74th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack
Seventy-four years ago today we were “suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” leading to our ultimate involvement in the war which the rest of the world had been fighting for more than two years. Wiki records our casualties on that day;
All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but one were later raised, and six of the eight battleships returned to service and fought in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.
Here is a link to President Roosevelt’s request to Congress for a declaration of war the following day.
Category: Historical
I was there when we stormed the beach. It was a day I’ll never forget.
I hope sincerely that the world does not have to face something like that again.
Sadly, we will. We did on September 11th and most of the people said on that day “We will never forget!”
And then they forgot.
So yes, it will happen again because people like to think there isn’t evil in the world and that people will just leave us alone. But they won’t.
Went to the mall actually
Instinct has it right. 3,000 people dying was a big deal, until we moved on and now it’s not.
When they kill 30,000 or 300,000 when they nuke/dirty/massive conventional bomb a major city, it that enough??
Only time will tell and I hope and PRAY we have REAL leadership then.
Rest in peace, shipmates.
Those who have been to the Arizona Memorial have more than likely noticed that oil is still leaking from the ship.
The legend is that once the final Arizona shipmate is laid to rest, the oil will stop. I guess the ship is crying for her crew to come home to her.
It’s a very sobering place.
That it is.
Visiting the Arizona Memorial is one of the most sobering experiences of my life. Only visiting Arlington Cemetery approaches that level of dignity.
What was perhaps the most poignant part of visiting the Arizona Memorial was doing so in the company of several Japanese tourists who displayed more reverence than a couple of American tourists. Making eye contact with those Japanese, nodding our mutual respect, sharing a few quiet moments with them, and later (once back on shore) exchanging conciliatory words with them is something I will never forget.
I was on a liberty barge going by the Arizona before they built the memorial….I always get a lump in my throat when I think of the Arizona…My Uncle, Aunt and Cousin were all in Hawaii when it was bombed, they all survived….two uncles were building fuel storage bunkers underground, so they knew it was coming! It was a Roosevelt false flag event, you know like Bush’s false flag twin towers event, not unlike obamas false flag events with brainwashed morons shooting up civilians…it all SUCKS!
I went to MEPS in October. I came back a second time after my physical and contract went through the system and I raised my right hand and was sworn in Delayed Entry in 1983….On December 7th. Forever it was my Pay Date and this day, I remember. I left for Basic April 30th the following Spring
The military will never forget, but most of our fellow citizens can barely remember the current GWOT..
I have little faith in the civilians we call our citizens today with respect to their ability to understand the significance of readiness and having the ability to be proactive rather than always waiting to be reactive.
I know there are notable exceptions, but most of the “nice” people I work with here have no idea what day it is unless they saw it on the news.
Rest in peace my elder brothers in arms…some of us will never forget that the ideal of our nation is something that others continually wish to extinguish in favor of an ever more repressive replacement. Including some of our fellow citizens.
I can honestly say that I have never and will never forget. It was drilled into me by my parents and grandparents from the time I was in preschool. And having visited the Memorial, read the names on the wall, and seen the fuel still leaking from Arizona’s wreck, I can’t believe that anyone who’s seen that could ever forget. The contrast between FDR and the Glorious Leader is so sharp it’s depressing. My Grandpa was a lifelong conservative Republican, but he kept a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt on the living room wall, and wouldn’t hesitate to explain how proud he was to have had him as his Commander-in-Chief during his wartime service. My Grandma told me about growing up in the Depression, saying that even though a lot of the President’s ideas didn’t work, he inspired people to pull together and work to fix the problem instead of just bickering over partisan crap. He never made an issue of his disability; most of the nation had no idea that he couldn’t walk. They both said that, for all his faults, Roosevelt was the leader we needed at the time. Compare Roosevelt’s leadership with the…chickenshit that comes out of the White House today. There is no leadership. There is only blatantly-partisan finger-pointing at people the Glorious Leader doesn’t like, with cheap accusations of racism being the default response to any dissent, while half of our problems are simply ignored. The Glorious Leader considers his “legacy” to be the only important issue, and has shown little concern for the consequences of his decisions. FDR’s oldest son was a combat Marine, he was risking as just as much as any American family. FDR had real charisma, and could rally our nation to do the impossible. He didn’t piss and moan because somebody didn’t think he was a genius, and he sure as fuck didn’t use a TelePrompTer. The Glorious Leader is no more than a manufactured ad campaign built around an empty suit who believes his own bullshit. And finally, FDR knew that evil in the world must be met with… Read more »
It was a Sunday. My grandfather and his family were eating breakfast when they heard the news. My two elder uncles served in WWII, my youngest uncle was too young to join, and couldn’t serve until the Korean War. My grandfather attempted to join up, and was refused because of his age. He had served in WWI.
It is said by many that our political leaders had let our country slumber until that happened. We were in a slumber until we were attacked on 9/11/2001 and we’ve let our pols and media lull much of the Nation back to sleep or distract them with other things. It’s sickening how many people out there cant’ even discuss current events or even say who the current VPOTUS is, but they can tell you EVERY bit of printed gossip about Kim Kardashian or their favorite pro sports team. I remember one year when I walked out in front of the main offices of where I work and lowered the flag to half staff myself and I didn’t give a DAMN about “offending” anyone by doing so but hell, that’s part of why I pay union dues.
Hmmmm. Will we see any “special” moments or speech by potus or anyone from his admin? Probably not. If anything does come out, it will only be a token response.
I got an email from American Legion HQ day before yesterday. It told me that potus had made a half-staff proclamation to “honor” the victims of the SB, CA workplace violence (terrorist attack). It stated flags should be flown at half-mast until sunset December 7th.
I immediately responded slamming the leadership of the AL for falling for this smoke & mirror bullshyte from potus. “Until sunset December 7th” – yeah right! Just so he nor his staff “have to” recognize or remember the events of that day.
More than likely he & his butt-buddy actually meant it as a “memorial” to his goat-fucking muslim friends who got their asses shot off after their little escapade.
It chaps my ass!
Watched a good YouTube Video on Adolph Kuhn. A hero during the attack.
Early one morning, about 1990-ish, I re-enlisted on the deck of the USS Arizona Memorial. Quiet, so quiet. I read the names of the dead on the memorial wall. I watched the oil still leaking from the ship hull. Marvelled at the missing guns and turrets. I probably added another lei to those already there, or threw one overboard. I still have the flag I raised right beside the larger one that is flown there every day. I remember.
Damn, it got dusty here all of a sudden.
Here is a video shot by a Navy cameraman who was there on the scene. It’s not from a movie made decades after the attack; it’s real footage taken during the actual event.
WARNING: Graphic content ahead.
https://youtu.be/XeLWNadsQpE
They have no grave but the cruel sea,
No flowers lay at their heads.
A rusty hulk is their tombstone,
Afast on the ocean bed.
I wasn’t there; I was born in 1973. But I won’t forget.
Rest in peace, you brave Sailors and Marines.
Each December I remember. I remember the stories told by people who were there.
A friend whose husband was a pilot killed that day as she watched it all from their home, then went to work herself assisting, as so many Army wives did that day, to comfort the wounded. And a lot of other jobs which needed to be done.
My own parents, who were both in DC doing their jobs and joined the parade of people strolling up and down Pennsylvania Ave that afternoon because they all just wanted to be with others who were as horrified as they were with the events of the day. They were among those married a few weeks later, when my Dad graduated from the War College. Always thought it was an interesting time for them to find themselves there.
Lots of stories from family and friends.