December 07 1941

[Okiepan]

81 years ago , This is the USS Arizona yesterday.

Never forget those who defend freedom.

[Dawg Hair, SASS #29557]

Never forget.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

Stationed at Schofield Barracks so seen a bit more than average tourist 

When they made the Memorial the Tower had to be removed , It was moved to a location that is guarded and secure very few ever get to see it the first 3 are that tower . keep secure so no relic hunters can sell .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USS UTAH 

 

USS Arizona from Ford Island

Edited December 7, 2022 by PowerRiverCowboy

[Subdeacon Joe]

9 minutes ago, PowerRiverCowboy said:

Stationed at Schofield Barracks so seen a bit more than average tourist 

 

Can you put captions on these, please?  Especially the 3rd one.

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

[PowderRiverCowboy]

7 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Can you put captions on these, please?  Especially the 3rd one.

 

 Done . I might add many bullet scares all over Hickam AFB on the older buildings still, The Quad that out Unit was in was the closest to Wheeler Airfield still had bullet holes in roof .

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by PowerRiverCowboy

[PowderRiverCowboy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wheeler Army Airfield  Then and now  Many forget that Pearl wasnt the only one hit that day  Scofield and Wheeler were hit first as Japs flew in over the Mountain 

 

 

 

[Cypress Sun]

 

[Cypress Sun]

[Rye Miles #13621]

God bless America 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Anyone know why they haven’t disposed of the AZ tower debris or put in on display somewhere?

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

My dad's birthday is December 7.  On December 8, 1941, he was at the Navy recruiting station.  He was 16.

[Subdeacon Joe]

1 minute ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Anyone know why they haven’t disposed of the AZ tower debris or put in on display somewhere?

 

My WAG is that the government doesn't dare get rid of it and risk public outrage, but there is no funding to properly display it.  

[PowderRiverCowboy]

2 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Anyone know why they haven’t disposed of the AZ tower debris or put in on display somewhere?

 

What I was told is they do not anyone salvaging it for Souvenir's  they do have some pieces on display at the Pearl Museum  . 

[Sixgun Sheridan]

I checked the mainstream news media today, and no mention of the anniversary or the memorial services going on. Patriots like us never forget but the modern "woke" crowd couldn't care less. For all I know they consider the USA the bad guy.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

It’s out there - CNN, Fox, AP, USA Today. It’s just not the lead story that it used to be. 

[Sixgun Sheridan]

1 hour ago, PowerRiverCowboy said:

 

What I was told is they do not anyone salvaging it for Souvenir's  they do have some pieces on display at the Pearl Museum  . 

 

Meanwhile it sits outside in the jungle heat and humidity and continues to rust away...

 

My understanding is that those pieces are mostly the old vegetable locker and a short section of the tripod mainmast.

.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Sixgun Sheridan

[Trailrider #896]

I was wondering if anyone was going to post it. Couldn't get to the comfuser this morning, but glad we few remembered, although I was just a gleam in my mother's eye at the time. (Born just after Midway.) God Bless and Rest their immortal souls, as well as those who served afterward.   Lest we forget!

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[PowderRiverCowboy]

19 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

 

Meanwhile it sits outside in the jungle heat and humidity and continues to rust away...

 

I agree and well some went to Arizona Capitol museum most is still at 21.3430784,-157.9741879 back in 2011 the remaining Gun was in a Navy yard in Virginia 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by PowerRiverCowboy

[DocWard]

 

[Cypress Sun]

1 hour ago, DocWard said:

 

 

I still, to this day, find the final history of the USS Ward one of the weirdest coincidences of any war. 

 

Thanks for the reminder Doc.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Cypress Sun

[bgavin]

My dad was OTD on the California that morning.  As the ranking officer he was last to leave with the rescue team.

Edited December 10, 2022 by bgavin
otter kerrect error

[Oak Ridge Regulator]

I spent 1980-1984 in the army most of it at Ft Bennington working with WW2 and up civilian veterans finishing out their double dipping, drank a lot of beer with those guys and heard a lot of stories but it dident really come home until I got transferred to 71st maint in Nuremberg Germany, first three weeks I lived in Hitlers SS Barack’s, all the bullet holes are still there, swashstickers inlaid in tile in the chapel floor, did parade inspection on soldiers field where I saw movie footage of Hitler in WW2, I’m probably part of the last generation that knew theses men as friends and it’s sad because people today just don’t seem to understand what it took and how willing these men and women were to drop everything they knew to secure our freedom, it’s all just movies to them, Hollywood hype

[DocWard]

3 hours ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

I still, to this day, find the final history of the USS Ward one of the weirdest coincidences of any war. 

 

Thanks for the reminder Doc.

 

I agree. I remember finding out about it a few years back and thinking "that can't be right." Checked, and sure enough!

[Sedalia Dave]

Old news but worth repeating.

 

 

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

We, of the the British Empire/Commonwealth, had been at war since September 1939 and were finding it hard slogging in spite of the surreptitious aid coming from the US Neutrality Act.

My Father was an instructor with the BCATP and newly married. My Mother related how he came in the door of their home after the US declared war and told her " We just won the war! The Americans are in it now."

A heart-felt Thank You America!

[Sixgun Sheridan]

Just yesterday the British Battleship Bloke posted a video on the USS Pennsylvania's near-fatal torpedo hit right at the end of the war. Ironic that her sister was the first US warship lost in the war and she nearly became the last.

