REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR

[crazyphil]

I sure do remember Pearl Harbor. Sunday, December 7, 1941
"a day that will live in infamy."

I was six years old at the time, in the first grade. Of course I
was in love with my teacher, Helen Thomas. She joined the
Army right after Pearl Harbor. Became a WAC. Women's Army
Corp.

We lived quite a ways out in the boondocks. Communications
were poor. Instead of having cable news at our finger tips, we
would listen to a battery powered radio for an hour or so on
Sunday evenings. No electricity, no water, no sewer, no phone,
probably hard to imagine these days.

A small plane flew over and dropped leaflets informing us that
Pearl Harbor had been attact. My Mother was especially distressed
because her little brother, Davey, was on the U.S.S. West Virginia.
We learned weeks later that he was half way between Hawaii and
San Francisco, on his way home for a Christmas furlough. Of
course he was turned around at San Francisco and sent back.

The following day, December 8th, our Congress declared War
on Japan.

Twenty some years ago, I took the family to Hawaii. We went
to the Arizona Memorial, and watched the movie in the theatre.
Most of the audience was tourists from Japan. It was very quiet.

 

[straightshooter1]

The bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred six years before I was born, but I heard about, read about and learned all about it in school and from my folks and other vets from the time I was a little tyke.

It was always in the newspaper and one of the first items on the local and national news up till probably sometime after the turn of the century. Then it seemed it was mentioned, if at all, as some sort of afterthought.

Today, it's on Page 14A of the Local Mullet Wrapper.

Bob

 

[crazyphil]

I had to search the TV for a while before finding anything about Pearl
Harbor, but I did find a program about it on the History Channel.
I think it was Santayana who said something like: "those who don't
remember history are condemned to repeat it." I guess 9-11 made
that prophesy true.

 

[jimmyj]

Remember Pearl Harbor

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney:
First ship to sound "General Quarters-Battle Stations.
First Ship to open fire (possibly because the ammo boxes were not locked and most of the crew were on board)
Continued to fire until the last enemy plane left.
After the attack began rescue operations in the harbor.

 

[max]

In 1972, I met Pete. Pete was at Pearl on that day. He was in a mess hall when they hit. He and another guy ran into the kitchen and hid behind a large stove. A bomb landed nearby and the entire room was sprayed with broken glass. People he had been sitting with were killed.

He left the mess hall and was running toward his duty station. He was strafed by a Zero and he said it was so close, he could see the pilot's eyes.

That night, weapons were handed out and Pete was offered a 1911. He refused it and said "I want something I can hit somebody with." He was given a shotgun and was happy. There were many rumors about Japanese paratroopers coming and their was no communication with the mainland.

Both of his eardrums were ruptured that day and it ended his flying career. He stayed in for 40 years and became an E-9. His last duty station was with the unit that maintained Air Force 1. He and his wife went back to Hawaii every year for the reunions as long as their health allowed.

He was still flying his own plane when I met him and continued to fly up into his 80's. He and his wife had no children and had traveled the world, including several years assigned in Alaska. Pete loved to fish and enjoyed his Alaskan time. He bought a Model 27 to carry while fishing. The Model 29 came out soon after and he wished he could have waited for that gun.

Pete died several years ago and his wife just last year. He taught me a great deal in the time I got to spend with him. He taught me about good whiskey.

I will think about Pete today and our time together.

 

[Warren Sear]

"A 'DATE' that will live in infamy".

"Date", not "day". Roosevelt deliberately used the word "date".

The day was Sunday, and is irrelevant. The date was December 7, 1941, and that is to be remembered.

 

[7shooter]

My Dad and his buddies dropped out of college the next day and joined the Navy.

 

[PALADIN85020]

I was two, and would be three years old the next month when the attack occurred. I do not remember much except my parents listening steadfastly to our big console radio, which I still have:

As my parents recalled it, a neighbor lady came running over to our house, relating that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese. My mother did not even know where Pearl Harbor was located. My dad knew and went immediately to the radio to hear the developing news.

Here is that same radio in Tucson, and that's me sitting next to it. The picture was taken not long after the attack.

