Please Not to Forget..... Today is Pearl Harbor Day

[Gonzo the Face]

Anyone know if the VFW or any other group is commemorating Pearl Harbor Day at the foreign cemetery or elsewhere ??? If the math is correct ,it is 73 years ago now. No too many survivors left. Hopefully all will take a moment to remember all those who have fallen.....at Pearl Harbor and all the wars.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Gonzo the Face

[Ulysses G.]

I wonder how many Thai Visa members are old enough to remember it, when it actually happened. Remembering the day that John Kennedy was shot is as far back as I go.

[Gonzo the Face]

I wonder how many Thai Visa members are old enough to remember it, when it actually happened. Remembering the day that John Kennedy was shot is as far back as I go.

Well I would have to say , that if there is any truth in the fact that as one gets older confusion and senility sets in, and then you read some of he posts and/or replies on this forum .........well ....................... must be pretty high in the numbers......

[daoyai]

In Hawai'i P.H. day is tomorrow.... tora tora tora....

[khwaibah]

Pearl Harbor survivors gathered in Hawaii vow to reunite again

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pearl-harbor-20141207-story.html

[eyecatcher]

As a tourist attraction in Honolulu; when in my early twenties I thought it was the biggest anti climax ever.

Now older and wiser I appreciate theres not always something to see (no doubt the twin towers is the same) but the poignancy of being there is surely very moving.

[pgrahmm]

Thank you for the reminder...both my folks were in that war - Mom enlisted (surgical nurse) - not sure about Dad (ambulance driver) - might have gotten called up.....

The movie "Pearl Harbor" was a good one - well done.....

Glad I have it and enjoy watching it about once a year......

[Gonzo the Face]

As a tourist attraction in Honolulu; when in my early twenties I thought it was the biggest anti climax ever.

Now older and wiser I appreciate theres not always something to see (no doubt the twin towers is the same) but the poignancy of being there is surely very moving.

I think that is called reaching a higher point of wisdom... that can only come , it would appear , with years. What once took a great amount of fire, sizzle , and shebang, to mean it "was something", now can be realized even with a minute of silence and reflection.

[pgrahmm]

For some reason the memorial at Pearl Harbor was more sobering to me over visiting the Twin Tower area....it offered more reflection.....

Possibly because we were moved away from taking pictures by one of NY's finest - they wouldn't allow anyone to take overview pictures from a balcony or steps....

[khwaibah]

I was stationed at Peal Harbor and saw the making of Tora! Tora! Tora! Talk about sobering. I have visited the Arizona Memorial numerous times.

[Ulysses G.]

As a tourist attraction in Honolulu; when in my early twenties I thought it was the biggest anti climax ever.

I enjoyed it. One of my favorite books was "From Here to Eternity" and the last part of the book was about Pearl Harbor, so I found it interesting. Also, the scenery was really beautiful.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[onthedarkside]

Many years ago I had the chance to visit the Pearl Harbour memorial. The USS Arizona memorial to be more correct. Yes, a very sobering and somber experience. I will take this moment to reflect today's anniversary.

[northernjohn]

I have no memory of it as I was yet to be born. Another month and I would have been there.

My father was in the army at the time. He was a Lieutenant. He only ever told me two things about the war. He said being as we were in San Francisco at the time that he was ordered to take his men down to guard the beaches and they had no ammunition. To me Pearle Harbor would be a symbol of the start of a world wide war. The Twin Towers are just another symbol of an ongoing religious crusade by a very militant religion. It is not as much in your face as the WW ll and will more than likely cause less deaths when it is finally defeated. It is still a world wide war with less notoriety.

[haybilly]

I hope that this does not offend--

Sad though Pearl Harbour was to the Americans--many Brits and Europeans look on it as the horrible, but it seems necessary, final push that got an unwilling American Government to finally come to the assistance of their Anglo/Euro cousins--much has been said about the implications that an earlier entry could have had on casualties. I dread to think what the outcome would have been without this atrocity.

Anyway, I know that all of Europe was glad that they did decide to come.

