WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Prop Tevita Mafileo is the only uncapped player included in a predictable 36-man All Blacks squad unveiled Monday for a Grand Slam series against the four so-called Home Unions in November.
Mafileo has been with the All Blacks as injury cover and has been included in the absence of Tyrel Lomax, who is one of several players unavailable because of injuries.
The All Blacks play Ireland at Soldier Field, Chicago on Nov. 2, Scotland at Murrayfield, Edinburgh on Nov. 9, England at Twickenham, London on Nov. 16 and Wales at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff on Nov. 23.
Ireland upset New Zealand 40-29 at Soldier Field in 2016 for its first-ever win over the All Blacks.
Apart from Lomax, lock Tupou Vaa’i, scrumhalf Noah Hotham, winger Emoni Narawa, props Ollie Norris and Ofa Tu'ungafasi, hooker Asafo Aumua and utility back Stephen Perofeta were not available for selection.
Head coach Scott Robertson has been able to find resources to cover those injuries from within his existing squad from the Rugby Championship. Hooker George Bell is the only player named for the tour who was not a member of the squad which finished second behind South Africa in the southern hemisphere's annual championship.
Robertson has named 20 forwards and 16 backs.
Flyhalf Beauden Barrett has overcome a shoulder injury which forced him to miss New Zealand's second Bledisloe Cup test in Perth. Barrett and Damian McKenzie are the only specialist flyhalves in the squad, though fullback Ruben Love can provide cover at No. 10.
Finlay Christie has been named as the third scrumhalf in Hotham's absence, joining Cam Roigard and Cortez Ratima.
Josh Lord has been included as one of four locks and Luke Jacobson among seven backrowers. Scott Barrett retains the captaincy.
The coming tour will mark the first time in 15 years that the All Blacks will attempt a Grand Slam of wins over the four Home Unions. New Zealand first attempted the Grand Slam in 1905 and achieved it in 1978, 2005, 2008, and 2010.
“There is a lot of history that has led up to this opportunity for our group, so we will be honoring and taking inspiration from the feats that have come before us," Robertson said. “The rematch against Ireland at Soldier Field will be a huge occasion and then facing some of the northern hemisphere’s best at their home grounds is a fantastic challenge for us. We are looking forward to this very special tour.”
A New Zealand A team will be announced Tuesday to play the Barbarians and England A early next month.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
New Zealand players react following the Bledisloe Cup rugby test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Perth, Australia, Saturday, Oct 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary Day)
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson reacts following the Bledisloe Cup rugby test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Perth, Australia, Saturday, Oct 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary Day)
New Zealand's Jordie Barrett reacts as he competes for the ball with Australia's Harry Potter during the Bledisloe Cup rugby test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Perth, Australia, Saturday, Oct 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary Day)
HONOLULU (AP) — Survivors of the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor have long been the center of a remembrance ceremony held each year on the military base’s waterfront.
But today only 12 are still alive — all centenarians — and this year none were able to make the pilgrimage to Hawaii to mark the event Sunday.
That means no one who attended had firsthand memories of serving during the attack, which killed more than 2,300 troops and catapulted the U.S. into World War 2. The development is not a surprise and is an evolution of an ongoing trend. As survivors fade, their descendants and the public are increasingly turning to other ways of learning about the bombing.
“The idea of not having a survivor there for the first time — I just, I don’t know — it hurt my heart in a way I can’t describe,” said Kimberlee Heinrichs, whose 105-year-old father Ira “Ike” Schab had to cancel plans to fly in from Oregon after falling ill.
Survivors have been present every year in recent memory except for 2020, when the Navy and the National Park Service closed the observance to the general public because of coronavirus pandemic health risks.
The ceremony began with a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. local, the same time the attack began on Dec. 7, 1941. Solemn rituals followed.
Fighter jets flew overhead in “missing man formation," in which one jet peels off to symbolize those lost. Survivors typically present wreaths to honor the dead, though active duty troops have assumed this job in recent years. Survivors also would rise to salute active duty sailors who themselves salute as their ship passes the USS Arizona Memorial, which sits above submerged hull of the battleship sunk in the attack.