 

 

[PowderRiverCowboy]

One last one from Hickam battle scars 
 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:28 AM, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Anyone know why they haven’t disposed of the AZ tower debris or put in on display somewhere?

No money in it.  We destroyed Japan and all it was, along with Germany and Italy within four years of that attack.

 

So far we haven't even scolded the murderers of 9-11.

 

WE have not fought, much less won, a real war since 1945.  

 

WE go in get a lot of our people killed or ruined, build the economies of those we should be destroying, and walk away leaving victims of those we fought to their oppressors.  We have not fought, much less won, a war since 1945.................... and every day I ask "WHY NOT?"

[Highwall]

On 12/7/2022 at 12:31 PM, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

My dad's birthday is December 7.  On December 8, 1941, he was at the Navy recruiting station.  He was 16.

My dad was also 16 at the time. He turned 17 on Feb 1st and enlisted  that day in the Marines because the line was shorter than the army or Navy's. LOL

He fought in Okinawa, the Philippines, Marshalls and the Solomon's. There were many times over the years he told me only by God's grace I was even born!

[Sixgun Sheridan]

On 12/9/2022 at 2:41 PM, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

No money in it.  We destroyed Japan and all it was, along with Germany and Italy within four years of that attack.

 

So far we haven't even scolded the murderers of 9-11.

 

WE have not fought, much less won, a real war since 1945.  

 

WE go in get a lot of our people killed or ruined, build the economies of those we should be destroying, and walk away leaving victims of those we fought to their oppressors.  We have not fought, much less won, a war since 1945.................... and every day I ask "WHY NOT?"

 

The reason is because we've fought nothing but "police actions" and proxy wars since 1945. We defeated Japan and Germany by bombing their entire countries flat and wiping out their entire fleets, tank divisions and air forces. Since then we've fought each successive conflict with one hand tied behind our back, afraid to go all-out for fear of starting World War III with the Russians, Chinese or entire Arab world. It's like fumigating only the cockroaches you see on the kitchen floor, and wondering why they keep coming and don't seem to ever give up.

[Cypress Sun]

5 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

 

The reason is because we've fought nothing but "police actions" and proxy wars since 1945. We defeated Japan and Germany by bombing their entire countries flat and wiping out their entire fleets, tank divisions and air forces. Since then we've fought each successive conflict with one hand tied behind our back, afraid to go all-out for fear of starting World War III with the Russians, Chinese or entire Arab world. It's like fumigating only the cockroaches you see on the kitchen floor, and wondering why they keep coming and don't seem to ever give up.

 

Not to mention that it is truly a global economy, Doesn't take much to figure that one out. Just look at the supposed supply shortages from within the US and from foreign countries and how many 

 

Another reason is that when you bomb entire countries flat, you also wipe out citizen populations. In rough numbers in WWII, there were approximately 20 to 30 million military deaths. There were also approximately 60 to 80 million civilian deaths. The civilian stats do not include wounded (physically and mentally), people made homeless or made destitute. A civilian body count that is 2 or 3 times higher than military deaths is just not an option anymore, nor should it be.

 

Was it necessary to completely destroy Germany, Japan and their Allies? In my opinion, yes...it was the only option at that time. Was the use of carpet bombing and nukes necessary? It worked, WWII is over, so I guess it was.

 

Are there some countries that I would like to see their leadership and philosophies wiped from the face of the Earth? Of course there is. Destroying innocent civilians is not on my list however. In war, there will always be a certain "collateral" damage, certain leaderships/governments will look the other way or even condone it. I don't. Don't get me wrong, someone attacks the US...I want the US to destroy the attacker's leadership and means of making war. I'd just like to see it done with a minimal loss of civilians...if that is even possible.

 

There is a reason for the "those who forget" and "never forget" adages, quotes and sayings. 

[Sixgun Sheridan]

While I agree with your philosophy Cypress, in reality it's usually not possible. The enemy's war-making machine lies inside civilian population enters, and civilians assemble the gun, bombs, and warplanes inside the factories where they work. Obviously one should avoid dropping bombs on residential areas, but WW2 proved that you can't defeat an enemy without destroying their capacity to wage war, which means killing the people who make or transport the weapons of war as well.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

And we must remember that (as an example) both Germany and Japan were killing civilian populations, in their own and other countries, as a means to destroy anyone who opposed them, be it physically, intellectually, religiously, culturally, or in any other way actual or imagined.....even politically manufactured enemies created where none actually existed until attacked.  It was government policy in both nations and some others, as well! 

 

This was mass murder on an international scale and the ONLY way to stop it was by out-murdering the murderers.  The atomic bombs were one horrible shot on two occasions, but many more Japanese died in fire bombing raids on their major cities for months before the atomic bombs were dropped.

 

I have never understood why we "forgave and forget" their atrocities and why we almost immediately began to rebuild their countries and why we didn't stop China and Russia five years later when the Korean 'Police Action' broke out.

[Chantry]

2 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I have never understood why we "forgave and forget" their atrocities and why we almost immediately began to rebuild their countries and why we didn't stop China and Russia five years later when the Korean 'Police Action' broke out.

Because they made useful allies against the communists

 

Because we could not have beaten both the Soviet Union and China without using atomic weapons