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Dad was stationed at Ft. Lewis outside of Seattle on Dec 7th, and essentially his outfit (41st division) immediately went out to the Washington Coast in case the Japanese were planning the same thing there.
A few months later dad (18yo) was on the Queen Elizabeths "semi-maiden" voyage as a troop ship from San Francisco to Sydney Australia. When the QE got there the Queen Mary was already in port. The port wasn't large enough for both ships, so the QE had to wait till the QM pulled out. Dad was stationed in the South Pacific for quite some time and had duty in battles in the Phillipines and New Guinea. I only got the "fun/good" stories.
I went with my dad in 1986 on a trip to Australia... we visited some of the places he was stationed and had a few beers in bars that were still there that he had visited in his time there originally.
The Australian people were wonderful, and I truly enjoyed my time there. The only complaint they had about us was that "we" had killed their racehorse (Phar Lap)
The commitment by that generation was amazing. I'm grateful for all those that served, and still continue to do so.
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57 Speedster, (4) 67S coupe's, (2) 67S targas, 68L Rally car etc. etc.
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