About 2,000 survivors attended the 50th anniversary event in 1991. A few dozen have showed in recent decades. Last year, only two made it. That is out of an estimated 87,000 troops stationed on Oahu that day.
Many survivors were jovial despite the occasion, happy to catch up with old friends and pose for photographs. Even so, harrowing recollections were seldom far from their minds.
In 2023, Harry Chandler gazed across the water while telling an Associated Press reporter how he was raising the flag at a mobile hospital in the hills above the base when he saw Japanese planes fly in and drop bombs. Chandler and his fellow Navy hospital corpsmen jumped in trucks to help the injured.
He spoke of seeing the Arizona explode, and of hearing sailors trapped on the capsized USS Oklahoma desperately tapping on their ship's hull to summon rescue. He helped care for Oklahoma sailors after crews cut holes in the battleship.
“I can still see what was happening,” Chandler said. He died the next year at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida.
The bombing has long held different meanings for different people, the historian Emily S. Rosenberg wrote in her book “A Date Which Will Live: Pearl Harbor in American Memory.”
Some say it highlights the need for a well-prepared military and a vigilant foreign policy. To some it evokes then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt administration’s “ineptitude or deceit” and the unfair scapegoating of the military. Others focus on the “treachery” of Japan or the heroic acts of individual troops, she wrote.
Asked what he wanted Americans to know about Pearl Harbor, Chandler said: “Be prepared.”
“We should have known that was going to happen. The intelligence has to be better,” he said.
Lou Conter, who was Arizona's last living survivor when he died last year at 102, told the AP in 2019 he liked to attend to remember those who lost their lives.
“It’s always good to come back and pay respect to them and give them the top honors that they deserve,” Conter said.
Heinrichs’ father has been six times since 2016. The former tuba player on the USS Dobbin likes to go not only to remember those killed but also in place of his late band mates; his three brothers who fought in World War II; and the now-deceased Pearl Harbor survivors he has met.
Retired National Park Service Pearl Harbor historian Daniel Martinez said the circumstances resemble the early 20th century when Civil War veterans were dying in increasing numbers. Awareness grew that soon they wouldn't be able to share their stories of Gettysburg and other battles, he said.
Martinez knew something similar could happen with Pearl Harbor survivors and recorded their oral histories. During a 1998 convention, he conducted interviews 12 hours a day for three days. The Park Service today has nearly 800 interviews, most on video.
“They remain as a part of the national memory of a day that changed America and changed the world,” Martinez said.
The Park Service shows some in its Pearl Harbor museum and aims to include more after renovations, said David Kilton, the agency's Pearl Harbor interpretation, education and visitor services lead.
The Library of Congress has collections from 535 Pearl Harbor survivors, including interviews, letters, photos and diaries. Over 80% are online. They are part of the library's Veterans History Project of firsthand recollections of veterans who served in World War I onward. Many were recorded by relatives, Eagle Scouts and other amateurs interested in documenting history.
The Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors gives presentations in schools and marches in parades to share the stories of their families. The California chapter has added six new members this year, including two great-grandchildren of survivors.
“When they’re all gone, we’re still going to be here," said Deidre Kelley, the group's president. “And it’s our intent to keep the memory alive as long as we’re alive.”
WWII veteran Jack Stowe, left, shakes hands with a Navy service member in dress blues after the 84th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
Rear Adm. Brad Collins, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, salutes as he departs after the 84th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
WWII veteran Milton Ripple signs a newspaper before the 84th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Ceremony, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
World War II veterans and government officials salute during the 84th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Ceremony, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
The USS Arizona Memorial is seen before the 84th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors watch a vintage WWII airplane fly over Pearl Harbor at the ceremony commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 2013, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)
FILE - American ships burn during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A photo of Pearl Harbor survivor Lou Conter, 101, as a young sailor is displayed at his home in Grass Valley, Calif., Nov. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
FILE - From left to right, Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab sit during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Archie Odom, of Federal Way, Wash., salutes during a moment of silence in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1991, in remembrance of those killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Odom was a signalman on the bridge of the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked. (AP Photo/John Gaps III, File)
