Sun Dec 7th, 2014-73 yrs ago, the Japanese opened a can of worms they soon regretted.

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the ringo kid

the ringo kid

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Sunday is an actual day anniversary for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I havent seen the anniversary land on Sunday in quite awhile.

Rest in Peace to all our folks we lost then. Sherrill Park here in Corpus Christi--is named after a CC man who was in the Navy and killed at Pearl.

Tojo SHOULD have listened to Admiral Yammamoto who said something about them waking up a Bear......:cool:

Wanted to edit this post to include--not only waking that Bear,but opening can of worms, whooparse and the sleeping giant (Giant i had forgot about)
 
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My dad was career Navy and I remember moving to Pearl Harbor in 1947, 2 years after the war. We moved into Magru Point, which started out as a Navy hospital, all Quonset huts, but after the war they started turning them into housing for the military. Interesting enuf, there were several Quonset huts still used for the wounded until they shipped out. I do remember them.

They had a dock there that we used to net for crabs and right across the harbor was the Arizona resting place. This was before they built the Memorial, just where the stacks were above the water line. As a kid, we occasionally would take a scenic boat and tour around the Arizona. Even for a 4 year old, it created a dramatic impression. There were several men that had served with my dad previously that went down on the Arizona and it made me aware about the military and how they place their lives on the line everyday.

Maybe that is why I served 22 years in the Army and am still such a staunch pro-military individual.

Done with my rant
 
Shame the "remembering" is getting less and less every year, probably only rate a small mention on the news.

Maybe the whuppin the Japanese got is the reason why they didn't treat us well in Japan. Oh well.
 
angel71rs said:
Shame the "remembering" is getting less and less every year, probably only rate a small mention on the news.

Maybe the whuppin the Japanese got is the reason why they didn't treat us well in Japan. Oh well.
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I worked there for three years and was always treated couteously and respectfully. Just don't talk about the war as it is still a source of great shame.
 
They certainly opened a can of something that day.

Unfortunately, as Yamamoto tried to tell the leadership, we had a vastly bigger can to open once we got in gear.

I was only four when the raid occurred, but I never have to be reminded when the anniversary comes around. To most people today it happened when mastodons and saber-toothed cats roamed the earth.

I'd love to see the Arizona Memorial before I die, but that's wildly unlikely.
 
Yamamoto was the enemy...

Yamamoto was an enemy that attacked us, therefore we were justified in eliminating him. He planned the raid, but the politicians were responsible for declaring war on us. If he had survived I wonder if he would have been charged with war crimes? Nonetheless, I respect him as a brilliant military leader, utterly capable, competent and sensible. And I'm damn glad we won that war. They might have kicked us off some islands, but that industrial might that Yamamoto had tried to avoid came back to haunt them in a very big way. It might have taken longer and cost many more lives, but even without the atomic bombs the home islands would have been RAZED to the ground. No hard feelings, that's just fact.
 
I've read a lot about WWII. One thing still puzzles me is their (apparent) thinking that after Pearl Harbor we would just roll over. Did any of them even look at a map of the USA?
 
Stars and Stripes had an interesting article about the Japanese view on Pearl Harbor.

To Japan, Pearl Harbor is just another battle in a decades-long war - Military history - Stripes

I thought about the sacrifices' our military and civilians suffered that day, I hope we acquitted ourselves well.

In my family, my Grandpa was already in the Army Air Corp prior to Pearl Harbor.

The big shock is on my wife's side, 8 young men (including her Dad) representing 3 different families, enlisted within a week of
Pearl Harbor AND SERVED IN THE MILITARY AND ALL CAME HOME. after WWII with minimal injuries.
The youngest of the 8 passed away two weeks ago.

From the conversations I had with them, they were all busy with school, farms and being typical teenagers.
A common theme is none had planned to enlist (some were too young even to register for the draft)
the attack on Pearl Harbor so outraged them, there was no doubt they were going to serve.

I do not know what would of been the outcome of WWII if the Japanese had not attacked?

Fast forward 73 years and it is my turn to get shot at!! Rocket attacks occur daily, we just had one as I am typing this.
 
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December 7. It has always made me remember and this morning I remembered to put up THE flag.

My neighbors drive by, stare and generally ask me a few days later why I flew the colors. I just smile and tell them why. They generally get that blank look on their faces and say "Oh yeah, I forgot".

My Dad's favorite Pearl Harbor jokes:

1. You can always tell when it is Dec. 7 because there is a little
"Nip" in the air.
2. Did you hear about the Japanese pilot who went to a bar, got
drunk and bombed Peal Bailey?
 
I was lucky enogh to visit the Arizona Memorial when I was getting ready to retire. I was at a small joint USAF/Australian base in the desert, so they had to send me to the nearest USAF installation that could handle retirement physicals - Hickam! One week TDY. Also drove around Ford Island. You can still see the bullet holes in lots of the buildings on Hickam.
I also remember something an old friend told me. I had gotten to know George Madis, noted Winchester expert/writer, and he told me how the Japanese ruined his 10th birthday (He was born 7Dec31). He definitely never forgot that!
 
