Pearl Harbor

Woodsman

My grandfather was in Pearl Harbor. He is 87 years old. He can still remember it like yesterday and his stories send shivers down your spine.

Pleas take a moment to remember the sacrifice many made.

My dad saw the attack from the roof of his house....he was only a toddler. His stepfather was a service man stationed in Hawaii, and after the attack he sent my dad, my aunt, and my grandmother to San Francisco to live out the war.

dvw

it is sad to me, that the men who saved the world will soon be all gone. shake his hand for me.

roybatty

Amen

hubert

I salute them all.

Hubert

Tigerman

"The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw

vomit

Sorry, but I live in Japan and see it differently.

free2beme

It is interesting that you say it that way. As it seems that the media is starting to dissect that day, more an more, to try and make it more about controversy then about the people who died. Some key facts I always find interesting about the Pearl Harbor attack, that history some times forgets to highlight.

1. The reason we were hit so bad, was we were not at war. The Japanese actually delivered the declaration of war, after the attack, because the delegates in Washington were slow at processing the message into English. This meant, the Japanese were not following the rules of war, and was a cowardice move. Because some of the fighters came back, thinking we had been warned, and learned we did not get fair warning. They felt what they did was dishonorable, and some killed themselves.

2. While we are often lead to think that the Japanese were largely untouched in the battle. That was not the case, the Japanese lost nearly one third the planes they sent in to fight. Some were lost by air to ground fire, while others were shot down by pilots of the military who got off the ground.

3. All of the air craft carriers used by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor, were sunk before the war ended.

... Just some interesting, information. I love the military channel.

Oh, and as a final thought. The Japanese feel that what we did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was not a fair trade to Pearl Harbor. Although, the commander of the Japanese forces was quoted to have said, after the attack, "... we have awoken a Giant" and they did ... they reaped a huge revenge upon their nation for there cowardly move.

Leolaia

2. While we are often lead to think that the Japanese were largely untouched in the battle. That was not the case, the Japanese lost nearly one third the planes they sent in to fight. Some were lost by air to ground fire, while others were shot down by pilots of the military who got off the ground.

Everyone who grows up in Hawaii knows the story of the Japanese pilot who crash landed on Niihau, "The Forbidden Isle," and the trouble that followed with the locals.

Amazing

Free2beme,

Oh, and as a final thought. The Japanese feel that what we did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was not a fair trade to Pearl Harbor. Although, the commander of the Japanese forces was quoted to have said, after the attack, "... we have awoken a Giant" and they did ... they reaped a huge revenge upon their nation for there cowardly move.

I enjoyed your comments. Just some additional thoughts:

Prior to the war, American servicemen, mostly pilots and mechanics, resigned from the US military to join the Chinese Air Force as mercenaries. China was being wiped out, and needed experienced pilots. The United States supplied the planes as well. Some historical revisionists use these events, and some issues with supply embargoes to try and blame the United States for provoking Japan.

The Truth is Japan was a vicious and wicked agressive nation that was raping China and the entire eastern Pacific region. They were bruttal and tortured men, women and children. They literally raped and pillaged. It was the motto of the Japanese militrary to bomb, pillage, and rape. They would not quit fighting, and were preparing even their children to fight shold the United States military enter their home land. They were warned prior to the Atom bomb being dropped that a terrible weapon was going to be used and to surrender. They did not, and they were bombed. They still refused to surrender, so a second bomb was dropped. They finally got the clue and surrendered.

Today, Japanese people are only taught the horrors of what happened to them, and they do not teach their children what their people did to cause the war and the wicked treatment Japan caused to other nations, especially Korea and China. To this day, Japan has never apologized to China or Korea for the raping of their nations. Even here in America, there is tension and hatred to this day between Koreans and Japanese. After the war, America treated Japan very well and rebuilt their nation. The Japanese were expecting a harsh retribution, but America was kind, and this surprised them.

Jim Whitney

Pearl Harbor

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