In Rememberance: A Day of Infamy

[KiltedKnome]

In the 1960s my family moved to Hawaii, and we lived at Fort Kamehameha (next to Pearl Harbour). At the military bases, many of the older buildings still had the damage to the exterior walls -- they had never been repaired so people would not forget.

[Burly Brute]

Because of a delay in transit on its way to Pearl, my father's ship was at sea on December 7th. Had they been on time he would have been in the thick of it. Lucky? His ship was eventually sunk at the battle of Savo Island; he survived (or I wouldn't be here). Five generations of sailors; I'm the forth, my son (currently serving) is the fifth. We don't, won't and can't forget!!!

Five generations, that's freakin awesome. Tell your son my prayers go out to him.

I will never forget.

[piperchris]

Indeed we will remember them, and those that served before Pearl Harbor as well. I always think of my "Gramps", Clyde W. Daugherty 1903-1979 who served from 1920 to 1947 and saw heavy combat in the jungles of the Pacific. I salute and commend all these brave heroes! :

[Alan H]

Never forget.

[BCAC]

We will remember them, and all the people who have given their lives in the fight for freedom!

[ThistleDown]

"We will remember them."

[macwilkin]

Because of a delay in transit on its way to Pearl, my father's ship was at sea on December 7th. Had they been on time he would have been in the thick of it. Lucky? His ship was eventually sunk at the battle of Savo Island; he survived (or I wouldn't be here). Five generations of sailors; I'm the forth, my son (currently serving) is the fifth. We don't, won't and can't forget!!!

My bonnet is off to your father for surviving Savo & "Iron Bottom Sound".

Besides Pearl Harbor, the 7th & 8th of December, 1941, mark the attacks by Imperial Japanese forces on Allied installations in The Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, Hong Kong and the Dutch East Indies. The sacrifices of the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command in 1941-42 are largely unknown today, but the forces from those nations held the line as long as they could.

Since I do not own "Tora, Tora, Tora" on DVD, methinks I'll remember the sailors of the Pacific and Asiatic Fleets by watching "The Sand Pebbles" this evening.

And finally, here's to the men of the USS Panay, who felt the first "Pearl Harbor" attack on the Yangtze River in 1937:

http://www.usspanay.org/

My grandfather, who spent the majority of his service in WWII in China, remembered the Panay first-hand.

Lest We Forget.

T.

[BoldHighlander]

Thank you everyone for your remembrancies, I personally enjoy reading them.

As an aside to my original posting: I had a buddy in Jr. high school who had an uncle (Benjamin Rush) who died on the Arizona 70 yrs ago today & is entombed on the ship. A few years back my mother was visiting the Arizona Memorial & she took a picture of the roll of names of those entombed in the ship, & there in the bottom corner of the photo I could read the name of my friend's uncle.

Shortly after the attack my cousin (John Aid) lied about his age and joined the U.S. Army, being one of the early trainees in the then new Ranger school & later he found himself in the China/Burma theater slogging through the jungles with Merrill's Marauders .... he would go on to serve in both the Korea & Viet Nam conflicts, to pass away a bit over a year ago from the effects of Alzheimer's.
He, like many WWII vets I've met, would decline to talk much about his experiences, only to say "whomever said war is hell only scratched the surface."

A solemn tip of my hat to all who gave so much so that we might enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today.

Cheers.

[MT4Runner]

Gratitude to all who have given their lives for our freedom. Past, present, and future.

And today, special thanks to those who lost their lives in Pearl Harbor before the war even started for America.

[Mark R]

Losing more and more of these vets everyday--wont be long before they are all gone. Anyone reading this, if you see an elderly vet wearing their "veterans hat," please thank them for their service. Means alot to them but may even do more for you--have made some new friends that way.


My personal story, well my Dad's story:

He graduated from high school in the summer of '45 and was recruited and drafted by the St Louis Cards as a 17 year old. His 18th birthday was in late August of the same year when he was drafted by Uncle Sam.

1st deployment out of boot camp was to be stationed in Nagasaki area as part of an air force detail responsible for running the AF recon missions in that part of Japan. Was also trained in intelligence operations during the year he spent there.

After Japan he spent some of his remaining time in the service as part of the military police in some capacity. That part is fuzzy as I dont remember all the details and he does speak about those times very much.

He regretted losing his chance to pursue his passion which was baseball and track. Could run like a deer and evidently played left field like few could. His records in the 100 yard dash stood at his high school for over 2 decades. Even when I was 10-12 years old, he was still playing leftfield for one of the elite, fastpitch softball teams in the Pittsburgh, PA area at the age of 40+.

After his discharge from the service, he came back home, married my Mom and pursued training as a policeman with the idea of becoming a State Police Officer. Upon completing his police training, a position opened up in our home town for a policeman. He and another gentleman In 1959, the town became a 3rd class city and he was chosen to be its 1st Chief of Police--a position he held for over 23 years when he retired. He made his police work his real passion in life.

A heartfelt thank you to all the vets and those currently serving on behalf of my family. Your service and sacrifices are never forgotten by us.

A blessed Christmas season to you all.