Remembrance

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Remembering the 2350 killed on this day in 1941 at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere on the Island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands Territory.

[Phil]

Indeed. And in Roosevelt's words "a date which will live in infamy". And a turning point which brought America into the war against fascism.

[macwilkin]

Indeed. And in Roosevelt's words "a date which will live in infamy". And a turning point which brought America into the war against fascism.

Individual Americans, however, had already been in the War -- serving in the Allied forces, The Abraham Lincoln Battalion in Spain and the crews of the USS Panay and the USS Reuben James:

http://www.usspanay.org/

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/a_p...ben_james.html

May we remember them as well today.

T.

[kiltedsawyer]

Thank you MoR for starting this thread. It seems we can never take enough opportunities to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the world we live in. I would like to add my own remembrance, of my father-in-law, who served in the Army, Navy, and the Air Force. During WWII he was in the Navy and fortunate enough to be on board the Indianapolis when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and in Pearl Harbor when the Indianapolis was sunk. A very fortunate man who died in his sleep in his own bed at the age of 87.
Respectfully,
David

[Kilted Magyar]

Individual Americans, however, had already been in the War -- serving in the Allied forces, The Abraham Lincoln Battalion in Spain and the crews of the USS Panay and the USS Reuben James:




May we remember them as well today.

T.

While not an historian I have long felt that WWII did not begin with the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 but rather with the Japanese rape if China in 1936

[Phil]

While not an historian I have long felt that WWII did not begin with the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 but rather with the Japanese rape if China in 1936

Many think that the humiliation of Germany by the Treaty of Vesailles after WWI greatly contributed to the rise of nazism along with the political vacuum left by the removal of the ruling elite and the runaway inflation in Germany where money was printed like confetti. Japan was simply following Germany's policy of "Lebensraum" and Italy's expedition into Ethiopia by trying to obtain territory and natural resources by force. You could say that WWII became inevitable when nations stood by and did nothing while atrocities occurred in Spain and Ethiopia followed by militarisation of the Rhineland, annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, and the invasion of China you mentioned. Hopefully we have since learned that the sort of thinking current in those days such as Chamberlain's dismissal of "that faraway country of which we know little" referring to Czechoslovakia shows that sticking your head in the sand does not make these problems go away.

[macwilkin]

Many think that the humiliation of Germany by the Treaty of Vesailles after WWI greatly contributed to the rise of nazism along with the political vacuum left by the removal of the ruling elite and the runaway inflation in Germany where money was printed like confetti. Japan was simply following Germany's policy of "Lebensraum" and Italy's expedition into Ethiopia by trying to obtain territory and natural resources by force. You could say that WWII became inevitable when nations stood by and did nothing while atrocities occurred in Spain and Ethiopia followed by militarisation of the Rhineland, annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, and the invasion of China you mentioned. Hopefully we have since learned that the sort of thinking current in those days such as Chamberlain's dismissal of "that faraway country of which we know little" referring to Czechoslovakia shows that sticking your head in the sand does not make these problems go away.

well said, Phil.

T.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Many think that the humiliation of Germany by the Treaty of Vesailles after WWI greatly contributed to the rise of nazism along with the political vacuum left by the removal of the ruling elite and the runaway inflation in Germany where money was printed like confetti. Japan was simply following Germany's policy of "Lebensraum" and Italy's expedition into Ethiopia by trying to obtain territory and natural resources by force. You could say that WWII became inevitable when nations stood by and did nothing while atrocities occurred in Spain and Ethiopia followed by militarisation of the Rhineland, annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, and the invasion of China you mentioned. Hopefully we have since learned that the sort of thinking current in those days such as Chamberlain's dismissal of "that faraway country of which we know little" referring to Czechoslovakia shows that sticking your head in the sand does not make these problems go away.

Could not agree more. Well said, indeed.

[Jock Scot]

An infamous day indeed. "Lest we forget."

[Bugbear]

Not sure how it should be said, but also remembering the USS Arizona and her crew.