December 7, 1941

[T Bone]

May we not forget.

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked the neutral United States at Naval Station Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii, killing 2,403 Americans and injuring 1,178 others. The attack sank four U.S. Navy battleships and damaged four others. It also damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer. Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged.

Canada declared war on Japan within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the first Western nation to do so. On December 8, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II on the side of the Allies. In a speech to Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the bombing of Pearl Harbor "a date which will live in infamy."

My grandfather and three friends were nursing hangovers with cofffee and pie in a cafe in Caldwell, Idaho when the cook came out and made the announcement.

Two days later, all 4 enlisted.

Two didn't return home.

The greatest generation, indeed!

 

[JustinsDad]

My Dad was on a full scholarship at ASU and he quit college that week to enlist. What a great generation, indeed.

 

[MarvB]

Nice post Tyson! My uncle, now deceased, was a PH survivor who serve on both the USS Nevada and USS Utah at different times. His recount of the attack, the few times he actually spoke of it, was just chilling.

My wife’s parents are both native Hawaiians and her father was helping to fix his parents roof at the time of the attack. He said the sky resembled a swarm of angry bees and the concussions from the bombing was something he swore he could hear/feel for months afterwards.

Truly a time of reflection for that period of our history

 

[44hunter45]

My mother's first cousin, Elmer Dunham S1C, USS Arizona. We will NEVER forget.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

God bless the "Greatest" generation. God bless the USA.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Mom & Dad packed up the boys and headed for Portland, Oregon, where Mom was a "Rosie the Riveter" and Dad a welder at the Portland shipyards.
Mom, who passed away at 101 yrs old in 2020, was born during the Spanish Flu pandemic and stated as she entered hospice, "I'm taking that damn Covid with me!"
I miss her dearly each and everyday, but especially this day is meaningful.

 

[Europe]

I was to young to really "grasp" the invasion of Pearl Harbor, but I remember the celebrations when the war ended.

If I may, I would also like to mention and thank the women who helped here at home and overseas after the Pearl Harbor invasion. If a woman had a child under 18 at home she was not allowed to go overseas so my mother, was one of the " Rosie the Riverters" . Two aunts did serve overseas, one in the Red Cross and one in the WAC. They both returned but two of the men in our family, did not.

God bless America and THANK YOU to all the men and women who have served, as well as those who are still serving.

Straight Arrow : My mom went to the San Diego Shipyards. She mentioned later in life that they also worked on munitions, not just ships.

 

[rjthehunter]

God bless every one of them!

I wish as a country we could go back to a time when everyone loved our country and took pride in defending it. Far too much hate now.

 

[LuketheDog]

My grandad lied about his age and enlisted in the Navy at 16 because he couldn't wait any longer and was afraid the war would end without his service, he eventually became a radioman/gunner on a TBM Avenger torpedo bomber. He was a bit late to the war and did not see combat that I'm aware of, but he did spend time flying in the Pacific. I can't imagine doing that when I was 16, it's mind-blowing.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I was to young to really "grasp" the invasion of Pearl Harbor, but I remember the celebrations when the war ended.

If I may, I would also like to mention and thank the women who helped here at home and overseas after the Pearl Harbor invasion. If a woman had a child under 18 at home she was not allowed to go overseas so my mother, was one of the " Rosie the Riverters" . Two aunts did serve overseas, one in the Red Cross and one in the WAC. They both returned but two of the men in our family, did not.

God bless America and THANK YOU to all the men and women who have served, as well as those who are still serving.

Straight Arrow : My mom went to the San Diego Shipyards. She mentioned later in life that they also worked on munitions, not just ships.

My paternal grandmother lived in a small town in Nebraska while grandpa was off fighting in the ETO. She told us of how trains with troops heading to one coast or another would get stopped outside of town, and the women of the town would gather everything they could in terms of rationed food, coffee, home-made donuts, etc and head down to those trains to feed the boys headed off to war. These ladies weren't part of the Red Cross, WAC's, etc. Just moms and wives of the boys who were headed overseas. They wanted those boys to have a good meal and hot cup of coffee while they waited on the plains for what came next.

Grandpa was a cook in Patton's army. He landed in Le Havre, France after D-Day due to a V2 rocket blowing up his transport in England, breaking his legs. He fought through France, Belgium & Germany, helped in the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp and came home to get drunk, and stay that way for 25 years.

The Pacific boys had it immeasurably worse. I can't even imagine what those conditions were like. God bless em all.

