Pearl Harbor Day

[clydeselsor]

My uncle was there (he's 90). He says that he still remembers it like it was yesterday! He lost several close friends that day and the memory of it still brings tears....

 

[Jack Lord]

A horrible day for sure. We all owe a debt that can never be repayed, particularly to those who were killed or maimed. I have visited the Arizona Memorial and it is a moving experience.

Remember though, that as horrid as it was, it was in reality a defeat for Japan. It was their one chance to remove us from the calculus and free their hands to completely control the Pacific. The aircraft carriers were at sea and thus not damaged, preserving invaluable assets. Most of the damaged ships were repaired and saw action later. The public rallied to the cause and by the Battle of Midway, the Japanese were on the run, although it would be particularly long and bloody retreat.

 

[onepixel]

Peace.

 

[needforspeed]

December 6 was a Saturday night. A young man of 20 years named William had a date with his girlfriend Rebecca, age 18. The details of the date are lost, but I am sure it was modest, for both were from farm families. That Saturday night, William asked Rebecca to marry him and she said yes. They decided to marry in the spring, since the cost of a real wedding was out of reach for them.

I am sure that as Sunday morning came and the day moved on, they both thought about how their world would change once married. They did not know how much their world was about to change. Later that day, the news came about Pearl Harbor. On Monday, FDR went to congress to request a declaration of war, and soon we were at war with Japan.

The young couple discussed the events and decided to marry earlier, since it was almost a certainty that William would be drafted into the Armed Forces. They married on January 10. Later that spring, William was drafted into the Army Air Corps and served in Europe.

William returned from the service and in 1948, they had their first child. A few years later, they had a second.

They had been married 37 years when Rebecca died at age 56. William lived to be 83 and passed away in 2004.

William and Rebecca were my parents, and it is difficult on this day to recall these events without tears in my eyes.

I remember and honor his service on this day.

I salute your father. I was thinking he was lucky not going to the Pacific, All those island battles look brutal, With unreal losses. I know Europe was no picnic. Glad he made it back, And they had a lot of good years.

 

[MitsuMan]

God Bless those that gave all on that day. And peace to their families throughout the holiday season.

 

[6thumbs]

My Thanks to all who have served and are serving our country at present

 

[Tom Anderson]

I was 5 years old and living across the bay from San Francisco on Sunday, December 7, 1941. That morning my dad was reading the funny papers to my little brother and me. The radio was on and my dad stopped reading and called to my mom in the other room, "Honey, the Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor." And I remember my mom saying, "Oh my God, Elmer's on the Oklahoma." Elmer was the husband of one of my mom's girlfriends. Elmer died that day.
Then we were in the War, I mean all of us. Everybody I knew, and everybody in the country for all I knew, was totally behind the war effort. It was better for us Americans than other people in the world, but we rationed food and clothing and gasoline and rubber and steel and liquor. We bought war bonds, even kids bought war stamps to save enough for a bond. We had scrap drives to collect scrap iron and copper and even paper. Civilians in our city, at least, were encouraged to grow "Victory Gardens" for their own food, and could even raise chickens in the city, which we did. Families doubled up in houses near the defense industries because at first there wasn't enough housing for all the war workers.
It seemed like all the draft-age boys and men in our family and neighborhood either volunteered or were drafted into the service. Many of them didn't come back or come back whole. They were heroes. There were small star banners people hung in their front windows for a son or husband in the military, and there were other banners for those who were wounded or died.
This went on for four years, for most of my regular childhood, and much of my later life has been influenced by the attitude that part of being American is to fight for the right things and to honor the veterans who do it.
When we grew up, all of my brothers and I served in the army and navy and coast guard. Only my brother Craig, a navy corpsman who was decorated at Da Nang, was in a firefight. But in a real way we all did it for the guys who were there for the four years of godawful bloody fighting during World War II. Let's never forget them.

 

[sleddogman]

My father served in the Navy in the Pacific theater and I'm grateful he made it back in one piece when things were finally over. Rain or shine, he always made sure to go out and buy a little fabric poppy on Veterans day and display it -- a tradition that I carry on for him to this day, in his honor.

As sort of an eerie reminder, my 1966 Fender Jazz Bass has a production date code of 7DEC66 stamped on the heel end of the neck...

 

[Strawman]

We're planning on going to Hawaii next year for our 30th aniversary. I plan on visiting the Arizona again.
May they rest in peace.

 

[Deuce]

William returned from the service and in 1948, they had their first child. A few years later, they had a second.

They had been married 37 years when Rebecca died at age 56. William lived to be 83 and passed away in 2004.

I was the child born in 1948 ... and brother came along later ... I would have taken the WAR as a bad sign or omen ... and not gotten married ... But am glad they did.

Dad served in Europe ... and remained in the Guard until little brother came along.

A lot of good men and women died fighting for our country ... and we owe them a huge debt of graditude ...