December 7 - Remembering Pearl Harbor Day Thread 🇺🇸

[Gefn]

Never Forget those who died today on Pearl Harbor. 

Bing has some really lovely photos on its main page of the USS Arizona  today. It’s worth a look. I am sure somewhere You Tube must have FDR’s speech as well, I just couldn’t find it.

To all those members who have or had family who served in WW II I thank you.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=USS+Arizona+memorial&form=hpcapt&filters=HpDate%3a%2220181207_0800%22

[Cyber Liberty]

Thanks, @Freya!

[skeeter]

Used to always see a guy driving around town with a Pearl Harbor Survivor license plate frame on his Olds. There was something reassuring in seeing it.

The world has changed so much since that generation began moving on.

[Polly Ticks]

This was taken the day after Thanksgiving:

[Bigun]

Used to always see a guy driving around town with a Pearl Harbor Survivor license plate frame on his Olds. There was something reassuring in seeing it.

The world has changed so much since that generation began moving on.

There are very few, if any, left among us.  My dad was not a Pearl Harbor but did get some meaningful face time with the people who did the bombing later on in the South Pacific.

[skeeter]

There are very few, if any, left among us.  My dad was not a Pearl Harbor but did get some meaningful face time with the people who did the bombing later on in the South Pacific.

My guess is he was either a naval aviator or a sailor on some naval artillery.

[Cyber Liberty]

Last time we were in DeeCee we met a fellow who was on the Missouri.  He watched the surrender of Japan.

[Bigun]

My guess is he was either a naval aviator or a sailor on some naval artillery.

A United States Marine.

[skeeter]

A United States Marine.

Well here's to your pop.

We amateur historians were very lucky in that the internet age began while many of these guys were still with us. I corresponded with as many as I could and got many first hand accounts from them. To a person they were great guys and very willing to put up with being peppered with questions by a WWII nerd like myself.

[Bigun]

Well here's to your pop.

We amateur historians were very lucky in that the internet age began while many of these guys were still with us. I corresponded with as many as I could and got many first hand accounts from them. To a person they were great guys and very willing to put up with being peppered with questions by a WWII nerd like myself.

Thank you!  He was a GREAT man! So long as you didn't cross him! 

I was born in 1948 and can tell you that growing up with a South Pacific Marine as a father sometimes had it's trials.  I have only fairly recently began to fully understand why that was.

[The_Reader_David]

Every Pearl Harbor Day we should be grateful that the Japanese Imperial Fleet's best admiral, who planned the attack, was not regarded as sufficiently bushido for his whole plan to have been adopted:  Yamamoto planned to not only destroy the U.S. fleet in a surprise attack, but land Japanese marines on the Hawaiian islands to occupy them.  Had his plan been adopted and executed in full, the U.S. Navy would have had no deep water ports west of the U.S. mainland, and the Pacific war would have been far harder to prosecute.

[skeeter]

Every Pearl Harbor Day we should be grateful that the Japanese Imperial Fleet's best admiral, who planned the attack, was not regarded as sufficiently bushido for his whole plan to have been adopted:  Yamamoto planned to not only destroy the U.S. fleet in a surprise attack, but land Japanese marines on the Hawaiian islands to occupy them.  Had his plan been adopted and executed in full, the U.S. Navy would have had no deep water ports west of the U.S. mainland, and the Pacific war would have been far harder to prosecute.

Yamamoto warned his superiors that if they were to embark on a war with the US they would have to invade the US proper and dictate terms from the WH in order to achieve victory.

Senior military leadership were under the impression that they could demoralize the US with a succession of quick victories after which we would sue for peace, as happened with Russia 50 years earlier.

Although they studied invading Hawaii those plans were shelved because the imperial navy did not have the sealift capability nor the ability to feed their own troops let alone the islands' hundreds of thousands of residents.

[GtHawk]

Used to always see a guy driving around town with a Pearl Harbor Survivor license plate frame on his Olds. There was something reassuring in seeing it.

The world has changed so much since that generation began moving on.

Well I'll be going over to visit my Mom in Seisur.............er, Leisure World today and I figure all the WWII and Pearl Harbor survivors that are still with us will be out parading in their golf carts, God Bless 'em, and I hope there are more than a few.

[truth_seeker]

Thank you!  He was a GREAT man! So long as you didn't cross him! 

I was born in 1948 and can tell you that growing up with a South Pacific Marine as a father sometimes had it's trials.  I have only fairly recently began to fully understand why that was.

