Off Topic but important!

[Mookie]

63 years ago - and a few of you were around back then.

Take time to remember Pearl Harbor.

Mookie

[JoeKoh]

Yes
had uncles that fought in WW 2. Yes we will never forget.
stay safe
Joe

[tree68]

Nine years before my arrival, but I know (because I've been told) that anyone who was alive knows exactly where they were when they heard.

[locomutt]

[#ditto] to Larry's reply;since he's not quite a month older than me.

[cherokee woman]

I've seen something on The History Channel of a lady flashing back in her
mind to that day. Like Larry, I grew up listening to my elders tell about
Pearl Harbor Day, as some of them would call it. Even those of us not born,
or even thought of yet, will always remember it.

[CShaveRR]

My dad was in the Army during the War. Never found out much about exactly where or what battles he may have been in, but do know that he was in the Phillipines. Pearl Harbor occurred the December after he graduated from high school.

[Anonymous]

Wife's mom and dad where there. He was a CPO onshore. His car was sitting in the street right outside the house and was strafed and shot up. I believe their house was right above the Arizona, at least that's how the story goes. Shrapnel went through several walls of the house and lodged in a curtain. He was gone for three days and she didn't know what had happened to him. He's passed on now, but according to my wife he didn't talk about it much more than I've written here.

m

[Anonymous]

I had an Uncle in WW II. He was a great guy, quiet and polite, grew up near Ft. Smith. Was one of the last of the cowboys before he enlisted in the Army at 18 (or so) and became a paratrooper. He was in the Signal Corps and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne on D-Day. He landed in one of those big ugly gliders. Fighting his way across Europe he was in the Battle of the Bulge and months later was the first into one of the lesser known concentration camps. He was a very quiet strong guy, but on the rare occasions he could even talk about it, well, it broke your heart. He had about a dozen snapshots too.

Those who forget the lessons of the past, are doomed to repeat them. Let us not forget the lessons of history whether they be Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany or 9-11...

LC

[railman]

My grandmother's house (she was a young girl then) was on the Pearl City peninsula in the harbor, and when they returned after fleeing during the attack, there were bullet holes in their walls and up the staircase.

[gabe]

I have often said, I hope I never find out what it felt like for an American to hear about Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately, we all got another taste of it a few years ago.

Gabe

[Anonymous]

Amen!

[espeefoamer]

I was born 10 years and 1 day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.My dad spent WW2 on a Navy ship in the south Pacific fighting the Empire of Japan.

[Willy2]

My grandpa fought in World War II. I was born about 50 years after the attack. My grandpa was also situated in the Phillipines.

[mudchicken]

My parents were in Jr. High School when Pearl Harbor happened. A little older and I might not be here. We did have family lost in the Bataan death march, but beyond that the family came through WW2 unscathed. So many other families were not as fortunate. I will always appreciate and remember the sacrifices made for us.

Ditto LC, CW, talbanese , joe, tree and mookie's sentiments.

[Anonymous]

My parents were also younger at the time of the attack on 12/07/44 but we did have family in the actions of that war: one uncle lost in the Battle of the Atlantic, A cousin in the Baatan Death March, an uncle in the army of occupation (Germany) and two other cousins in the navy late in the war. Truly one of histories real henge points that caused the world to change.

[Mikeygaw]

my grandfather was a Seabee during WWII... his unit was In North Africa, Italy, and the Pacific.

I have a load of pics from that time, I should scan them on to my computer.

[Junctionfan]

My great grandmother's cousin was in the British Army in an infantry regiment against the Japanese. He was taken prisoner and put to the railroad of death. He managed to escape and made it home. I wish I could say that others were as fortunate to escape from the railroad of death.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Mookie, for the reminder. For those who might be inclined, a look at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser web sites will be moving. Some of the guys who survived are being interred sixty-three years later.

[Anonymous]

Mookie, didn't you say that you were Pearl Harbor anniversary + 2yrs?? Sorry I couldn't resist . LOL

[edblysard]

My father shipped out of Pearl days ahead of the attack, headed back to San Deigo.
Upon reaching port, he and most of his crew were sent right back, as escort, on a WWI era destroyer.

He said the sight that met them when they returned, even though it was over a week after the attack, was one of the few sights that made him angry enough to want to kill.

He later served on the USS Kelly, a brand new Destroyer Escort, hunting subs...
Served in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters,WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

He was part of the occupation forces in Japan after their surrender, my oldest sister was born there.

