J.O. Young, Nampa, center, was a carpenter working for Boise-based Morrison-Knudsen on Dec. 7, 1941 on Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. After bombing Pearl Harbor the Japanese navy attacked Wake Island a few hours later where civilians like Young fought beside U.S. Marines and Navy Sailors for 15 days defending the island. "Those are days I'll never forget," Young said after viewing a new memorial at Veteran's Memorial Park in Boise Wednesday Dec. 7, 2011 honoring those who sacrificed at Wake Island. "Like taking a gun out of the hands of dead marine and running into the fight," he said 70 years later. About 100 people gathered at the park to dedicate the monument. The monument was made possible by an Eagle Scout project organized by Noah Barnes, 15, who saw the need for a memorial honoring the defenders of Wake Island. Many of the people on Wake Island at the time of the Japanese attack were civilians working for Boise-based Morrison-Knudsen who defended the island before being taken captive and used as slave labor in WWII. DARIN OSWALD — Darin Oswald / Idaho Statesman