Very similar with me. My father enlisted in the US Marines at 17, rode the bus to Billings MT, then the train to San Diego. He drove an amphib tank and landed on Okinawa. After 45 days, he was seriously wounded and med-evac to Honolulu.

Being the oldest son of a combat veteran Marine father, was (and remains) a test.

When I was drafted it was for two years. When the WWII generation served, it was for the duration. Some served in the pacific, after time in Europe.

[skeeter]

Very similar with me. My father enlisted in the US Marines at 17, rode the bus to Billings MT, then the train to San Diego. He drove an amphib tank and landed on Okinawa. After 45 days, he was seriously wounded and med-evac to Honolulu.

Being the oldest son of a combat veteran Marine father, was (and remains) a test.\

Being the son of a Korea era marine who didn't see combat I can begin to imagine.

[Free Vulcan]

I can remember talking to my Grandma a several years back while visiting her in the nursing home on the anniversary. She was 22 when PH was bombed.. She said when the Japanese attacked, everyone was shocked and afraid, not knowing if they were going to invade the mainland.

That lasted about a day. Then she said, 'we got mad.'

She worked for Curtis Wright in St. Louis doing the wiring for the P-51 Mustangs.

[skeeter]

Interestingly, its becoming increasingly accepted that one of the five midget submarines that attempted to enter the harbor and attack battleship row on 12/7/41 (two succeeded in entering immediately prior to the attack) actually launched a successful attack against the Oklahoma and/or West Virginia at the height of the Japanese' arial torpedo attack. This sub was unable to exit the harbor afterwards and its empty remains were located on the bottom of the west loch after the war and dumped at sea.

A radio signal from this sub was intercepted on the evening of 12/7 indicating their successful attack.

This begs the question; what happened to its crew? Did they swim ashore, blend in with the islands Japanese population and live out their lives as grocers or cab drivers? Fascinating question.

Another empty midget sub was located in the Honolulu harbor basin. Same question - where did the crew go?

This scenario was never mentioned in any of the narratives I grew up with. Another question is why hasn't anyone tried to trace what happened to these guys?

[EasyAce]

I'm doing what I have always done on this day, once I acquired them: listening to all surviving radio broadcasts from 7 December 1941.

You can listen and download free at this link. Just look for links dated 7 December 1941.

[goatprairie]

This was taken the day after Thanksgiving:

The wife and I visited that memorial several years ago. Very moving.

[Gefn]

This was taken the day after Thanksgiving:

 Beautiful!

[Gefn]

My mom was a little girl then. She didn’t know where Hawaii was. She and grandma had to look it up on the map. She said grandma cried and grandpa looked like he was about to.

She found my dad’s induction papers for WW II and his discharge papers. She’s giving them to me. I’m honored.

[verga]

I had an aunt that worked for Curtiss Wright in Buffalo. She had applied for a job doing clerical work about a week before PH. Two weeks later she was working there. 6 months later after all the men either had enlisted or were drafted she was working on the line doing windings.
I had a neighbor that was about 16 on PH day. His parents wouldn't let him sign up until he was 17. He was going to lie.
He was a door operator for the landing craft on D-day. He had some great stories, but i know he didn't share all of them. I really miss that old man.

[Gefn]

@verga my dad refused to talk to me or to anyone about what he experienced in Germany during the war. I have lots of stories about basic training but none about the war other than he was a Sergeant and a medic.

It was like what happened in Germany stayed in Germany. I really regret it because it was history but he was adamant about not talking about it.

I have his Eisenhower jacket in my apartment and his medals and dog tags. I miss him. I should visit him today but by the time I get there it will be dark. I guess I can go Sunday, it’s not like he’ll know I’m there. And he’s in my heart.

[Cyber Liberty]

I had a neighbor that was about 16 on PH day. His parents wouldn't let him sign up until he was 17. He was going to lie.
He was a door operator for the landing craft on D-day. He had some great stories, but i know he didn't share all of them. I really miss that old man.

My Dad was a door-opener too.  Couple stories I heard weren't nice.  Iwo Jima, Tinian, Okinawa, etc.

[TomSea]

My father fought in the   battle of Leyte Gulf , Philippines or was nearby, I didn't get the whole story actually but it sounds like he was there, largest naval battle in history per some criteria. He told us just bits. The Japanese once dropped a bomb on the ship and it didn't go off.  I think he saw some pretty bad things.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Documentaries over at youtube on this.