December 7th, 1941

[Aryeh Jay]

Pearl Harbor, yep, this is the day. Have we gotten to the point that no one remembers or even cares? God Bless the brave men that gave their lives on that day. God Bless the brave men and women that volunteered to fight the forces that brought war to the world. And God Bless the survivors, as their numbers drop fewer and fewer every day.

 

[Basil the Great]

Yes, I had five uncles who fought in WW II and they have all passed on now.

 

[miamited]

Hi jay,

I must admit that it didn't dawn on me until I was asking someone what the date was in filling out a form and they replied, "December 7th a day that will live in infamy."

God bless you,
In Christ, ted

 

[TheBear]

Pearl Harbor, yep, this is the day. Have we gotten to the point that no one remembers or even cares? God Bless the brave men that gave their lives on that day. God Bless the brave men and women that volunteered to fight the forces that brought war to the world. And God Bless the survivors, as their numbers drop fewer and fewer every day.

Thank you for this thread, Jay. The attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent fight in Japan, where many lost their lives, and many others battled it out in the worst conditions, will never be forgotten. My father fought in WWII in the Pacific theater - Iwo Jima specifically.

 

[Chesterton]

It's a nice thread when I can fully agree with a Muslim and an atheist. My father and all my uncles fought too. They represent a remarkable generation of men.

 

[Belk]

My father also fought in WWII. I'll never forget watching "World at War" with him and listening to his experiences.

 

[MehGuy]

My grandfather fought in WW2. He actually helped liberate a major concentration camp during the end of the war. Claimed to see lampshades made from human skin. Seemed like it had a horrible effect on him mentally. Can't imagine the horrors of the men who had to fight in the pacific theater though.

 

[MyOwnSockPuppet]

This may not be a popular opinion but...

The fight against the darkness that the Axis represented predates Pearl Harbor. There were even eleven unofficially-known-to-be American fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain.

The exact number is difficult to determine as they had to pretend to be Canadian to avoid potentially being stripped of their citizenship and imprisoned under US neutrality laws, but if they passed beyond the juristiction of any earthly law court (of the eleven seven were KIA and one DoW) it was usually acknowledged.
A case in point was William Meade Lindsley Fiske III, whose claim of being Canadian did somewhat stretch the bounds of credibility (he'd won two Olympic gold medals for the US, and carried the Stars and Stripes in the opening ceremony of the 1932 Winter Olympics, which was held in the US). He volunteered and flew with 601 sqn until his plane was shot up. Even then he managed to land it, despite the fact he was wounded and the plane was on fire. He died of his wounds two days later.
His coffin, carried by six members of his ground crew, was draped in the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes.

There's a plaque commemorating his sacrifice in St Paul's Cathedral, and the church where he is buried now has this window:

 

[Belk]

This may not be a popular opinion but...

The fight against the darkness that the Axis represented predates Pearl Harbor. There were even eleven unofficially-known-to-be American fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain.

The exact number is difficult to determine as they had to pretend to be Canadian to avoid potentially being stripped of their citizenship and imprisoned under US neutrality laws, but if they passed beyond the juristiction of any earthly law court (of the eleven seven were KIA and one DoW) it was usually acknowledged.
A case in point was William Meade Lindsley Fiske III, whose claim of being Canadian did somewhat stretch the bounds of credibility (he'd won two Olympic gold medals for the US, and carried the Stars and Stripes in the opening ceremony of the 1932 Winter Olympics, which was held in the US). He volunteered and flew with 601 sqn until his plane was shot up. Even then he managed to land it, despite the fact he was wounded and the plane was on fire. He died of his wounds two days later.
His coffin, carried by six members of his ground crew, was draped in the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes.

There's a plaque commemorating his sacrifice in St Paul's Cathedral, and the church where he is buried now has this window:

I had never heard that. My grandfather left the US military to join the Canadian air force before the US went to war so he could fight for the old country (He was first generation American). I had never heard that there was a law prohibiting the transfer.

 

[Vylo]

There are only roughly 500,000 of the 16,000,000 Americans that served during WW2. To put that in perspective, at the end of the war, a full 10%, or 1 out of 10 Americans was a WW2 veteran, that number is down to .15%, or less that 1 out of 500 Americans. We will soon lose our living links to this part of our past, estimates are that there will no WW2 veterans surviving by 2036.

 

[MyOwnSockPuppet]

The BBFA (Battle of Britain Fighter Association) is down to ten known members now, with the youngest aged 95.

 

[Chesterton]

The fight against the darkness that the Axis represented predates Pearl Harbor. There were even eleven unofficially-known-to-be American fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain.

I was going to mention the Flying Tigers - the American airmen who fought against the Japanese in Burma on behalf on China. I read a book on them a long time ago and I could've sworn it said they engaged in combat before Pearl Harbor. But the Wiki on them says they formed before Pearl but didn't fight until the 20th of December. Either the Wiki's wrong or my memory. Probably my memory.