A day never to forget. Rex Barber was credited for the kill of Isoroko Yamamoto in 2003. Previously the kill was shared by Tom Lanphier until bullet path evidence confirmed Barbers report. The kill was ordered by President Roosevelt.
Yamamoto argued against war with The United States. He was correct in all accounts that Japan could not win a war against The United States. But once ordered to attack, his duty was to obey.
April 18th 1943, Yamamoto`s Betty was shot down and he died.
Jim
 
As I have posted before- my Father in Law had already been called up and was in Mobile, AL watching Sgt. York when the movie was stopped and The Pearl Harbor attack was announced.
By the time of the Tokyo raid, he was stationed in Africa. He met Jimmy Doolittle there as Jimmy was taking the westward route home.
 
Flag out flying today in front of our home, and in front of many of our neighbor's homes. It's a good neighborhood, many of us former military.

zzzippper said:
I worked there for three years and was always treated couteously and respectfully.
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Maybe you were there more recently and a civilian. The "Japanese only" signs on the restaurants near the bases at Iwakuni & Yokosuka, getting kicked out of restaurants far from base that didn't have a sign up, the protests telling us to GTFO... yeah, they weren't so nice to us.
 
It was a stupid war, started by the Japanese to prop up another stupid war.

The war (and the one before it in China) was allegedly fought to "defeat communism". If that were actually the case (instead of mere plunder), then for the Japanese it was an UTTER failure. Instead of defeating communism, they gave it a billion more victims, made China an actual threat to Japan for the first time in hundreds of years, stripped Japan of ALL of its overseas possessions, destroyed the existing power structure, and reduced the populace to literal starvation.

The Japanese fought the war for stupid reasons, and as time went on, in increasingly stupid ways.

Contrary to the delusions of ultra-leftists, neo-Nazis and Japanese ultra-rightwingers, we didn't start the war. But as used to be our custom, we finished it decisively through a combination of implacable resolution and technological innovation. And when it was all over, we didn't go on the sort of rampage of rape and murder to which many others would have thought themselves entitled as revenge.
 
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jimbo728 said:
Yamamoto argued against war with The United States. He was correct in all accounts that Japan could not win a war against The United States. But once ordered to attack, his duty was to obey.
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And though he made mistakes and unwise gambles, he was the best they ever had, and none of his successors could hold a candle to him.

I sometimes wonder what might have happened, if during the Tokyo Army revolt, he'd done as he threatened and turned the guns of the fleet on the mutineers, then assumed power as "Shogun".

They couldn't have come out worse in the end than they actually did.
 
zzzippper said:
I worked there for three years and was always treated couteously and respectfully. Just don't talk about the war as it is still a source of great shame.
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I noticed in Germany that the war is still very taboo but--when the Germans start trusting you--boy you will hear the stories flow. I spent two days with the survivors of U 181, and a day with a Knights Cross recipient--boy they had stories. The KCR--was Flemish and told me stuf not printed in his book. His favorite story was when he was stationed on the Eastern Front--was picked by his Company Sergeant to stand two duty watches. Instead--he went to a nearby village--took a weeks worth of suger ration--bought two bottles of Vodka,got stinking drunk--slpet through both duty watches--awoke only wwhen his Sergeant Major grabbed him by a boot--and pdragged him to his COs tent and tried to get him court-martialled. This wa pre KC days. He chose to stay--was placed in a Penal Battalion--did his time, and later earned the Knights Cross for KOing at least 17 Russian tanks and killing at least 100 infantry--single-handed--behind enemy lines for 3 days--and wounded 5 times. Not a plug for his book but--its called: The Last Knight of Flanders.....
 
Malpasowildlifer said:
Thanks for sharing; you don't see anything in the papers/media about this much anymore.
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Me either.I watched as much news on diff stations last night--and somme this morning---and not a "smidgeon of mention." :mad:No cable stationplpaying appropriate movies either. Here localy=--on special historical days(pre-cable) they always played an appropriate movie which were mainly showed on Channel 3 here. In late Feb-early March--they would always play: The Alamo. On June 6th--The Longest Day--etc. On PHDay--it woule be usualy: Midway, or something else more appropriate.
 
rwsmith said:
Yamamoto was an enemy that attacked us, therefore we were justified in eliminating him. He planned the raid, but the politicians were responsible for declaring war on us. If he had survived I wonder if he would have been charged with war crimes? Nonetheless, I respect him as a brilliant military leader, utterly capable, competent and sensible. And I'm damn glad we won that war. They might have kicked us off some islands, but that industrial might that Yamamoto had tried to avoid came back to haunt them in a very big way. It might have taken longer and cost many more lives, but even without the atomic bombs the home islands would have been RAZED to the ground. No hard feelings, that's just fact.
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Well said and fully agree with every word.I respect a game enemy. To me Yammamoto is the Japanese equal to Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel. I believe that Yammamoto was "Americanized" enough to try to keep from committing war crimes if it were in his power to do so? however,ive been known to be wrong at east once. :eek:
 
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