My Dad and uncles all tried to sign up immediately. They were all college boys and the places where you volunteered were so busy that they sent all the college kids back to school and told them to come back in May. They just couldn’t process people in as fast as people showed up.
One uncle was in the Navy and saw some big stuff. but would never speak if it. He wrote hilarious jokey letters home. Once Earnie Pyle was on his ship and my uncle wrote of meeting him. Then a few weeks later the Pyle column was published and that’s how my grandmother found out what life was really like for her son.
One uncle was in Europe, but I don’t know the details. Another uncle in CA I barely ever met was in the Army in Eu I think.
My dad would up in the Army Air Corps, finally as a pilot and flight instructor. C46. 14 hours in the air was a typical workday. Sometimes more.
Dad told me he “just wanted to kill those bastards and that bastard on his white horse.”
Yes a day of infamy for sure. I use to work at a refinery with a man who was stationed in Hawaii and happened to be on shore leave when Pearl Harbor was attacked. What this man endured that day had to be horrendous and what he saw first hand had to be unbelievable.
Some of the men I worked with told me this particular man had been in the navy stationed at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked by the Japanese. They said this man had even received a medal due to his actions after Pearl Harbor was attacked. I first thought they were kidding me but later learned from a friend in the HR dept. that it was all true. This man had been in Pearl Harbor and had managed to get back to his ship with a few others who also been on shore leave after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Their ship wasn’t sunk but badly damaged …
I then understood why, whenever we would have a problem and maybe a relief valve would blow on the unit, this man reacted to the noise like he did. He has now passed away but may God bless all who have served and all those who have died for our nation and our freedoms!
@f00l amen…my mother once told me that she could remember her mother crying upon hearing the news about Pearl Harbor being attacked. My mothers older brothers then joined our Armed Forces and went to fight in the war. Thankfully, they all came home from the war but others weren’t so fortunate…
That was a terrible attack on America.
It got us into a war with Japan & we had to stop ignoring the war raging in Europe when Germany declared war with us also.
All of America fought overseas and worked at home to build an incredible fighting force.
We have so much to be thankful for. Those who died, those who were injured, all those who fought for freedom.
My father was shot & injured in the Japanese conflict. He never would talk much about it.
My grandfather was 17- signed up “because there was nothin’ better to do”. He used to tell the same funny stories all the time. I only heard a couple of the unfunny ones once or twice.
My father (at the time, with a wife and two kids) was at home developing photographs in his darkroom when he heard about the attack on the radio. Within a week, he had enlisted. During the war, he was in the Pacific on an aircraft carrier operating an anti-aircraft gun. By the time I came along long after the war was over, he never spoke of the details of his service, other than pointing out pictures of his ship, and teaching me how to tie knots from his copy of The Bluejacket’s Manual.
My Grandfather was an MP at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. One of the most interesting things he shared with me was that they mustered all the soldiers they could to man the beaches with machine guns and rifles. They were expecting a huge Japanese landing party to come on shore. All convinced they were going to be overrun and die, their mindset was to take out as many of the enemy as they could in the process.
I can’t even imagine having to process that situation in the brain. Fortunately for them, and my current lineage, no landing and he survived the war. Crazy times.
My wife is Japanese, this is always a hard day for her when it falls on a day we meet up with big groups because comes up. She definitely feels awkward.
On my first visit to Japan, we visited the Peace Park in Hiroshima. Lots of pain on both sides from that horrible time.
My Dad and uncles all tried to sign up immediately. They were all college boys and the places where you volunteered were so busy that they sent all the college kids back to school and told them to come back in May. They just couldn’t process people in as fast as people showed up.
One uncle was in the Navy and saw some big stuff. but would never speak if it. He wrote hilarious jokey letters home. Once Earnie Pyle was on his ship and my uncle wrote of meeting him. Then a few weeks later the Pyle column was published and that’s how my grandmother found out what life was really like for her son.
One uncle was in Europe, but I don’t know the details. Another uncle in CA I barely ever met was in the Army in Eu I think.
My dad would up in the Army Air Corps, finally as a pilot and flight instructor. C46. 14 hours in the air was a typical workday. Sometimes more.
Dad told me he “just wanted to kill those bastards and that bastard on his white horse.”
Yes a day of infamy for sure. I use to work at a refinery with a man who was stationed in Hawaii and happened to be on shore leave when Pearl Harbor was attacked. What this man endured that day had to be horrendous and what he saw first hand had to be unbelievable.
Some of the men I worked with told me this particular man had been in the navy stationed at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked by the Japanese. They said this man had even received a medal due to his actions after Pearl Harbor was attacked. I first thought they were kidding me but later learned from a friend in the HR dept. that it was all true. This man had been in Pearl Harbor and had managed to get back to his ship with a few others who also been on shore leave after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Their ship wasn’t sunk but badly damaged …
I then understood why, whenever we would have a problem and maybe a relief valve would blow on the unit, this man reacted to the noise like he did. He has now passed away but may God bless all who have served and all those who have died for our nation and our freedoms!
My special thanks to those vets who still live.
@f00l amen…my mother once told me that she could remember her mother crying upon hearing the news about Pearl Harbor being attacked. My mothers older brothers then joined our Armed Forces and went to fight in the war. Thankfully, they all came home from the war but others weren’t so fortunate…
That was a terrible attack on America.
It got us into a war with Japan & we had to stop ignoring the war raging in Europe when Germany declared war with us also.
All of America fought overseas and worked at home to build an incredible fighting force.
We have so much to be thankful for. Those who died, those who were injured, all those who fought for freedom.
My father was shot & injured in the Japanese conflict. He never would talk much about it.
My grandfather was 17- signed up “because there was nothin’ better to do”. He used to tell the same funny stories all the time. I only heard a couple of the unfunny ones once or twice.
My father (at the time, with a wife and two kids) was at home developing photographs in his darkroom when he heard about the attack on the radio. Within a week, he had enlisted. During the war, he was in the Pacific on an aircraft carrier operating an anti-aircraft gun. By the time I came along long after the war was over, he never spoke of the details of his service, other than pointing out pictures of his ship, and teaching me how to tie knots from his copy of The Bluejacket’s Manual.
My Grandfather was an MP at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. One of the most interesting things he shared with me was that they mustered all the soldiers they could to man the beaches with machine guns and rifles. They were expecting a huge Japanese landing party to come on shore. All convinced they were going to be overrun and die, their mindset was to take out as many of the enemy as they could in the process.
I can’t even imagine having to process that situation in the brain. Fortunately for them, and my current lineage, no landing and he survived the war. Crazy times.
My wife is Japanese, this is always a hard day for her when it falls on a day we meet up with big groups because comes up. She definitely feels awkward.
On my first visit to Japan, we visited the Peace Park in Hiroshima. Lots of pain on both sides from that horrible time.