Since my mom's passing, we have kept that radio in our living room. My wife wanted to "get rid of that old thing," but I had to put my foot down. That radio can only go when I do. It means a lot to me. Here is a picture taken during the horrible carnage that was wreaked on our people by the Japanese:

We quickly learned that over 2,500 of our citizens lost their lives in that attack. The Navy honored their fallen sailors and marines on this wall in the Memorial that spans over the sunken U.S.S. Arizona.

Oil still seeps to the surface from the Arizona. It is the very blood of the ship. Here is a picture I took of it in 2011.

Here is Pearl Harbor as it appears in the present. At the time I took this picture, a beautiful rainbow arced over the Arizona and the U.S.S. Missouri. The Japanese signed their surrender documents on the deck of that impressive battleship.

Here in Arizona, we still have a few, very few, Pearl Harbor survivors. Here's a shot I took of one of them we applauded during the Phoenix Veterans Day parade in 2016.

There is a park just east of our capitol in Phoenix. We remember Pearl Harbor here in perpetuity, displaying a U.S.S. Arizona anchor, flagstaff, and main guns.

Me? I fly the flag today and remember. Not many in our neighborhood even know why I do. It was 78 years ago today, but I will NEVER forget the loss of lives and our anger over that sneak attack. Americans responded as one and beat the Japanese to their knees - a firm reminder that when our nation is wronged and united, we are absolutely unstoppable.

May God bless all those who perished.

John

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I'm too young , wasn't around yet . But an uncle lost a brother there that day . We had a family cookout once and my wife and I rolled up in a new 4wd Toyota p/u . He took one look at it and said he would NEVER own a Japanese car . That's when my mom told me why he said that . I told him I totally understood and was sorry .

 

[Rudi]

Rest in Peace men!

 

[STCM(SW)]

Today I'll watch "TORA TORA TORA" as I do every year on this date.
I was only 6 months old when the attack happened.

 

[biku324]

My kids and grandkids roll their eyes at me, but I won't own Japanese cars, trucks, or guns out of respect for Uncle Clarence who was seriously wounded on Tarawa. Yes, I know....but it seems right to me after watching him suffer until his death in 1978. I was born in the mid-50s, and there were land, sea, and air combat veterans all around as I grew up.

 

[Papa32129]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Onomea]

It’s 0745, 8 Dec., as I write this in Japan this morning.

The TV is on and about a half hour ago there was a brief news article which showed a top secret document, kept carefully preserved in a wooden box, from from just before the attack. Only one copy exists. The document was written in opposition to the idea of attacking Pearl Harbor. There were old black and white video clips of the attack, and then the scene shifted.

The author of the document, now an old man whose voice quavered as he spoke, was being interviewed. He was explaining, as the broadcast showed his picture as a young officer, how his document got him into trouble at the time. He said, “In those days we were not allowed to speak freely...”

 

[Watchdog]

The Smithsonian Channel is running Pearl Harbor related programs tonight.

The Lost Tapes - Pearl Harbor

The Pacific War in Color - An Ocean Apart

The Pacific War in Color - Shockwaves

 

[ddixie884]

I wasn't born til '51 but I've known about it since I was pretty small. Had an uncle and a couple of great uncles in WWII..............

 

[vonn]

Should be a National day of remembrance. Our education system isn’t teaching young people people any history. Politically correct bs

 

[Farmer17]

If you haven't seen the new Midway movie yet it has the Pearl Harbor attack in it and its a pretty good movie.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Should be a National day of remembrance. Our education system isn’t teaching young people people any history. Politically correct bs

Every time there is an anniversary of a major historic or military event I talk to all my grandchildren and give them the Readers Digest version. Each year they remember a little bit more.

My dad did this with me and I did it with my kids.

It's up to us not the school system.

 

[muddocktor]

You know, I hadn't even looked at the date today, but it must have been in the back of my mind. I've been reading all day on a website showing the IJN ships of WWII with a tabular record of movement of each one and seeing how they came to their demise at the hands of American forces in WWII. And checking out the American ships or subs involved in putting them on the bottom.

On another note, related to Watchdog's post above, you would think that The History Channel would have something run on this date dealing with Pearl Harbor. But instead, they have Ancient Aliens Declassified on instead. What a joke that channel has become if you want to view something about History!