Dec. 7

[herr_oberst]

Caps off to the greatest generation.

[ckelly78z]

A day which truly will live in infamy !

[Racerbvd]

[WPOZZZ]

For the first time, there will be no survivors attending the ceremony.

[Ayles]

Here is my grandfathers story. He was a survivor from the USS West Virginia:

https://www.usswestvirginia.org/veterans/personalpage.php?id=3703

[Scott Douglas]

+1 to the OP.

Bryan, that speaks volumes as to how long ago it really was.

[Eric at Pelican Parts]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/07/us/pearl-harbor-carl-dorr-buried-on-77th-anniversary/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1pqhM-RBTsKNFRXNncihkr6lk-HJFndXdt_ZLGcztM6erY8J-4FaYrZdQ

[GH85Carrera]

We lived in Hawaii when the movie Tora Tora Tora was filmed. We lived in Waipahu which overlooks Pearl Harbor. I remember watching the big fireball explosions and seeing Zeros flying overhead and KNOWING that is was just for a movie I kind sorta maybe just a tiny bit understood the horror of that attack.

My dad worked at PACAF on base at Hickam, AFB. That building still to this day has bullet holes in the face of the building. It is a stark reminder that we were attacked.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Eric at Pelican Parts

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/07/us/pearl-harbor-carl-dorr-buried-on-77th-anniversary/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1pqhM-RBTsKNFRXNncihkr6lk-HJFndXdt_ZLGcztM6erY8J-4FaYrZdQ

One hell of a story...thanks for the link. Kudos to all involved in bringing this sailor home.

[Seahawk]

December 7th changed the world.

[pwd72s]

I knew a log truck driver, B.J. MacDonald. He served on the destroyer Tucker, which was undamaged on 7 December. Ironically, it was sunk by a mine later. One of our mines. They had not been informed of the recently laid minefield.

B.J. often talked about both events in coffee shop conversations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tucker_(DD-374)

[Baz]

Thanks, Herr Oberst.......the greatest generation indeed.......

[red-beard]

Let us not forget, more than Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec 7th.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/12/07/pearl-harbor-wasnt-only-surprise-attack-that-day.html

The Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor is burned into the American consciousness. But for two North Texans, Dec. 8 is the day they will never forget.
Just hours after the dawn attack on Pearl Harbor but across the international dateline making it Dec. 8, Japanese planes also bombed American bases and Manila in the Philippines.

"It was a complete surprise. We were unprepared. It was the second of a number of Pearl Harbors in that first year of the war," said Leon Long, a 93-year-old who grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and then joined his high school friend George Loritz in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939.

The two pals, who worked in aircraft maintenance, were stationed at Clark Field with the 19th Bombardment Group composed of 35 B-17 bombers and 23 P-40 interceptors. Just days before, 16 B-17s were flown 500 miles south to the island of Mindanao as a precaution against attack, Long said.

After hearing radio news reports of the Pearl Harbor attack early that morning, Long and Loritz were returning to work after lunch when they saw two flights of more than 50 twin-engine planes approaching the airfield.
"George said, 'Hey, look, it's nice to see the Navy is out protecting us.' About that time, the earth began to erupt at the end of the runway," Long said.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Baz

Thanks, Herr Oberst.......

The war was 15 years in the mirror when I came around; all I did was bask in the fruits of what my parents' generation accomplished. I'm just a byproduct of the halcyon days of the postwar recovery. All credit to those who fought and died.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

The war was 15 years in the mirror when I came around; all I did was bask in the fruits of what my parents' generation accomplished. I'm just a byproduct of the halcyon days of the postwar recovery. All credit to those who fought and died.

Well said, sir....I'm right there with you!

One day I hope to visit the memorial.

Thanks also to all who posted in the thread...very informative.....I will spend some time this weekend reading them and reflecting.......

[aap1966]

On learning of the attack, Churchill phoned Roosevelt to confirm the news and then had the British cabinet declare war on Japan. Great Britain and her Empire declared war on Japan as a consequence off Pearl harbour before America did.
Churchill knew that American military and industrial might would win the war, with Germany defeated and Japan “ground to powder.” That night he "slept the sleep of the grateful and saved," not because of an American defeat at Pearl Harbour but rather because he knew that American could not be defeated in the War, which meant that Britain and her allies could not lose.

As I said on Pelican before, American Naval power saved Australia in 1942, and that will not be forgotten.

Thank you to all who served, and serve.




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[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

For the first time, there will be no survivors attending the ceremony.

Correction: No Arizona survivors attended. About 15 other survivors did.

[Tobra]

I have posted this before.

It strikes me how blessed my family has been. I have been fortunate enough to have had a family that is close, my father and his brothers and sisters had family reunions every few years when they all were young enough to travel like that.

All the aunts and uncles told the kids stories about their parents, and each other when we got together for a family reunion. Jerry, Jack's wife, was like a dark haired Betty Hutton, she would sing a song or two for us sometimes. She was in the USO in Paris when he met her. My most cherished memories are those family reunions. Jack was at Pearl Harbor, he wrote memoir of his life, from his childhood, to escaping Nebraska to the sea, lifetime of service to his country, he was a lot of places when events of consequence happened. Job was communications, so he heard about it first, before the Captain, when the ship got a message. Has photos, diagrams of Pearl from the day, were all the ships were. It is really something, I ought to get a copy or get it scanned.

He was aboard the Pelias, on KP. He threw potatoes at them, because that is what he had. He was peeling them on deck because even if it is December, in Hawaii you want to be on deck for that sort of work, if they'll let you. No gun, so used what he had. What is a potato going to do to an airplane? I don't know, but it could not do you any good to hit one going 200 mph. They were not shooting at him so much as the battleships, he just happened to be in the flight path, went by close enough you could see if the pilot was clean shaven. He knew just what was happening, you don't wonder what that big meatball on those planes means. He was furious, maddest he ever was in his life. Look at the diagram and you will get the idea of the layout. They were right there and had their small boat, so off they go. The Oklahoma was the first one as they got out in the channel. I am fairly certain I saw a photo of him online a few years ago, bare headed in his undershirt and a pair of dungarees, facing away from the camera, toward the burning ship.

He said you get the person under the arms to pull them out of the water, because if they are burned and you try to grab them, their skin comes off. That was the last thing he said about that day, maybe the last time he ever talked about it. He stopped, collected himself then finished. He hoped we would never have to see, and smell something like that. He told us it gave him nightmares, 40 years later.