I'm not in any way trying to denigrate the huge help American intervention was--nor the sacrifices given by the American GI's.

[Gonzo the Face]

It is just great to sit in todays date and time and philosophize about things by gone and past, but unfortunately life is just a one way highway.

Life does not give us the option of traveling down lifes highway til we reach a certain point, then say WHOA. I want to go back and try that other lane, then I'll make the decision on which lane would be better. Just doesn't work that way. Probably would be good if it did , but it just is not to be.

As they say, hindsight is 20 : 20, so decisions have to be made, sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong. So you can not say this would have been better or that would have been better. No , I guess the old saying is true....... you pays your money and you takes your shot.....and should have added further....... and you live with your decision.

May those who have fallen, eternally rest in peace and further may we pray that not too many of their present day brothers hurry to meet them.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Gonzo the Face

[orang37]

Well I would have to say , that if there is any truth in the fact that as one gets older confusion and senility sets in, and then you read some of he posts and/or replies on this forum .........well ....................... must be pretty high in the numbers......

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Gonzo,

Yet we experience ourselves, and you, and Ulysses-Far-From-Ithaca, as, so refreshingly ... juvenile !

Many-moons as this collection of meat-over-bones' vehicle is now, in December, 1941, it was not even an imaginary conception, let alone immaculate: that infernal event was almost exactly a year away.

On a 6am run for fresh soy-milk today, I heard a certain rooster who seemed to be screaming ^[1] "Banzai" rather than the usual "I'm a turkey."

We often wish that everything was not so symbolic.

~o:37;

[1] "screaming" is perhaps the best rendering I can give here without referring to either the vocalisations of professional avant-garde squawker and auditory terrorist Diamanda Galás, or the scene in the movie the "Fifth Element" where Diva Plavalaguna is shot while aria-fying with an arrow in the stomach by the Mangalores.

[Beng]

Many years ago I had the chance to visit the Pearl Harbour memorial. The USS Arizona memorial to be more correct. Yes, a very sobering and somber experience. I will take this moment to reflect today's anniversary.

Well spoken.

[scottishjohn]

Thank you for the reminder...both my folks were in that war - Mom enlisted (surgical nurse) - not sure about Dad (ambulance driver) - might have gotten called up.....

The movie "Pearl Harbor" was a good one - well done.....

Glad I have it and enjoy watching it about once a year......

As others have posted here I would suggest that 'Tora Tora Tora' is a much more descriptive action/factional film of the actual events rather than the 'romanticised' 'Pearl Harbor'. 'Tora Tora Tora' being the code word used by the Japanese for the 'attack'.

[puukao]

I do wish we entered the war differently, of course. Britain and Churchill begged us about a year earlier to help, and we knew we had to enter at some point. Yes, we knew what we were doing to Japan, cutting off their oil, etc...and odds were something was going to happen. The never-ending horrible part was we helped Stalin, who was building all those gulags; however, Hitler was worse. then Mao follows Stalin after Stalin in 1952/53 (forget) dies and can't bully Mao like before, but Mao still did the Stalinistic style of communism and 30 million die.

I have been to pearl harbor and 9/11 (had acquaintances die there) and it wasn't moving for me. But the prison in PP (Cambodia) was. ah, who knows, my issues..

funny how some people say "America entered the war so late." Let's be honest, we saved the planet, and ourselves.

WW2.....you have heavy water in Norway, North Africa, Dunkirk, Stalingrad, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, Leyte Gulf and many many more cities that forever reshaped our lives.

[DogNo1]

Anyone who has seen the PBS special "The Roosevelts" will be aware of the HUGE opposition to getting involved in the war in Europe. FDR cautiously moved the nation onto war footing through executive orders to increase the size of the Air Force and the Navy and sent equipment and ammunition to Britain under his "lend-lease" program so that, thank goodness, we were somewhat prepared for the war.

