Dec 7, 1941 0757

[BRAKIE]

Tora! Tora! Tora! or Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Surprise! Yes,the surprise that caught the U.S unawares resulting in 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed (1,102 men on the Arizona accounted for half) and another 1,178 wounded.

For those killed on Dec,7th and those that would fall later those are the true heroes after all they gave all that others -including their enemy-could live free of a Tyrant's rule.

[tcwright973]

I have some recollections of War World II, blackouts, civil defense wardens, my Mom and Aunts all going to work. And I remember my Dad and five Uncles all coming home after the war ended. They served in both the Pacific and Europe. I have always been proud of them. Being a veteran myself, I have great appreciation for their service and that of so many others, especially those who never saw their families again.

Tom 

[tstage]

I also read today on the Internet that the survivors of Pearl Harbor were going to be meeting for the last time.  They are all in their 80s and 90s and meet every five years.

Tom

[Anonymous]

What really bums me is that this is the only message board I have seen this mentioned on. I wish to say "Thank you" to all who served then and all who serve now. 

[mononguy63]

David:

I respect the sentiment, particularly since my dad is an Army veteran of the Pacific war, but truthfully the US west coast would not have been threatened even with the loss of the carrier fleet. There simply wasn't anything in it for Japan - their ground forces were already heavily committed with campaigns in China, southeast Asia, and the South Pacific island chains. Australia was of infinitely more interest to them as it threatened their westen Pacific empire (the battle of the Coral Sea thwarted their attempt at invasion Down Under). Even a US coastal bombardment would have been foolhardy as it would have taken their premier battleships to accomplish and would have exposed them thousands of miles from safety to American land-based defense forces, severely limiting their operational capabilities in much more pressing operations elsewhere.

As an aside, of the 8 US battleships present during the attack, 3 escaped any serious damage (though 2 were trapped where they were, berthed inboard of sunken ships alongside), 3 others were raised repaired & modernized and went on to participate in the war, only two were counted as losses. In fact, it was Pearl Harbor veteran ships that participated in history's final battleship-on-battleship combat in the Phillipines later in the war. In the history of the US Navy, not a single battleship was ever sunk in combat, though three (Maine, Oklahoma, and Arizona) were sunk while at anchor in a harbor.

Jim

[ARTHILL]

I remember the day and am greatful for all my relatives and friends who were involved as well as thousands of people I did not know, but were someones reletives and friends. I am always greatful they did not try to land on our shore and that we did not have to try to land on there shore. Invasion of a homeland is not the same as invasion of an occupied land.

Thanks for the reminder.

[jecorbett]

Admiral Yamamoto had been educated at Harvard and he knew that Japan could not defeat the US in a protracted war but he thought by destroying the Pacific Fleet at the outset, he could wreak havoc for about 2 years during which time the US might be brought to negotiate a peace treaty more favorable to Japan. Luckily the carriers were out to sea and the Pacific Fleet remained a viable fighting force that was able to turn the tide of the war at Midway six months later.

[claymore1977]

Ladies and gentlemen, let me borrow a few minutes of your time. 
 
         For those of you who are unaware or have forgotten, today marks the day that, 65 years ago, America was given the final push and crossed the threshold into World War 2.  A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's Pacific Battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion.  2,400 of our Shipmates, Airmen, Soldiers, Marines and Civilians perished in the attack with thousands more in the years to follow. 
 
        Many people do not realize, even today, that the Pacific Fleet was so weakened by the attack that if it was not for the three Pacific Fleet Aircraft Carriers being ordered to sea in the weeks prior to Dec 7, 1941, they might have been damaged or destroyed in the Pearl Harbor raid, and there would have been very little if not any protection to America's Western coast.  The Japanese, historians theorize, could have easily brought Air and Sea bombardments into California by Christmas of that year with Japanese ground troops arriving by January of '42.  We were that close to having WW2 brought to our own soil.
 
    The point of this email is to ask you to give a minute of your day, in prayer or just thought, to thanking those who put themselves in Harm's way, and continue to do so today, to protect the thing that every American holds dear,  Freedom.  Freedom truly isn't free but it seems that this is taken for granted all too often.
 
 
Thank you for your time,
 
David Loman