Pearl Harbor Day

[PaulR]

Not that we need a certain date to thank those who choose to defend the liberty that the rest of us enjoy, but today especially is one where we should remember those who gave all in the name of freedom.

[mark the shoeshine boy]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJUMYsrWiCA[/YOUTUBE]

[SmoovD]

Thanks and gratititude to all service personnel past, present and future.

Daniel

[mark the shoeshine boy]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3oGFDohgxo[/YOUTUBE]

[ouch]

Horrible video, but the best I could do on short notice.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtP3whUbgZE[/YOUTUBE]

[Tony Miller]

Please excuse the cross posting but just wanted to add this:


My dad was just old enough to enlist when this happened, Pearl Harbor. His brother was two years older. Both went down and enlisted on Dec. 9th after hearing about Pearl Harbor on the radio. My dad joined the Army Airborne Artillery, his brother the Rangers. Both saw action in Europe. Dad came back un-harmed after 4 years, his brother came back minus an eye and a hand from injuries (but with a beautiful British bride <g>). Their uncle was a prisoner of war in Germany for the duration of the war. My dad and his brother we unseperable, they built their homes next door to each other, their uncle a little ways down the road. They were always together and I grew up on plenty of war stories.

Dad has been gone 26 years, his brother 16. I still think about their commitment and bravey as young men, especially every December 7 th. I have worn my Dad's paratrooper wings on a chain around my neck every day since he passed.

Bless you Dad.

Tony Miller

[tim8557]

Please excuse the cross posting but just wanted to add this:


My dad was just old enough to enlist when this happened, Pearl Harbor. His brother was two years older. Both went down and enlisted on Dec. 9th after hearing about Pearl Harbor on the radio. My dad joined the Army Airborne Artillery, his brother the Rangers. Both saw action in Europe. Dad came back un-harmed after 4 years, his brother came back minus an eye and a hand from injuries (but with a beautiful British bride <g>). Their uncle was a prisoner of war in Germany for the duration of the war. My dad and his brother we unseperable, they built their homes next door to each other, their uncle a little ways down the road. They were always together and I grew up on plenty of war stories.

Dad has been gone 26 years, his brother 16. I still think about their commitment and bravey as young men, especially every December 7 th. I have worn my Dad's paratrooper wings on a chain around my neck every day since he passed.

Bless you Dad.

Tony Miller

A very moving tribute Tony.

My father as well was a bombadier in WWII; shot down in two planes; spent time in a POW camp in Bulgaria. I never heard him ever discuss the war and learned most of this from a diary he kept in the POW Camp. I found it while we were packing up the house when we moved him into an Alzheimer facility. He's been gone for 8 years now but he was a great, but very common and caring man.

Watch the Band of Brothers DVD series. It is a great story about the young people who fought to keep us free.

[Texican]

Polished my Great Uncle Ben's Purple Heart today. He died at the Battle of Okinawa.

Wherever you are Uncle Ben, I salute you.

[Tony Miller]

Thanks guys for adding your own family histories to this. I saved all my Dad's wartime letters home to his Mom. Makes for interesting reading.

And yes, Band Of Brothers is excellent.


Tony

[liege]

A very moving tribute Tony.

My father as well was a bombadier in WWII; shot down in two planes; spent time in a POW camp in Bulgaria. I never heard him ever discuss the war and learned most of this from a diary he kept in the POW Camp. I found it while we were packing up the house when we moved him into an Alzheimer facility. He's been gone for 8 years now but he was a great, but very common and caring man.

Watch the Band of Brothers DVD series. It is a great story about the young people who fought to keep us free.

I believe this is very common among those who fought WWII. They were the real heroes, in my estimation. My uncle rarely, if ever, discussed his action with the Sea Bee's in the Pacific. They just quietly did what was expected of them.

[ouch]

Polished my Great Uncle Ben's Purple Heart today. He died at the Battle of Okinawa.

Wherever you are Uncle Ben, I salute you.

I salute him, too. My father was there, and I understand it was godawful.

[DirtyDave]

My Dad's older brother joined the Army Air Corp shortly after the war started. He wanted to be a pilot, but a bout of childhood asthma prevented that and he flew as a navigator. My Dad joined the Navy the day after he graduated from high school. His younger brother joined the Army just after he graduated from high school. Back in the early forties, that is what young men did.

All three were in combat and all three rarely talked about it. That seems to be a common thread with men of that era. Happily, all three returned home safe and sound and had bunches of kids.

[Daves]

My father also, he joined right after Pearl Harbor. He was in the Army Air Corps. He was one of the first American airmen to arrive in England at the start of the war. They were stationed at an aerodrome right on the North Sea coast. The first night they were there the Germans attacked and 13 men in his unit were killed. He was a master sargent. I wear everyday the belt buckle he wore as part of his uniform.

[DirtyDave]

He was a master sargent. I wear everyday the belt buckle he wore as part of his uniform.

Daves,

That is a very touching way to remember your father. I bet he would be pleased.

[Doc4]

With every passing year, that war becomes more and more of a faded memory. Right now, I'm working my way through the great documentary series "World At War" (narrated by Lawrence Olivier). Man, that is some GREAT television ... but it was made in 1974! There's more years between 1974 and now, than between 1974 and 1945!! Time flies!!

I fear that one day, "December 7th, 1941" will be a date, without much infamy left attached. I could have said the same on 11th November, looking at Remembrance Day ceremonies. Time passes, memories fade (and are replaced by more recent events), and the emotions are gone and we're left with mere historical fact of ever-dwindling significance: the longer-ago it was, the more its importance fades.

You may remember the movie Midway from 1976. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074899/) I went to see it in the theatre when it came out. I still remember ... when a Japanese carrier would be sunk, the entire audience gave a cheer. For them, then, the War was still a real source of emotion. I doubt you'd get the same reaction now!

In some ways, I guess it's inevitable that younger generations have their own concerns to be emotional about. Heck, right now the only date living in infamy is probably 9/11. Sure, some historical events are more 'durable' that others in maintaining an emotional tie to us, but still.

So remember the sacrifices of the Second World War ... and the First while you're at it. Pass on that emotion to the next generation ... and hope that they never find something bad enough to really replace it!

[jazzman]

So remember the sacrifices of the Second World War ... and the First while you're at it. Pass on that emotion to the next generation ... and hope that they never find something bad enough to really replace it!

Well said.