today DEC.7th,1941 the UNITED STATES was attacked at PEARL HARBOR ,HAWAII... Let us take a moment to remember what happened when the JAPANESE did what the did....prayers for our veterans be they PAST/ PRESENT/ FUTURE..........drill sgt.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: drill sgt,

RIP gramps, an island hopping Marine in WW2 who did NOT like those "bastard japs" as he would say.

There was a book in the Reading, Pa library that I read some 45 years ago, called "The Racial War against Japan". In paperback at the time. It contained pictures of yellow monkeys in Japanese uniform with horn rim glasses, slanted eyes and buck teeth hanging by the tail from trees.

Clearly propaganda aimed make us hate the Japs.

My father on leave at the time of the attack, much later told me he had gone down to the Army recruitment center in Wilkes-Barre a day following the attack on Pearl Harbor where he heard young men at the Army center tell the recruiter they wanted to enlist so they could kill Japs.

I had an uncle who was in the Navy and served in the Pacific at that time. He survived the war and never discussed his service. He died a couple of years ago. I had several other uncles who served in the Army, but I don't know where they served (they never discussed it with me, either).

I know that veterans of the Pearl Harbor attack are very few in number now. RIP those who are gone and Prayers for the few still with us.

FWIW, I was just a few days shy of 4 years old on Pearl Harbor Day, so my memories of the war are very faint.

flashguy

Two of my uncles were Navy, one Pacific one Atlantic. My dad was Army. After VE day my dad and his youngest brother met up in London. Somewhere I have a photo of them together there.

My father was there. A Marine stationed aboard the U.S.S. Nevada.

FIL was active duty Navy the day it happened. Wasn't in Pearl. Based out of Norfolk. Quickly transferred to the Pacific. He was on his ship in Tokyo Bay within sight of the Mighty MO when the surrender was being signed. He was in a group of ships that was attacked by Kamikaze strikes. Passed away about 3 years ago.

I had 4 uncles in the navy during WW2, all in the Pacific. One on a hospital ship. All were attacked by Kamikaze aircraft, on more than one occasion.

None of them would talk about their experiences, but I was only 7 years old when the war ended.

My dad tried to enlist but was rejected for some medical issue. Flat feet?

I've been to the Pearl Harbor Memorial twice. VERY humbling experience.

I cannot fathom what transpired that day. Those young boys and men...heroes. Every last one of them...

I was stationed at NAS Barbers Point in the 90's and was fortunate to get one of the U.S. flags that they ran up the pole over USS Arizona on the 50th anniversary.

My brother-in-law’s father was at Pearl Harbor during the attack and is recognized for rescuing 32 crew members who were trapped inside the capsized USS Oklahoma. He was a Captain at the time and retired as a Rear Admiral.

I had two uncles who fought in the South Pacific.

Uncle Bob was sailer aboard the escort carrier Gambier Bay which was part of battle group “Taffy Three” fighting in the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Layte Gulf. When the Gambier Bay was sunk, my uncle swam away and spent several days floating in shark infested waters until rescued.

Uncle Frank was a Marine who fought in the Battle of Okinowa where he was gravely wounded. As children, we never fully knew the nature of his wounds until late in his life when he was counseled by VA doctors, treating him for PTSD, to talk with family members about the experiences that haunted him for over 70 years.

Dad and Uncle John served in the European Theater. I’ll share their stories another day.

I am so proud and thankful to all of them and all the other boys and young men who fought for our Country. It is my hope that our grandchildren could begin to fully understand why they earned the title of The Greatest Generation.

https://www.militarytimes.com/...4EbphQgtyf3UssBrW320

There’s more to this article than we’ve I’ve copied from link.

Pearl Harbor vet’s interment to be last on sunken Arizona

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — On Dec. 7, 1941, then-21-year-old Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last man to escape the burning wreckage of the USS Arizona after a Japanese plane dropped a bomb that ignited an enormous explosion in the battleship’s ammunition storage compartment.

He lived to be 98 years old, marrying twice and outliving both wives. He worked for a refrigeration company for nearly four decades.

This weekend, divers will place Bruner’s ashes inside the battleship’s wreckage, which sits in Pearl Harbor where it sank during the attack 78 years ago that thrust the United States into World War II. The Southern California man will be the 44th and last crew member to be interred in accordance with this rare Navy ritual. The last three living Arizona survivors plan to be laid to rest with their families.

My father and his brother enlisted shortly after the attack. My father ended up being a radio/gunner on a B-17 stationed in England and my uncle a navigator on a B-24 in the Pacific. Neither of the them would talk much about their experiences but you could tell that the war had a dramatic effect on their lives.

Jim

Had a great Uncle who was in the Pacific on a Destroyer.

FDR was an amazing hypocrite, he won his third term on the promise of keeping us out of the war even as he simultaneously provoked both the Nazi's and the Japanese Empire by aiding their enemies. It wasn't until his Communist buddies, Stalin and Mao, were threatened by the Axis powers that he started to reverse his public position.

Not to mention that he and his Govt. knew months in advance that the Japs were planning an attack, and didn't bother to inform the commands in Pearl or Manila that it was coming, nor provide them with the defensive resources they'd requested.

The most amazing thing to me is that this was all revealed in the 50's era Congressional investigation of the the attack and its precursors, and there was almost no blow back against the Democrats for their war mongering, and that to this day, most of the American electorate remains uninformed of this history.

May all these hero’s from that day RIP.

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
I've been to the Pearl Harbor Memorial twice. VERY humbling experience.

Amen, brother. I cry.

flashguy

The start of the big one.
As far as the racial war claims go, the Japanese also made it a racial thing. They believed they were superior and made fun of us being a bunch of mixed breed mongrels. They attacked other countries in the Pacific region claiming ethnic superiority and committed horrible atrocities. They got what they deserved.
Different times.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lK8gYGg0dkE?start=41" width="560"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

President Roosevelt did NOT declare war on Japan--in that speech he asked that the Congress declare that a state of war had existed starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Congress declared war shortly thereafter. I wish that people would listen to that entire speech (it was a great one) and not misstate what was said (or pick and choose isolated tidbits from it that support their private agendas).

FDR was not as great a President as many folks believe--my parents did not support him, nor any of my close relatives. He made some egregious blunders and sponsored some horrible legislation, but the public put him in office 4 times. He is usually credited with bringing the country out of the Great Depression, but modern economists agree that his policies actually delayed the recovery (and put us on the track to our modern Welfare Society).

flashguy