Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941

I will always remember. I had family there. And I will be at the PDX VA all day tomorrow. Actually surprised they are scheduling appointments. But a great way to talk to the Vets and listen to them, even if just for a short time.
 
Arizona Memorial should be on every boaters bucket list.
We took a trip to Oahu a few years ago just to go to see Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona memorial.
It's an amazing experience, and to see the untouched hangers on the way to the Missouri, well, words can't describe the feeling.
 
My great uncle was a Staff Sergeant in the Army and was there that day. He was driving a Jeep and they were hit and flew down a hill. He was wounded with shrapnel in his body (chest and leg I believe) and he tied a tourniquet on another guys leg and drug him up the hill. He went to the hospital but got up and said there were others that needed that bed worse than him. He stayed in the Army until 1945 and just died last year. He said the planes were so close he could see the whites of their eyes.

If anyone knows what the awards are let me know.
 

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That attack on Pearl Harbor changed the world more than any other event in history. If Japan has stuck to its objectives in mainland Asia, and not attached Pearl Harbor, the US may have stayed out of WW2 for too long to stop Imperialist Japan and Hitler. The direct attack on US soil mobilized and united a nation.

I know its fiction, but the show The Man in the High Castle on Amazon is an interesting take on an alternative history that could have happened.
 
Boatman37, I would contact your local VFW post. I'm guessing someone there could tell you what the ribbons are.
 
My family is forever tied to the USS Arizona. They built her, refurbished her with new turbines, and even manned her. Grandfather wanted to be buried with her. He never understood why he survived WWII. He would have died at Pearl there is no doubt about that, his station was his engine room.

He went on to serve on other ships with two more sunk due to flying bombs. He hated the Japanese and rarely talked about his service in the NAVY after Pearl.

Thank you papa Mairr, I carry your your first name proudly
 
I missed the fact that Mike started this thread, so I'll repeat some personal history that I posted over in the Gulf War thread:
Eighty years ago (!) today, my grandfather, who was the maintenance foreman for the Dole Pineapple Company on the island of Molokai, heard of what was happening on Oahu. My father, who was six at the time, tells me he could see smoke on the horizon, hear the rumbling of explosions, and see an occasional US warbird flying overhead. The townsmen gathered together with their weapons and ammo, figuring on killing as many of the invading military as they could before they themselves were killed. Fortunately, the troops never got to Molokai.

My wife's grandfather was on the ground at Guadalcanal as a radio operator. He never had much to say about his time over there, and I didn't push him for it.

Thanks again for your service, everyone!
 
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ABA701E3-A613-49AD-AFFC-B77E34275AE4.jpeg Nater, thank you and your family. Thanks to all that have served, all of you deserve much more than our thanks.

This is some of the old girl we still have. Christmas 1940, main engine room. In 55 years I never remember doing a tree before the 7th.
 
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Everytime I go to our Remembrance Day memorials I am awestuck by the veterans that attend. So proud of their sacrifices and you can see in their eyes that they are thinking about those that served with them and did not make it back. So many of those vets like Mr Lawrence are now near the end of their time as guardians of freedom on this rock. The world is a much better place because of them. God bless them all.
 
That attack on Pearl Harbor changed the world more than any other event in history. If Japan has stuck to its objectives in mainland Asia, and not attached Pearl Harbor, the US may have stayed out of WW2 for too long to stop Imperialist Japan and Hitler. The direct attack on US soil mobilized and united a nation.

I know its fiction, but the show The Man in the High Castle on Amazon is an interesting take on an alternative history that could have happened.
Not entirely true - The US had been supplying England and France for some time with wartime materials and equipment. The US supply ships were German targets, and many were lost even directly off the US East coast. President Roosevelt was adamant to resist entering the war in Europe with the premise that the US was still recovering from the depression and economically couldn't enter the war with England and France. But it was only a matter of time regardless of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized the US political differences at the time then with the outcry of the population the US went all in, both theaters. In many ways the world and the US would be vastly different if Japan didn't attack Pearl Harbor. We must consider if Nazi Germany was in full control of Europe today; comparatively Russia and China's behavior today would be incidental. The US would have entered the European theater eventually.
 
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Not entirely true - The US had been supplying England and France for some time with wartime materials and equipment. The US supply ships were German targets, and many were lost even directly off the US East coast. President Roosevelt was adamant to resist entering the war in Europe with the premise that the US was still recovering from the depression and economically couldn't support England and France. But it was only a matter of time regardless of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized the US political differences at the time then with the outcry of the population the US went all in, both theaters. In many ways the world and the US would be vastly different if Japan didn't attack Pearl Harbor. We must consider if Nazi Germany was in full control of Europe today; comparatively Russia and China's behavior today would be incidental.
That is my understanding as well. Remember that Hitler also attacked Russia at the time too, so it wasn't just Europe he was trying to take over. And Japan was trying to dominate much of East Asia including Korea and much of China. So for sure the world would be a very different place if either of them succeeded.
 

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