CSU East Bay Concord Center To Host Mt. Diablo Beacon Ceremony

CONCORD, CA — California State University East Bay's Concord Center is hosting a ceremony to light up the Mt. Diablo Beacon lighthouse Thursday, the 82nd anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks.

The lighthouse, which was first lit remotely by pilot Charles Lindbergh in 1928, is also lit on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The Beacon shined from the summit every night to guide pilots from 1928 until Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the Pearl Harbor attack. It was not relit until Dec. 7, 1964, when Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces during World War II, attended a ceremony on the Mt. Diablo summit in honor of Pearl Harbor survivors. He suggested the Beacon be lit every Dec. 7 to honor survivors and people who served.

A ceremony will take place at California State University East Bay's Concord campus at 4700 Ygnacio Valley Road. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday with a reception and exhibit honoring the USS Arizona, a ship that was badly damaged during the attacks and sunk to the bottom of Pearl Harbor. The remembrance ceremony will start at 3:45, and the beacon will be lit at 5 p.m. The ceremony is sponsored by Cal State East Bay, Save Mount Diablo, and the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, Chapter 5.

Visit savemountdiablo.org or csueastbay.edu for more information.