Pearl Harbor

dean herring · December 07, 2015, 08:16:25 AM

I want to thank all our veterans and active duty military and their families for your service and sacrifice.I also pray for comfort for those who have lost loved ones at Pearl Harbor and also for those who survived. Thank you. God Bless America.

Magicman · December 07, 2015, 09:34:53 AM

My family lost our last WWII Veteran a couple of years ago. Those that served were very proud.

sawguy21 · December 07, 2015, 01:13:09 PM

Hard to believe it has been 74 years, not many survivors left.

Magicman · December 07, 2015, 01:57:11 PM

I happened to meet a WWII Veteran Friend this morning at the grocery and he reminded me that he was 90 years old. He had his WWII Veteran hat on and told about some of his days in Germany and how cold it was. He served from 1941 -1945.

sawguy21 · December 07, 2015, 02:57:01 PM

He was only 20 when the war ended. I find it difficult to believe he enlisted at 16 but I suppose it happened.

Magicman · December 07, 2015, 03:30:11 PM

Oh yes, 16 and even younger if they could get away with it. Those that got caught generally ended up in the CCC camps which had no age restrictions.

I have had those old "warriors" tell about trying to enlist in one service branch, getting caught because of their age, and using what they learned and then go and enlist in another service branch. The war was serious business and they wanted to fight.

My Aunt was proud of her service because her clerical job relieved a man from that job and allowed him to go fight.

Roxie · December 07, 2015, 06:14:39 PM

My Uncle Brownie was a POW in Germany during WWII. He was engaged to my Aunt at the time, and she joined the WAVES as a nurse to support the war effort. They both came home, married and have six children. Last Veterans Day my Uncle was Grand Marshal in the parade. He's 90. My Aunt passed several years ago.

azmtnman · December 07, 2015, 06:40:01 PM

Quote from: Magicman on December 07, 2015, 01:57:11 PM
I happened to meet a WWII Veteran Friend this morning at the grocery and he reminded me that he was 90 years old. He had his WWII Veteran hat on and told about some of his days in Germany and how cold it was. He served from 1941 -1945.

Pay careful attention to those stories. Personal firsthand accounts trump history books on a grand scale! My grandfather (1914-2006) was a member of the 10th Mountain Div. in Italy. Traumatic memories made the subject off limits. I wish he could have shared more.

Magicman · December 07, 2015, 06:45:14 PM

That is so very true. I was fortunate to spend as much time as I did with my last WWII Veteran family member.

thecfarm · December 07, 2015, 07:16:01 PM

A day that should be rememerbered by us all.

sawguy21 · December 07, 2015, 07:20:42 PM

My great uncle was gassed at Ypres in 1916, he managed to marry and father two sons even though his lungs were shot. Apparently he woke up in the back of the ward in a field hospital, he knew they put the ones they felt they could help closer to the nursing station. Like azmtnman's grandfather the subject was off limits. He died in 1967.
Fortunately for the Allies, the Japanese made a crucial tactical mistake that day. Had they hit the fuel supply the U.S. Pacific Fleet would have been crippled long enough for them to completely over run south east Asia, it could not have been rebuilt quickly if their navy controlled the ocean.

dean herring · December 07, 2015, 07:40:26 PM

My daddy was in the 101 Airborne and was in Bastonge. He died when I was 9 but my moma said he never said a word about it and she didn't ask.

WV Sawmiller · December 07, 2015, 08:04:03 PM

I was Santa at local dept store Saturday and our 96 y/o neighbor who I believe is last surviving WWII vet in our county came down with his grandchildren and 2 of his great grandsons and did pictures with us. He drove one of the first trucks across the Burma Road when they built it. He was carrying a load of medical supplies. His mind is still crystal clear, he drives his car and his tractor all over his farm. I'd love to be in as good shape when I am his age.

