OT: 83rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor American Heros

For those that haven’t been. The USS Arizona Memorial is something all should see.

 

Great story. Many of us have a similar one. My dad was going through Basic Training at the naval base in Norfolk, reading the Sunday comics in his bunk, when the news came over the radio. He was sent to Ford Island, part of joint base Pearl Harbor, a couple of months after the bombing. He told me it was total destruction. He became a naval pilot during the war. After the war he was in a special unit, located in Potomac, MD, and flew the Flag Admirals (Nimitz, Halsey, King, etc.) back and forth to Europe during the rebuilding of the continent. Was then called back in for the Korean War.
Thankful for the Greatest Generation!

 

I'm going there next September. A big item to check off of my bucket list.

 

Me too.....

 

When i was at the Arizona memorial in 1992, two naval folks escorted a man, probably in his 70’s or early 80’s, on a small skiff out to the memorial, where he spent five or 10 minutes just staring at the wall. Given the way he was brought out I am fairly sure he was an Arizona survivor, and I just happened to be there for an incredibly personal and intimate moment of him coming back to honor his shipmates. Thankfully he was left alone by everyone as he did, I can’t imagine what that was like for him.
One of those moments in life though that always sticks with you.

 

I sent my parents to Hawaii for their 50th wedding anniversary. They went to the Arizona memorial in 1997.

 

My father in law was navigator in Army Aircorp & fought in Solomon Island campaign. Tropical diseases he contracted there plagued him the rest of his life. He accepted it gracefully as price of freedom.

 

The American Cemetary is a must, of course. The Visitor's Center there is very worthwhile. I saw people skipping the Visitor's Center which I thought was a shame.

 

The betrayal of FDR to our military is forthcoming in 2025…Jmo. Time for the truth. Hoorah and +

 

My friend’s grandfather, who helped raise me, was a crew member of the USS Oklahoma. He was fortunate enough to have been on shore leave.

John started a lifetime fascination in me on the Pacific War that’s led me to be friends with guys like Jon Parshall, Anthony Tully, and Richard Frank. I was honored to help work on the PT boat in NOLA. I got to help set up the Pacific War side of the National World War 2 museum.

One of the greatest honors was joining a host of volunteers who interviewed WWII veterans, from both sides, to archive their experience. I got to meet and drink with Dusty-goddamn Kleiss.

It kills me how few survivors we have left from WWII, and even fewer from Pearl Harbor. Met Don Stratton a decade or so back and he died recently.

If you have a chance to go to the National WWII Museum, GO. If you can get access to the archives, DO SO. There are so many personal stories, effects, and other items that just make the men and women who fought so much more human.

 

As the son of a WWII veteran and brother to a Desert Shield veteran Decemeber 7th sure holds a lot of memories. I took over a dozen students to Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Not only was I moved but so were my students. During our visit to the Normandy Cemetary and Memorial grounds, which is so solemn as not to be decribed here, I was doing alright until they played taps. Then I lost it in front of my wife and all my students. In prepartation for my trip I read Cornelius Ryan's book, "The Longest Day" and even that didn't prepare me for standing in the middle of 9,300+ graves. I collected sand from the beach and brought back a zip lock bag of it and put a vial of it on my dad's grave marker when we came home. Even now writing about it still gives me goosebumps. Other than Gettysburg, I feel its the most sacred site of our veteran memorials of those that fought and died for their country. God, what a trip. If one hasn't done so I strongly recomment Gordon Prange's book, "At Dawn We Slept." He spent 30 years writing and doing the research for it and lived with Mutsuo Fuchida, the Imperial Japanese aviator who let the first wave that attacked Pearl Harbor, for four years with interviews and research. An incredible 800+ page book I have read TWICE. So, yeah, as a public school teacher of American History, and the son and brother of veterans this is a solemn day for me.

 

I've been to Pearl Harbor a couple of times and it's very sobering knowing that there are still men inside the Arizona. What a horrific day, but the silver lining was it pulled us into the war. There was no way allied forces were winning that war without the red, white and blue.

By complete coincidence, I watched Midway last night. That battle took place about 7 months after the Pearl Harbor attack and must have been some seriously sweet redemption for those guys, despite the heavy losses on both sides.

 

The Pacific theater was so much worse than the European. Just barbaric stuff.

 

There are far too few veterans still around. I still keep in touch with many of the guys I knew through the WWII Museum. Far, far too many are gone.