One of the World War 2 veterans in our family stated the following about that infamous day, and he enlisted in the US Navy the next day:
"My heart came up into my mouth when I heard the news."
Also note this warning about losing our American heritage:
Curmudgeon's excellent comment to this thread:
The bonds between the crew members of the Arizona have lasted far beyond the ship’s loss on December 7, 1941. Since 1982, the US Navy has allowed survivors to be interred in the ship’s wreckage upon their deaths.
Following a full military funeral at the memorial, the cremated remains are placed in an urn and then deposited by divers beneath one of the gun turrets. To date, more than 30 Arizona crewmen who survived Pearl Harbor have chosen the ship as their final resting place. Crew members who served on the ship prior to the attack may have their ashes scattered above the wreck site, and those who served on other vessels stationed at Pearl Harbor that fateful day, may have their ashes scattered above their former ships. In 2011, only 18 of the 355 crewmen who survived the bombing of USS Arizona were still alive. Today there are only six. All of them are in their 90’s or older. This will be their final commemoration appearance.
If you have never visited Pearl Harbor or the Arizona Memorial you are missing one of the more poignant testaments to the madness of man’s inhumanity to man.
As I've posted elsewhere this morning.....Not just on days of remembrance like today, but anytime we are able…we should view it as a moral imperative to have our children or grandchildren meet and speak with veterans and/or their family members, who experienced WWII firsthand. They will soon all be gone.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/jrwsxwt
- CI
CI,
DeleteThe family member I mentioned in the body of the blog post turned 80 on Veterans Day. He's feeble but still living basically on his own -- and has all his mental faculties.
A few years ago, he offered to speak at an elementary school on Veterans Day. The principal turned him down, saying, "We have a diverse student population, and they cannot connect with what you have to say. We don't even recite the Pledge of Allegiance at our school." What kind of attitude is THAT?
I was born almost eight months to the day before Pearl Harbor. I heard about in the years when I rose to consciousness. We didn't BROOD over it, but the ANGER of our family and friends remained PALPABLE for the rest of their lives –– and rightly so, We must NEVER FORGET –––– and NEVER FORGIVE –– what happened on this "Day That Will Live In Infamy."
ReplyDeleteThe bonds between the crew members of the Arizona have lasted far beyond the ship’s loss on December 7, 1941. Since 1982, the US Navy has allowed survivors to be interred in the ship’s wreckage upon their deaths.
ReplyDeleteFollowing a full military funeral at the memorial, the cremated remains are placed in an urn and then deposited by divers beneath one of the gun turrets. To date, more than 30 Arizona crewmen who survived Pearl Harbor have chosen the ship as their final resting place. Crew members who served on the ship prior to the attack may have their ashes scattered above the wreck site, and those who served on other vessels stationed at Pearl Harbor that fateful day, may have their ashes scattered above their former ships. In 2011, only 18 of the 355 crewmen who survived the bombing of USS Arizona were still alive. Today there are only six. All of them are in their 90’s or older. This will be their final commemoration appearance.
If you have never visited Pearl Harbor or the Arizona Memorial you are missing one of the more poignant testaments to the madness of man’s inhumanity to man.
Curmudgeon,
DeleteExcellent information!
I've never visited the Arizona Memorial. In 1983, the year that Mr. AOW and I visited Hawaii, the memorial was closed. I don't recall exactly why.
Curmudgeon,
DeleteI've now bumped your comment into the blog of today's blog post.
This is more difficult to undertake, unless one has a military ID, but if you're able to get on Ford Island as a visitor, you can go to the Battleship Row housing [now known as Nob Hill], and get a sense of how close military families were to the battleships that we attacked and sunk....literally a few yards. I had the honor of spending an afternoon with a Navy wife who had become an amateur historian, since she lived in one of those quarters [2014]. She wrote a book on the children of Battleship Row and what they went through on that day. Very moving.
Delete- CI
I recall my parents talking about "ration books' and victory gardens. All of the sacrifices everyone made at time of war. War had consequences and we are so blessed for the greatest generation.
ReplyDeleteBunkerville,
DeleteI never heard from my parents anything about victory gardens -- probably because my parents and the rest of the family had always had backyard gardens.
But I do recall hearing about ration books. Not sure how well they worked, but they apparently raised awareness that we were at war.
We had several left over after the war. It apparently worked as she discussed doing without because of the ration.
DeleteBunkerville,
DeleteMy mother, who didn't have a sweet tooth, traded her sugar coupons for coffee coupons -- and for gas coupons. She had an aunt who was working in a hosiery factory and was given free seconds, so Mom traded her hosiery coupons for cigarette coupons.
Dad was a transit employee, so he got plenty of gasoline coupons.
PS: Mom and Dad hadn't yet met. They met on Christmas Eve, 1949.
My mom lived in a small California bungalow style apartment so they had little strips of grass. And she and auntie talked about their victory gardens. What a GREAT marketing concept to bring the homefront into participation. Of course, everyone knew how to garden then, but she lived in Long Beach, Calif. The veggies were all grown by Japanese truck farmers who were soon interned, so it quickly became a BIG deal to grow your own.
DeleteAs far as Forgiveness, let's not forget that the people of Japan are. It the same as the wartime Japanese. Many of who are wonderful people, and who can Not be held responsible for that terrible act.
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure and tell my aunt Yoko. (rolls eyes)
DeleteYOKO?
DeleteOh NO! (;-o
LOL!
DeleteNot the same Yoko.
But that's a subject for a Sunday post "Great tragedies committed in the name of music".
We will never forget. I have walked the ramp at Ford Island, MCAS Kaneohe, and looked at the remains of the USS Utah. My cousin served as a MM1 on submarines and later as UDT on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Another cousin was a Marine who fought through the 'Canal' and Tarawa. My family won't forget...
ReplyDeleteThe feds amped up draft notices that summer. My father's came in September '41. But he was in the next state with a mule team trading farm produce for supplies and visiting family. NOBODY had a telephone. So when the draft notice came my grandfather went to the board and said "you know my boy is up in Tennessee now with the mule team" [they did know - small town] "and I cain't reach him, not sure when he'll be back, but I don't think it will be by this deadline" [it wasn't]. So they just put him back in the hopper to cycle into another draw. Well, the day after Pearl Harbor the 3 brothers of age went down and enlisted. What a slice of life and the mores of that time this little byplay is. Can you imagine that now? Well, many fine men joined after 9/11. But I don't think a gov't agency would exercise the leeway they did then.
ReplyDeleteDid that generation perpetuate the lesson of the 'day of infamy' plaque? No! They kept the memory of the event, but if they learned the lesson we wouldn't be in the mess we are today with invasion by immigration.
Any doubt the GOP are traitors?:
ReplyDeleteGingrich: Japanese 'displayed professional brilliance' in Pearl Harbor attack
http://thehill.com/policy/international/309352-gingrich-tweets-japanese-displayed-professional-brilliance-during-pearl