SLawyer Dave · December 08, 2015, 01:44:47 AM

I'm lucky enough to know 2 Pearl Harbor survivors. Both are over 90. Wally, was on Admiral Kimmel's staff, and was the officer on duty in the naval control tower when the Japanese attacked. His story has been widely publicized, (and boy does he like to keep telling the stories). =) I know him because he spends the summers at the same fish camp/marina I set my mom at every summer. I like hearing his stories, (even for the umpteenth time), so we get along great. Then there is my neighbor, George. I got to know George because he would "ride" his bike by my house most days during the summer, with his ginormous german shepard pulling him along. One day he stopped to talk to me, and we started talking about gardening. He told me how he just couldn't physically garden anymore, and missed the fresh vegetables. So I loaded him up out of my garden, and drop more off every week during the summer. It's my way of thanking him for his service. Like my own grandfather, who was a WWII vet, George doesn't talk much of his service, just that he was there in Pearl Harbor and fought in the Pacific Island campaign. He is a great old guy. His wife of 67 years has dementia, and he still cares for her with the assistance of in home supportive care.

gspren · December 08, 2015, 04:30:57 PM

My dad was a WW2 Navy Vet and he died this past Feb at 90 yrs old, he mostly served in the Atlantic/Mediterranean theater. When I was 18 yrs old and in the Navy my ship, an old WW2 tin can destroyer, pulled in to Pearl Harbor on the way to Vietnam. We needed some repairs so we stayed in Pearl for 2 weeks during which I got to see where everything happened, quite an experience.

timberlinetree · December 09, 2015, 06:31:56 AM

Thank you to all our vets and their families!

Kbeitz · December 10, 2015, 07:38:01 AM

My Dad was stationed at Pearl Harbor and the day before everything happened he was shipped home with malaria.
He beat the malaria thing but over the years the mustard gas thing took him down.

red · December 07, 2022, 07:54:16 AM

A day that will live in infamy

moodnacreek · December 07, 2022, 08:28:52 AM

Purple Heart hall of fame is right down the road. Father in law is listed there, shot twice in France. Got a brother in Arlington. Long time mentor was Korean war vet, miss him every day. I never had to serve, lived in freedom all my life. Pay attention to Ukraine. Freedom is not free.

florida · December 07, 2022, 09:51:53 AM

My grandfather was shot in the chest at Belleau Woods. He was in the 5th Marines and spent 2 years recovering in hospitals before he was discharged. Came back, went to dental school, married my grandmother, had 2 daughters, and never discussed what happened.

sawguy21 · December 07, 2022, 11:40:45 AM

I am not American but think of Pearl Harbor on this day each year. I served as a reservist and am a Canadian Legion member, am really grateful I never had to face active combat. My dad served as a ground instructor in the RCAF during the war, he never talked about it either. I think he lost too many family members and friends.

brianJ · December 07, 2022, 12:12:10 PM

Quote from: moodnacreek on December 07, 2022, 08:28:52 AM
Purple Heart hall of fame is right down the road. Father in law is listed there, shot twice in France. Got a brother in Arlington. Long time mentor was Korean war vet, miss him every day. I never had to serve, lived in freedom all my life. Pay attention to Ukraine. Freedom is not free.

Freedom is not free. A bunch of years ago I worked at a Nursing Home that specialized in veterans. Met guys that did all kinds of things some of those things truly heroic and some of them things very random. One guy of rather unremarkable service had a cousin at Pearl Harbor that early morning so many years ago. His cousin was sleeping in the barracks with the rest of his squad when it got shot up by a zero. He was unhurt but every man with a bunk in front of a window was dead. That cousin was never a stable guy and never married once he left the military.

goose63 · December 07, 2022, 05:51:00 PM

Mom Dad and 4 uncles were WW2 vets Mom was the olny one to talk of her tim in the Army she drove bus in Fordia

wesdor · December 08, 2022, 07:32:13 PM

I was involved in a project that some of you may value. We had 15 schools in the State of Illinois that we brought to Springfield in 2008, trained them on how to conduct interviews, gave them computer, software and cameras. Each year they interviewed surviving WWII Vets. We had a yearly award assembly in Springfield to recognize teams from schools that had completed outstanding interviews. Several hundred interviews are available at this site as well as through the Smithsonian.

Illinois WWII Veterans Project

Sadly most of these heroes have passed but their stories are are still here for anyone to view.

BTW - all the money for this project came from private donations.

firefighter ontheside · December 08, 2022, 10:18:31 PM

None of my family were at Pearl Harbor. My grandpa(Dad's dad) was captured in France in 1944 after he had been shot in the leg. He spent the rest of the war as a POW at Moosburg in Bavaria. He came home safe fortunately. His brother in law, my great Uncle Willie and my namesake, served in the Navy during WW2, Korea and Vietnam.