 

[Bambistew]

When I lived in Maryland for a few years, I was fortunate enough to meet and become good friends with a WWII vet. He spent almost 3 years in Europe and had some incredible stories to tell, along with all sorts of stories of his youth and growing up around Gettysburg. He was the last or second to last surviving member of his company, and as I recall, was one of 42 who survived out of his original 110 that went over. He was part of the "Red Ball Express" and spent lot of days/nights running supplies via jeep with only he and another. Stories of getting lost, nearly captured, avoiding fights, etc. He fought in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe and the Ardennes, but didn't talk much about that, more so about the "good" parts. One of his closest friends in the war was a POW German translator, who he was responsible for. He told me a few stories about meeting the POWs family, while traveling for supplies including an early Christmas dinner that he was invited. One of the best stories was he and 2 others were on a trip to get supplies, and on the way back to base, ran across a red stag near the road. They quickly hunted it and killed it, and where living gods when they returned with fresh meat, which they hadn't seen in months. His superiors were not amused, but they didn't complain while eating the stew.

He passed away in early 2009 at the age of 94. Lived at home up until the end, caring for a couple dozen red angus cows and running a 70 ac farm with the assistance of one of his sons. He battled prostate cancer for almost a decade, had 3-4 surgeries to repair various joints, still carried pieces of shrapnel in his leg and arm and was a man that you couldn't compare many too. He met General Patton 2x, and wasn't impressed either time. haha

His wife's family had settled in Maryland in 1790, the house he lived in was the original house on the farm, he showed me the carpenters signatures in the cellar one day. She also served in the war as a nurse and was stationed in France for a couple years. He told of stories of getting to sneak away to see her for a day here or there while on assignment. His wife was close friends with Anna Roosevelt (daughter of the President). I believe they went to college together in New York. She made a number of visits to D.C. for social events and he had a few stories about them.

I've met a lot of people in my life, but he was sure one of the most colorful and inspiring.

 

[WildWill]

My grandpa, in the center, joined days after the attack. He fought at guadalcanal, saipan, Okinawa, and other smaller battles and managed to make it back home to Rattan Oklahoma and went on to have 4 kids, 11 grandkids before he died.

 

[Howie]

My Pop was attached to Patton as a forward artillery observer. He received a Bronze Star.
Passed now, he will always be my dad and respected as the staunch vet, american, and good man he was.

 

[mdhunter]

My grandfather was at Yale and graduated in May of 1942. He enlisted as a "90 day wonder" and became an officer in only 90 days as the military was so short staffed. He served in the Pacific theater on a destroyer and saw many of the major battles.

I imagine most Yale grads today head to Wall St or similar endeavors. He became a career sailor traveling the world and achieving the rank of Captain. The greatest generation indeed.

 

[Addicting]

My grandfather who I never met or new much about served in the army in the pacific. I found his DD214 going thru my parents estate. He served on some of the same islands as those featured in the mini series. He was awarded the bronze star for his actions in Luzon. Unfortunately, the war came home with him and what we know now as PTSD ripped the family apart. One day he was just gone only to stop in years later and then disappear again. Leaving my 10 year old mom and her twin devastated. No one knows where he ended up or was finally able to lay his demons to rest at. RIP grandpa

 

[ashersdad]

Appreciate the post Tyson.

My grandpa joined the navy at 17 and served in 8 major battles. Told some pretty incredible stories. Came home and became a teacher and a coach. Served twice as mayor of his town and raised 5 kids. Always had an incredible love of country. Passed away just shy of 90 years old having lived a great life.

Hope to be half the man he was.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Thank you all for the posts. Truly the greatest generation alongside the Doughboys of WW1. As a society, we are the beneficiaries of their sacrifices. Never forget.

 

[MarvB]

Thank you all for the posts. Truly the greatest generation alongside the Doughboys of WW1. As a society, we are the beneficiaries of their sacrifices. Never forget.

Well said.

 

[RobertD]

I'll throw in. My paternal grandfather, who died almost four years ago, was seventeen years old and hunting hogs in a swamp west of Jacksonville, Florida the morning of the attack. They heard the news on the radio as they were driving back home around lunch. He told me his initial reaction was "So where is Pearl Harbor?"

He enlisted in the Navy the following day, lying about his age as many did. Spent much of the war on repair ships in the Pacific, working in a machine shop on the ship most days and running antiaircraft weaponry when times called for it.

He got out for a year or two, but quickly reenlisted and made a career out of being a sailor. He and my grandmother had a mess of children up and down the eastern seaboard, the youngest of whom had me.

For my grandpa war was just one of chapter of a long career, or really a long life. But any time he brought out a WW2 story, my young ass somehow knew to shut up and take notes. Thankful I got to hear firsthand accounts of life in the Depression and the stories of a young sailor caught up in a real big war from the man who lived it all.

 

[jrabq]

My Mom and Dad met in college around 1940 and got married. I'm not sure exactly when he enlisted, but he was a mechanic for the Army Air Corps, mostly working in B-24s, he never went overseas. This picture was from 1944 in El Paso where he was stationed for several years. Mom is holding my oldest brother, I am the youngest of 5 children.