Day in Infamy

Spring Chicken · December 2009

It's a different world now. Even so, we should never forget what happened on that day so long ago.

I was only seven months old when the war started but old enough to remember when it ended. A generation suffered but they saved a nation.

Spring "Back In Time" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

BobS · December 2009

They were definitely "The Greatest Generation"!

I lost an Uncle in the battle of Midway. He was a torpedo bomber off the carrier Hornet. I also lost a cousin in the last few days of the war in Europe.

I was born in '51, so I did not know them, but as I have gotten older and read about the war, I appreciate them.

Village Idiot · December 2009

Yep, the Greatest Generation.

My uncle was on the Bataan Death March. He hated the Japanese til the day he died.

Mickey · December 2009

Yes they were "The Greatest Generation" I hope we are up to it now as a nation (including leaders)

We got Toyota in 1969 and here at Fort Hood I still had many who would come and see the Olds and GMC but not look at Toyota. I would never buy a "rice burner" I fought them was the standard line.

Buckdodger · December 2009

I was about a year and a half old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. My Dad served in Italy,87th Mountain Infantry,he volunteered to go back after his first tour,didn't know what he looked like till he came home after The War. My Uncle was a Submariner in the Pacific, USS Swordfish. I am so proud of them.

Our "kid's" treated us to a trip to Hawaii last summer and we visited the Arizona Memorial...brought tears to my eyes. God Bless America.

Bob
Alex City, Al

lowercasebill · December 2009

thanks Leroy for posting that,, "those who forget history.............."
i had an uncle stationed in hawaii, and another in the mediteranean fleet [he was the fleet boxing champ]
my Dad was in the army, north africa, anzio , wounded in the battle of the bulge... he passed away when i was in highschool. ten years later i showed up at my uncles driving a volkswagon my uncle says "that the hell is wrong with you , those rotten bastards shot your father"
Mom waited for Dad to come home from the war, saving the money he sent home from his pay.. she passsed away a year ago today..so i will be Egging her favorite meal [lamb]in her honor tonight.

Smokey · December 2009

Sadly, far to many people have forgotten what this day is, what it means and those who lost their lives on this tragic day (not even a mention of it on the radio on the way into work).

toothpick · December 2009

My grandfather who flew supply planes in the Pacific lost dear friends at Pearl Harbor. He'll be laid to rest at Arlington a week from today. My other grandfather still lives in Virginia and served in the Pacific on the USS Pennsylvania. It's good to remember. Thanks for the post.

lowercasebill · December 2009

my sympathies on the loss of your Grandfather. There are so few of that generation left.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · December 2009

history channel is running some stuff like usual... dunno if it's an all-day thing.

i have a small tv in the studio and it's on now.

if you want to play hooky when you are at work, try this.

might take a while to buffer or load...

click to watch:Tora! Tora! Tora!

Fidel · December 2009

One of the most striking things I have ever done is sit through the presentation at the Pearl Harbor Memorial. The video and speakers before they take you out on the boats to the memorial certainly put everyone in the proper frame of mind to respect what happened there.

I was lucky enough to be involved in several re-enlistment and promotion ceremonies at the memorial, and was involved in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific. Today brings back a lot of memories for me.

Celtic Wolf · December 2009

They saved the world!!

I told my wife that today was the day of infamy and she looked at me like I was crazy..

History forgotten are lessons forgotten.

mad max beyond eggdome · December 2009

a good family friend of ours was also on the bataan death march. . .(we share the same last name, but he was not a relative) ...not only did he survive the death march, but he survived not one, but TWO, sinkings of prisoner ships by US dive bombers (the japanese never marked POW ships so the americans couldn't tell what was a cargo or troop ship from one carrying american POWs) . . .follow this link to read a truly amazing story of one man's survival through 4 years of hell .. .he only died two years ago of old age, and he was one of the nicest soft spoken people i ever knew. ...amazing ..

http://www.jewsingreen.com/home/honor/comments/melvin_rosen_zl/

Village Idiot · December 2009

Wow. What a read. I cannot even imagine the hardship they went through. Thanks for the link, Max.

mad max beyond eggdome · December 2009

i'm betting that story was probably pretty typical of the experiences of those that survived the 4 years in captivity from bataan. . .so you probably now have a pretty good idea of what your uncle went through!!

eenie meenie · December 2009

Leroy, the heros of WWII are not forgotten in my book. My father's return ship on the Murmansk Run was torpedoed (27 of the 30 ships were sunk). Ironically, a German physician prisoner of war saved his life and he received several medals from the Soviets about 15 or 20 years ago in Annapolis.

Celtic Wolf · December 2009

the reason the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in the first place??

What they needed that the US had in abundance and would not sell more of it to Japan???

Village Idiot · December 2009

Oil. The same thing we're fighting over now.

(either that or Big Green Eggs) :woohoo:

Fidel · December 2009

They attacked to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering in their plans to expand into southern Indo-China and capture the oil resources of that area.

Celtic Wolf · December 2009

Yep, Something Roosevelt said he'd do if they tried..

The reason we wouldn't tell more oil to them was to prevent them from expanding the Empire by force.

Fidel · December 2009

The American people didn't want to go to war. The government saw the need to stop the growth of the Japanese empire, but the public would not support a show of strength.

The US may have warned the Japanese, but in reality they would have never gotten involved if the Japanese had not attacked us, regardless whatever quote you may have from Roosevelt showing otherwise.

It was an equivalent the what we have seen the past ten years - the difference is we fought back after being hit by a civilian sneak attack instead of an organized military attack. There are many distinct parallels.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · December 2009

i like CW's version. it's easier to remember

Fidel · December 2009

Well, it wasn't just oil we weren't sending them, and it wasn't just the US playing bully and keeping them from building a bigger sandbox.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · December 2009

i know i know.

just stoking the fire :evil:

belle's dad · December 2009

I have two brother-in-laws that were very envolved in WWII. One was at Pearl Harbour aboard the "Maryland". He served on various ships during the war. He later became one of the tour guides and speaker at the Pearl War Memorial. He passed away a few years ago in Honululu. The other brother-in-law, who I never met,
died in a B-17 over Germany. I was 8 years old Dec. 7th
1941.

Gordon
Vero Beach, FL

mad max beyond eggdome · December 2009

it probably had more to do with steel and other raw materials than it had to do with oil. . .and you are right, there was so much anti-war sentiment in this country after WWI, that only an attack on the US would get us into the war. . .that is why there has always been so much speculation that we "invited" an invasion somewhere (either pearl harbor or the philipines), so that roosevelt could force the decision to enter the war on the american people ....if anything there was always more sentiment to go help the british in europe than there was to go aid the chinese and others in asia. . .

Bacchus · December 2009

Great Post.
And how quickly we forget....In this politcally correct world we live in today where we can't use the word "Jap". We used it that day, as our fathers scattered for shelter and grabbed for guns as they rained hell upon us, unprovoked.

Fidel · December 2009

The decision to move the Pac Fleet to Honolulu from San Diego was seen as "warmongering" - people thought we were moving out into the middle of the Pacific to pick a fight.

We got one.

Bacchus · December 2009

Then along came the Manhattan Project.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · December 2009

small beans, compared to the firebombing of tokyo

mad max beyond eggdome · December 2009

thats for sure. . .curtis lemay used incindiary bombs so fast and in such numbers that a couple of times he had to park the bombers while he waited for more shipments ....i'm not into revisionist history though. . .at the time, most japanese industry was spread amongst the cities and located in the midst of their tarpaper towns, so it was the most expeditious way to destroy their war making capabilities. ..

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