happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)

Subject: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Abby Sale
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 10:22 AM

         On the seventh day of December
          In the year of forty-one
          The free world met disaster
          At the hands of the Rising Sun
          From the bastions of Corregidor
          Pearl Harbor and Bataan
          Came the sound of war and fury
          And the Death March of free man.
  
                  "Old Soldiers Never Die," DigTrad filename[ OLDSLDD2
  
  ALSO:
          I woke up this mornin',
          Seen what the papers said;
          Yes, boys, I woke up this mornin',
          Seen what the papers said:
          Them Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor,
          And war had been declared.
          I didn't boil myself no coffee,
          I didn't boil no tea;
          I didn't boil myself no coffee,
          I didn't boil no tea;
          I made a run for that recruitin' office,
          Uncle Sam make room for me!
  
                  Untitled song fragment by Woody Guthrie; From Bound For Glory, Chapter XVI.
                  [Stolen from Steve Suffet with thanx]
  
  ALSO:
          If you think the danger is far away,
          And cannot reach our shore,
          Go ask the wives of MacArthur's men,
          They'll tell you about this war.
          Go ask the widows of the Pearl Harbor boys,
          Our heroines brave and fine,
          You'll find them at work in the training schools,
          And on the assembly line.
  
                  "The Belt Line Girl," words Sis Cunningham, 
                  music Woody Guthrie ("East Texas Red")
                  [Stolen from Steve Suffet with thanx] 

So was it really "the Good War?" Yes, I still think so. Not for ANY of the reasons Our Leaders claimed, but yes, anyway. The horrors that happened anyway, were certainly less than those that would have come without the war in Europe.

But what about the war in the Pacific? That's another and very complex story altogether. No, I think that was a typical war that got worse than most.

Copyright © 2005, Abby Sale - all rights reserved
What are Happy's all about? See Clicky

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Kaleea
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 12:27 PM

"I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve."

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Empire of Japan December 7th, 1941

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Louie Roy
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 01:16 PM

I was only 16 at the time December 7,1941,but I remember where I was at on that Sunday morning and what I was doing and a chill went up my back and I wondered what this all meant because something like this was not suppose to happen.It was scarry.On January 7,1942 I was in uniform and remained there until Febuary 23 1946.Loue Roy

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Micca
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 02:05 PM

and, on a musical note, it was during the attack a padre, (on board the Nevada, I think)running from his interrupted morning service to help man an AA gun, uttered the immortal phrase, " Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition"

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Louie Roy
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 03:32 PM

Micca you are absolutely correct

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Gypsy
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 11:09 PM

On January 1, 1942, my stepdad was 16. He joined the military the next day. Just called him tonight to say that i loved him, and thank you.

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Deckman
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 11:38 PM

Tonight, for my children, I wrote up the story of a man I worked with a few years ago. He was a Pearl Harbor survivor. His story of that morning is vivid in my memory ... I would not have wanted to struggle through what he survived.

"Last night, I had, the strangest dream ...."

CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Abby Sale
Date: 08 Dec 05 - 09:55 AM

Unusually (because he usually is) I'm not sure Micca is absolutely right here. Just very close. It gave me pause because it's illogical. I have gained this sense of illogic since learning to question, eg, whether MicroSoft will be somehow able to know that I've passed on the email and will send 25 cents for me to that cute little girl with cancer.

A chaplain has no business handling ammunition and it's hard to believe he'd be trained for that demanding job. Have a gander at Pearl Harbor Remembered (itself offered for what it's worth).

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Bard Judith
Date: 08 Dec 05 - 10:09 PM

My husband and I exchanged our first kiss (back in college, that is, at the very beginning of our 'more-than-friends' relationship) on December 7. We had to endure quite a few 'Day of Infamy' jokes from fellow history majors... but despite that seemingly inauspicious beginning, we have shared many more kisses over our eighteen years together to date!

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 08 Dec 05 - 11:29 PM

I was 4 years old. I sat under a table in a rented house in West Los Angeles and pulled a plug out of an outlet by its cord. It made a little ball of fire & burned my hand. After that, the radio didn't work, so my parents didn't hear about the attack until someone telephoned.

--- Joe Fineman    [e-mail]

||: There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over. :||

Subject: RE: happy? – Dec 7 (Pearl Harbor)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Dec 05 - 12:40 AM

At Hickam Air Force Base, contiguous with Honolulu International Airport, and sharing some of the long runways, one sees scars from bombing and strafing that still remain on some hangars and other buildings.

If you know Air Force personnel or a veteran in Hawai'i, ask them for a tour of the base, and have them make reservations for dinner at the Club at the entrance to the Harbor. Food and drinks are excellent. A wonderful sunset and good weather are guaranteed, now that we are at peace with Japan.