling as he recalled how the Doolittle raiders did their job, hitting targets in Japan.

"We took Japan entirely by surprise," said Griffin, 92. "They thought they had another 24 hours before we arrived. We were 15 1/2 hours in the air. Our mission was a success because it made the Japanese change their plans of attack on Midway, and from that time on, Japan was on the defensive."