Remember December 7th 1941

[RC Storick]

[john e. holliday]

How can I forget as I was born 3 days later and studied history while in school.

[wwwarbird]

 AMEN Sparky.

 And how I so wish that today's administrations had even 1% of the brains and balls of the Greatest Generation. As it is we just keep getting re-fed the same s--t sandwich while they continue to p--s away everything that was ever fought for and earned. It's the ultimate disrespect in my opinion, and it all gets more sickening everyday. 

 
 The best signature tag line on the forum, from Steve Helmick...

 "In 1944 18-20 year old's stormed beaches, and parachuted behind enemy lines to almost certain death.  In 2015 18-20 year old's need safe zones so people don't hurt their feelings."

[Ken Culbertson]

In 1944 18-20 year old's stormed beaches, and parachuted behind enemy lines to almost certain death - they were drafted.
 In 2015 18-20 year old's need safe zones so people don't hurt their feelings - they should be drafted.

Ken

[David_Ruff]

Pearl Harbor Day.  Must not be forgot.

[bob whitney]

there are still Bullitt Holes in the buildings at Pearl Harbor, they never covered them up

[Bill Morell]

My Dad was a Pearl Harbor Survivor. He never quite got over it. Haunted him to the end.

[Paul Smith]

This is why we had The Cold War.   
Japan attacked by surprise during a Peace Talk with our Secretary of State.  We had the firepower to easily defeat the invader if we had even 10% of our men on Alert.

Lesson learned.  We have kept men on Alert for decades as a result.  Our current and future enemies will also strike without warning.

[Ty Marcucci]

First time I saw the USS Arizona was in November 1961 as the Lexington CVA 16, pulled into Pearl Harbor. We were at attention as the ship pulled by.. A very special moment for me. H^^This was before the monument was built over the hull.

My brother in laws father was a Marine on the Arizona. He too never got over it.  He had just gone to his 5 inch gun when the next thing he knew he was swimming in oil.  Only reason he even mentioned it was Gary and I were in the service...

I was born in Nov 1940 and remember my mother asking my dad "Homer, where is Pearl Harbor?"  "I don't know, why"  "Well the damn Japs just bombed it"  "huh"..At that time very few Americans even knew of Pearl Harbor and Hawaii was some far off exotic paradise for the rich.

[john e. holliday]

The wife and I flew from the Big Island to Oahu and went to the site.  Seeing the memorial  and the museum sure made me feel strange but not like the Vietnam memorial in DC.

[Frank Imbriaco]

Middle school and high school social studies texts once devoted nearly a chapter to the Pearl Harbor attack, President Roosevelt's speech/Declaration of War, the military mobilization , America's Industrial engine awakening and a lot more.
I haven't seen a social studies text in nearly 20 years .
Wonder how much is currently devoted to WW2 ?

[Steve Helmick]

Pearl Harbor Day.  Must not be forgot.

December 7th 1941 and September 11, 2001. By the way, not all those guys in WWII were drafted. A lot volunteered.

My late father-in-law volunteered and served in a submarine. He was a citizen of the Philippines, working on some sort of fruit plantation for his uncle. He was about 5'4" and a good fit for a submarine. Tough little fella.

My Dad was already in the USAAC, and spent a fair amount of time on Palawan island of the Philippines, sinking Japanese ships and doing ground support missions with his B-25.  Steve

[wwwarbird]

Middle school and high school social studies texts once devoted nearly a chapter to the Pearl Harbor attack, President Roosevelt's speech/Declaration of War, the military mobilization , America's Industrial engine awakening and a lot more.
I haven't seen a social studies text in nearly 20 years .
Wonder how much is currently devoted to WW2 ?

 Zero.

[Dennis Leonhardi]

AMEN Sparky.

 And how I so wish that today's administrations had even 1% of the brains and balls of the Greatest Generation. As it is we just keep getting re-fed the same s--t sandwich while they continue to p--s away everything that was ever fought for and earned. It's the ultimate disrespect in my opinion, and it all gets more sickening everyday. 

 

Middle school and high school social studies texts once devoted nearly a chapter to the Pearl Harbor attack, President Roosevelt's speech/Declaration of War, the military mobilization , America's Industrial engine awakening and a lot more.
I haven't seen a social studies text in nearly 20 years .
Wonder how much is currently devoted to WW2 ?

I have a 20-year-old son currently serving as a Marine.  To answer your question, Frank - one of his middle school social studies courses included an entire section on WWII.  The teacher joked that Dominick could have taught the course.  There was nothing of significance new to him.

Similarly, I sat him down at a young age to watch an excellent documentary on the history of Israel and the conflicts in the Middle East, then discussed it with him.  He recently remarked we should simply glass over much of that region - there can never be peace with those whose belief systems call for the extermination of others.

If I can make a request here of those with years of experience and knowledge: Please don't rely on our schools to teach our young people, especially with what we know of our current public-school systems.  Please don't let them get most of their information from Tik-Tok or social media.  Share your knowledge with young people as much as you can.  They can't learn from history if they don't know it.

Dennis

[Dennis Leonhardi]

Lesson learned.  We have kept men on Alert for decades as a result.  Our current and future enemies will also strike without warning.

I remember December 7th as the day that taught us we must always be ready.

And I choose to celebrate Japan as one of the most successful democracies in the world, a great ally, and the cornerstone of our Asian alliances.

And a beautiful country!

Dennis

[Ken Culbertson]

This is why we had The Cold War.   
Japan attacked by surprise during a Peace Talk with our Secretary of State.  We had the firepower to easily defeat the invader if we had even 10% of our men on Alert.

Lesson learned.  We have kept men on Alert for decades as a result.  Our current and future enemies will also strike without warning.

There was no one more surprised than the Japanese that the US forces were not on alert.  A declaration of war was supposed to be delivered before the attack.  It was a communications failure on both sides and a leadership failure on our part.  When the country is in "peace" negotiations to avoid a war, it is the military's duty to be prepared if those negotiations fail.  Ours wasn't, theirs was.  As soon as a war is over, we as a country seem to say, "that's it, let's go shopping" and forget our military.  We did it after WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold war and we are doing it now.   Fortunately, until the current administration, the military itself stayed alert.
I designed some really neat stunters while on alert duty and had the sh** scared out of me a few times when we actually launched the planes with armed weapons that were officially not there.  I hope that it is still true today, but I fear it is not.

Ken