[mesquite]

I do wish we entered the war differently, of course. Britain and Churchill begged us about a year earlier to help, and we knew we had to enter at some point. Yes, we knew what we were doing to Japan, cutting off their oil, etc...and odds were something was going to happen. The never-ending horrible part was we helped Stalin, who was building all those gulags; however, Hitler was worse. then Mao follows Stalin after Stalin in 1952/53 (forget) dies and can't bully Mao like before, but Mao still did the Stalinistic style of communism and 30 million die.

I have been to pearl harbor and 9/11 (had acquaintances die there) and it wasn't moving for me. But the prison in PP (Cambodia) was. ah, who knows, my issues..

funny how some people say "America entered the war so late." Let's be honest, we saved the planet, and ourselves.

WW2.....you have heavy water in Norway, North Africa, Dunkirk, Stalingrad, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, Leyte Gulf and many many more cities that forever reshaped our lives.

Yes, but i like how we got out of it. Unfortunately we didn't learn and for many years now have been getting into limited engagements where we never really leave and we rarely win.

[amexpat]

Yes, but i like how we got out of it. Unfortunately we didn't learn and for many years now have been getting into limited engagements where we never really leave and we rarely win.

Are you advocating staying out of such engagements or scorched earth/nukes for everyone?

We, the people, don't win but the "defense" contractors always do.

[puukao]

We got out of Europe and let Russia rape and kill who knows how many Germans. Hundreds of thousands? worse than the Rape of Nanking? doubtful, but who knows. I'm sure it was horrific.

or getting out of the pacific via blowing a few cities off the map? And that was interesting as well, since I think (honestly, nobody except very few know the real truth) Japan was going to surrender to Russia in a very short time. But we wanted to use our bombs, and I'm sure not let Russia get credit.

I'm not a historian, I just love trying to learn about things like this......especially from a nice warm house with a cup of tea with a mango slice on the side. i would love to visit a gulag, concentration camp, etc.....like pearl harbor, you can't forget about all those millions lost.

Edited December 8, 2014 by puukao

[CMHomeboy78]

We got out of Europe and let Russia rape and kill who knows how many Germans. Hundreds of thousands? worse than the Rape of Nanking? doubtful, but who knows. I'm sure it was horrific.

or getting out of the pacific via blowing a few cities off the map? And that was interesting as well, since I think (honestly, nobody except very few know the real truth) Japan was going to surrender to Russia in a very short time. But we wanted to use our bombs, and I'm sure not let Russia get credit.

I'm not a historian, I just love trying to learn about things like this......especially from a nice warm house with a cup of tea with a mango slice on the side. i would love to visit a gulag, concentration camp, etc.....like pearl harbor, you can't forget about all those millions lost.

Agreed. It's all very interesting, and some of it is almost incredible... as the old saying goes "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Trying to find the truth among so many conflicting versions of it is what historical studies are all about.

Fascinating but often frustrating.

[bangmai]

I hope that this does not offend--

Sad though Pearl Harbour was to the Americans--many Brits and Europeans look on it as the horrible, but it seems necessary, final push that got an unwilling American Government to finally come to the assistance of their Anglo/Euro cousins--much has been said about the implications that an earlier entry could have had on casualties. I dread to think what the outcome would have been without this atrocity.

Anyway, I know that all of Europe was glad that they did decide to come.

I'm not in any way trying to denigrate the huge help American intervention was--nor the sacrifices given by the American GI's.

but a lot of our cousins were German or Italian.

[haybilly]

And..... what? They wanted the war to continue?

Anyway, each to his own.

[uptheos]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/pearl-harbor-mismanagement_n_6277478.html

[Frank James]

My parents got married on December 7, 1941 in Toledo, Ohio. They heard about Pearl Harbor while on their way to a makeshift honeymoon. My dad said that if they had heard beforehand, they might have at least postponed, perhaps forever. Might have been better for all concerned, considering the state of that marriage after a few years.

They did their best.

[bikerlou47]

The day that Thailand declared war with the USA!

[bikerlou47]

My parents were married dec 8 1946 and celebrated their 68th anniversary alive and kicking! Part of the secret is my 95 yr old father can turn down his hearing aid!