December 7, 1941

[Bob Heywood]

Lest we forget...

[john e. holliday]

Only event I could get right on the history test.   Of course nobody knew who or what I was yet on that day.

[Wayne J. Buran]

I believe that most people under forty in this country don't know where Pearl Harbor is or what happened. So sad.
Wayne

[Mike Callas]

Not all quite true,
There are at least 3 girls, ages 18, 21 and 23 (All UCLA students, past and present) that know what happened and why.
They also know what happened 5 months later over Tokyo and that the tide of the war was forever changed just 7 months after Pearl Harbor.

And whenever a history teacher sarcastically asked the class why did we have to drop 2 nukes on Japan, they responded with "because we didn't have a third one ready".

[Paul Smith]

The really sad part is that with 5 to 10 minutes of better preparedness we could have won the day.   We had plenty of firepower available.

In retrospect, this was a legitimate counterforce warfare operation.  The Japanese were honorable gentlemen compared to the absolute satanic sub-humans who attacked our country on September 11, 2001.

Navy vs navy is one thing. 
Civilians airliners full of innocent civilians crashed into buildings filled with innocent civilians is another.

[Wayne J. Buran]

Mike, thats great and more power to you. Unfortunately you are bucking the trend. History as we knew it is no longer taught in this country at any level.
Wayne

[wwwarbird]

Lest we forget...

 I've always hoped to be able to someday visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial site, Ford Island, Wheeler Field, and tour as many of the other areas that were attacked as possible. I would stand in humble respect and honor, quietly looking around and soaking in the incredible weight of that date in our history. No disrespect to any who have ever served, but it's difficult for me to even find words to express my appreciation for those who served our country at any level in WWII.
 

 Also, my comment here from the other day in Sparky's Open Forum WWII post:

 The "Greatest Generation", a nickname well earned and that proves to be more and more truthful everyday. Personally, I never need to be reminded of this date in history. I also find this to be a very humbling time period each year, thinking of the events of that day and the rest of WWII. It's shameful and embarrassing that so many today just don't have the slightest clue, or even try to.

[55chevr]

Every year on December 7th the Air Power Museum, Air Force Association and Geico Skytypers have a ceremony at Republic Airport in Farmingdale and then fly a flight with an AT6 to the Statue of Liberty and drop roses commemorating the attack.  This year there were 3 Pearl Harbor Survivors in attendance.  Youngest was 92, oldest 96.  I was had the good fortune 8 years ago to fly the rear seat and drop the roses as they wanted a veteran to do that.  The last veteran before me was from WW2 and he passed the task to me.  The ceremony is attended by 500 to 1000 people every year. This year the speaker was Congressman Steve Israel, who is a veterans advocate.  He made a point that 1% of the population in the United States is currently protecting the other 99%.

[55chevr]

We circle the Statue of Liberty until 1255 hours, the local time of the start of the attack. This year there were 73 red roses commemorating Pear Harbor and 1 white rose for September 11th dropped in the harbor.