Thread: Pearl Harbor

Tweet

Time to remember Pearl Harbor, the fallen many, and the changes it brought. God bless them all!

My Dad was stationed at Pearl harbor and saw all the damaged that was done. He later joined the Air corps and became a fighter pilot with the P-47 and P-51 his favorite planes.

The WWII generation is slipping away ............ it's up to us to keep the memories alive ............. never forget

I was watching Tora Tora Tora (not the movie)on history channel this morning---really a good show going into the run up to war with Japan---

Wow Jerry:
67th Anniversary of Attack on Pearl Harbor. Kurt

Time really just flies by

Don't think i ever mentioned this here, But for my entire life until she passed My mother balled like a baby today. She lost a young man in the Arizona. Never recovered ,he is listed on the lost plaque. I heard that they were MUCH more than freinds and had a future planned from an aunt after mom passed. She married my dad after the war. I feel sorry for anyone in that much pain for a lifetime.

Not a lot of WWII vets around anymore.... Still see some of them on my (numerous) visits to the VA for appointments.... My Dad, like thousands of others, enlisted after the attack on Pearl.... trained as a Navy Medic in Philadelphia, Pa., after training did the remainder of his Navy time in the South Pacific on a couple different destroyers, and ended up on one of the carriers....forgive my lousy memory, don't remember the names of any of his ships.... Dad and I had a lot of great times drinking coffee and crusin' either to Minneapolis for a baseball game, Kansas City for a football game, Indy for the 500, or some lake somewhere for fishing. It wasn't very often he wanted to talk about "his war", but when he did, it was sure a very interesting conversation.... I miss him and so many others of his generation that I had the privilege to be friends with........

Just two Uncles left who served in WW2. One in the airforce the other on a ship in the south Pacific. I can't imagine wha they had to endure or have seen in their lifetimes. Thanks to all Veterans out there.

Yah, We recently lost a family freind who was a Battle of the Bulge POW. An Uncle who was a battle of Leti Gulf Navy vet and a neighbor who was a D Day + Battles of France + Berlin Vet. I Cannot think of anymore WWII vet freinds left + All I have left is one uncle that was a WWII vet, The rest are gone. Growing up I remember most of my neighborhood and all of our uncles and family freinds were WWII vets and a few older WWI vets. I had a great uncle who was a Spanish American war Vet. Gone now are the Amer Legion/VFW parades. Both places were full every night and weekends. Both a bands and auxilary's for the kids and woman. Not anymore. At most have maybe 3-8 cars at the busiest. No bands anymore and I heard that one Amer legion was closed w a VFW on the way to it as well. Both play hell getting enough vets for the Honor Gaurd squads. Sad but inevitable end to a life + lifestyle of heroes.

My dad and four of my uncles spent 16 months in Europe fighting the Nazis. Dad was only 18 at the time. There were probably only 2 times in my life that I remember him talking to me about the war; it affected him for the rest of his life. Looking at my 18 year old son now, it's hard to imagine him going off to a foriegn country to fight. It takes a special kind of man to lay his life on the line for his country; thank you to all who have done so. You make America great.

My father-in-law was in Patton's 3rd Army and was in almost every major battle in Europe except D-Day. All the big movies that were made about WW2 on the Eurorean front were always of interest to him because he was there. He got bad frostbite in both feet during one of their long marches and ended up in the hospital for an extended period or he would have been at Normandy for D-Day. He rarely talked about any of his experiences except for funny anecdotes; he never spoke of any of the battles except to merely say wheter he was there or not. I have no idea what kinds of things he saw. After he got out of the hospital and returned to active duty, he was with a group responsible for liberating concentration camps. He didn't say much about that either, but once, when we were watching a documentary about the camps, he left the room with tears in his eyes... I tried to get him to write down his memories; I told him that it was all a part of history and it would be lost with him when he passed. He said that there was enough written about it by people smarter than him and he wished he could just forget it all... He passed away in 1997.


I have an uncle who lives in New Mexico (88 yrs old now) who was in the Army Air Corps. He joined up when he was 17 and was at Hickham Field when it and Pearl Harbor were attacked. Later, he was the top-turret gunner in B-25's. He is another one who rarely talks of his experiences except for funny stories. He does admit to having shot down 4 Japanese Zeroes and tells of when his plane was shot up over the Indian Ocean and crash laned in Australia. I have a picture of the plane after the landing with the crew walking away in the background. Having been in the Air Corps and not on the ground battle fields, I assume he was not exposed to the atrocities that my father-in-law saw.

Toured a couple camps during my time in Germany courtesy of uncle Sam , If anyone ever tells you it did not happen , Deck him -IT DID the place STILL stinks of death. I know it too well.

Like many on this site, my father was a WWII and Korean vet. He talked very little about his experiences until very late in his life. He and I shared some close moments as I came home injured in 1972 for a bit of R&R. We had the Purple Heart talk and I was touched deeply at what he went through – made my injuries look like a couple scratches.

When he passed away in 1995, I went through a long-locked Navy foot locker. Wow! Some newspaper clippings, cigars from when me and my two sisters were born and a whole slew of medals including a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. When I read the citations, I wept a long time.

Remember these great men and women. There few and far between now, but those I know really appreciate when they’re greeted with the respect they deserve. Acknowledge and warmly greet our current Veterans too. They are todays heroes.

Regards All,
Glenn