He served his entire career as a Warrant Officer Four....all the perks of being a officer, none of the hassles.

On his death bed, he made sure I knew that he didnt want his service to be portrayed as a duty, but rather as a honor.

He believed serving in the US Navy was a honor, not a duty, and took great pride in his country, his service, the men he served with, and the people they serve, you, the American people.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for those who serve in the US Armed Forces, all the Coasties and the Reserve members, those of you who serve us so well, and are willing to give their all protecting the only nation in the world where the goverment serves the citizen, not the citizen serving the goverment.

Tonight, while you watch all the Discovery Channel, and the History Channel programs about Peral, take a good look at the faces of the men they interview....they don't look like "heros", do they?

They look like the guy next door, your uncle, the guy behind the counter at the hardware store, just everyday run of the mill ordinary people.

Think about it,,,,these guys conqured the world, all in defense of a concept laid down in a 200 +year old document.

Thanks Guys...

Know that as long as I, and thoses of us who were lucky enough to have parents who remember what it was all about, are around, you, and what you did, will never be forgotten.

Ed

[vsmith]

My Great Uncle served in WW2 in the Army Air Corp, stationed in India, he was part of an aircrew that flew over the Burma Hump delivering troops and supplies before and after the burma road was built. Flying the Hump was one of the most stressfull assignments in the Pacific war, and many dont even know about it. According to my Mom, he was so severly stressed by the effects of flying in an overloaded flying bomb by VFR over the jungles and mountains, often flying blind, dodging enemy fighters with few or no escorts, and seeing and dealing with the effects of the fighting in Burma on troops and civilians, carrying the wounded back. His health never recovered. He died taking his own life after the war. He just was never the same after. Sad, but his story wasnt unique. Many ex-service men never recovered from the trauma's they experienced, and many did indeed take their own lifes or drank themselves to death afterwords. No one wanted to deal with their post-tramatic shock sydrome at the time and they felt isolated and alone in a world that wanted to focus on the "we won" aspect or that wanted to forget the horror of the war. Their trauma shouldnt be forgotten either.

[Anonymous]

Ed-

Well said.

I would just like to add that having seen many of these programs before that
I beg to differ with you. I THINK THEY DO LOOK LIKE HEROS. ALL OF THEM.

If you ever have a chance to look again at MOH winner Audie Murphy who was originally denied entry into the Army due to his small size. Although some have said that much was made of his accomplishments perhaps at the expense of others who also deserved such recognition, that does not diminish any of these folks in my book.

As an aside, I was at the wake of a friend's mom yesterday. She was a nurse in the Korean conflict and served in Theatre. She was a great lady and I'll bet if you asked any of the guys she took care of over there she was a hero too...

Sorry, it just strikes a chord with me...

LC

[jeaton]

Having been born just months before Pearl Harbor, I grew up surronded by family and and family friends who served in the war and also knew the families of men and women who did not return. Please allow me to accept your tributes on behalf of all the people that I know.

Jay

[Modelcar]

...Larry...Oh, so true....I can still see the shape and color of the radio as we were receiving the news on a Sunday afternoon...a bright cold day about 1:30 at my location...

[edbenton]

My grandfather served in WWII also saw every major landing in the pacfic from the canal to okinawa my other grandfather surived his tour as a B-24 ball turret gunner in the Europenan theater he came home alive in 44 just after D-day both of them are heros in my book

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by drailed1999

Mookie, didn't you say that you were Pearl Harbor anniversary + 2yrs?? Sorry I couldn't resist . LOL

Thanks Marty! Yeah, they will let me retire any minute now. I said Pearl Harbor plus 2!

See you aren't even close to my age and you are confused already!

Mookie

[gabe]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

I was born 10 years and 1 day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.My dad spent WW2 on a Navy ship in the south Pacific fighting the Empire of Japan.

Happy birthday.

[Mookie]

Way to go Gabe - you picked that up.

Happy Birthday espeefoamer! I am so glad to turn it over to you - Party Hearty!

Mook

[Anonymous]

My Dad served as Communications Officer on the USS Wilhoite, a destroyer escort. Saw action in both theaters. The bonds that formed between he and his shipmates have been a wonder to experience. Annual reunions still continue.

[SALfan]

Thanks for the reminder, Mookie. My father was on Okinawa in 1945 (he was too young for service when the war started), and carried the emotional scars the rest of his life. My mother's cousin was a gunner on a B-17 in Europe, and his brother was in the Army of Occupation in Japan after the war. We owe these guys, and all veterans, our eternal thanks.