Dec 7, 1941.

Let us all observe a moment of silence at:

12:48 Eastern time, 11:48 Hillbilly time, 10:48 Roswell Alien time, 9:48 Left Coast Time, 8:48 Sarah Palin Time, 7:48 Grass Skirt Beach Babe time.

 

Respectfully submitted in memory of those who served or died that day...

Taps Played by young girl

 

Well said pizzaguy.Thats one of the reasons I have never had a Japanese car, just one of my ways of remembering.

 

Yea, but my problem is, my son married a Japanese girl in 2002.

Hard to think of a daughter in law as a "child of the enemy".
I guess time, enough time, and things are... different.

But I can still remember, and honor those who served.

 

Casualties
USA : 218 KIA, 364 WIA.
USN: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA.
USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA.
Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA.
TOTAL: 2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA.
Battleships
USS Arizona (BB-39) - total loss when a bomb hit her magazine.
USS Oklahoma (BB-37) - Total loss when she capsized and sunk in the harbor.
USS California (BB-44) - Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS West Virginia (BB-48) - Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS Nevada - (BB-36) Beached to prevent sinking. Later repaired.
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) - Light damage.
USS Maryland (BB-46) - Light damage.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) Light damage.
USS Utah (AG-16) - (former battleship used as a target) - Sunk.
Cruisers
USS New Orleans (CA-32) - Light Damage.
USS San Francisco (CA38) - Light Damage.
USS Detroit (CL-8) - Light Damage.
USS Raleigh (CL-7) - Heavily damaged but repaired.
USS Helena (CL-50) - Light Damage.
USS Honolulu (CL-48) - Light Damage.
Destroyers
USS Downes (DD-375) - Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Cassin - (DD-372) Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Shaw (DD-373) - Very heavy damage.
USS Helm (DD-388) - Light Damage.
Minelayer
USS Ogala (CM-4) - Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Seaplane Tender
USS Curtiss (AV-4) - Severely damaged but later repaired.
Repair Ship
USS Vestal (AR-4) - Severely damaged but later repaired.
Harbor Tug
USS Sotoyomo (YT-9) - Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Aircraft
188 Aircraft destroyed (92 USN and 92 U.S. Army Air Corps.)

 

I've aiways found it interesting that some people refuse to buy Japanese cars because of Pearl Harbor but have no problem owning a German car.

 

Well, the case can be made that the Germans never attacked us in a "cowardly" way.

The Japanese did... but even then, it was not their INTENT to do so. Their declaration of war was inadvertently delayed - or so it seems. A 'snafu' on their part.

Of course, there WERE German subs off the Atlantic shore...

 

Do not get me wrong, I have found the Japanese people I have met excellent people and I am sure that your daughter in law is a gem as well. But the old guard just cannot say they did any wrong in China, Korea or in WW2. If they do it is only grudgingly. The newer generations are of a totally different mindset.
I knew men who had been prisoners and one who met prisoners coming from the POW camps, the stories were horrific, a mini Holocaust. This applied to all of the Allied POW's.
Pearl Harbor was just the start for the US, others had been at it for a while.
Tragically Pearl Harbor was a godsend to the Allies fighting already and started a war that Japan could not win.
What a waste it all was.

 

It was a waste, but it also DID, in the end, unknowingly signal the end of the war.

A sleeping giant is *****-slapped and awakened.

Many died and then:

One lone airplane.

Two bombs with silly names.

And it was OVER.

 

I am all for forgiving, but the Japanese have never really said sorry, paid much compensation or ceased honoring war criminals.
Germany did these things and more, and I was more affected by the Germans in the war, little things like huddling in a shelter while being bombed in London and having to move because the house was shattered making it unsafe. Having the country bankrupted, food rationed during and after the war for five years plus. Others had it much much worse of course.
As you probably wasn't even born at that time maybe you cannot understand my reasoning and monuments to dead armed forces members are just stones laying around town.

 

The guy who first trained me at RCA in 1981 retired that year. He was a crewmember on either a B17 or B24 over Germany. They were shot down, and he broke a leg either in the hit, or on his way down under a parachute.

He was captured right away, he said that was a good thing, as civilians treated them badly, treatment from the German military machine was not so bad. He spent considerable time in a POW camp. He said that, while he received virtually no treatment for his injury from the Germans ( they really had problems treating their OWN wounded), the war, by then, was not going well at all for the Germans and they had little to offer their own, let alone prisoners.

He said that he was never tortured, but the food was not good - again, things were bad for Germany at the time.

He commented that it wasn't like "Hogan 's Heros", but that he and his fellow POW's DID have reasonable conversations with the Germans at times. "It was war, and most of us on both sides were following orders and doing what we had to, to survive. Of course, by then, there was a movement in Germany against the war and against the leadership. They were losing their country because of the war and knew it."

Larry is gone now, he died in the 90's. But not before telling his story (finally) on the printed page. If you visit the Kalamazoo Aviation History museum, his story might still be on display. It was in the late 90's.

 

Bombing Pearl Harbor to destroy the Pacific fleet was a gigantic error, they thought the US would not fight back so strongly, big mistake.
Theres nothing like a war to improve the technology of war and give you a chance to rapidly improve your weapons systems many times over.
PS Two bombs, two planes.

 

It sure gave Leo Szilard something to do for a few years!

 

Actually, two planes, The Enola Gay, and Bock's Car They dropped Fat Man and Little Boy over Hiroshima and Nagasaki

 

WWII veterans shaped this country through their sacrifices...the few that are left are to honored for what they gave...wars today...are political...and our kids pay the way...but they are to be honored as well....cheers to all that have served...

 

thank you Mike i could not have said it better,, My father died in WW2 yet my brother married a German,, i served in vet nam yet married an italian and i own a german (x fire) and a japanese (Toyota) car jim

 

those italian women can be really mean.....lol

 

Apparently watch out for the Swedes ,too!