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And for the first time, there will not be any of the crew that was present on the USS Arizona present in Pearl Harbor for the anniversary day tomorrow (7 Dec. 1941). It is believed there are five living persons who were crew and present on that ship on that day but they are well into their 90's and for the first time, no crew members are able to make the trip to Hawaii. I find this quite moving as it is may well mark the end of a section of history. Not WWII veterans of course, that will continue for some years but unfortunately there will be no surviving members of a specific event that occurred during WWII. Of course the crew members of that ship were the very first active service, American combat veterans of all of WWII because that was the specific event that caused the US entrance into that conflict in the first place.
This is a big change in my lifetime because when I was young, there were millions of US WWII veterans alive and well. But we baby- boomers are coming to the end of the period when WWII and even Korean War veterans are commonplace- a very significant and sad change in my own life.
Brian
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u022KbQ_ngU
Bonus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjoJicZ3vPk
A fine testament to government public education.
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I apologize, I was not thinking when I posted,
carry on. Post removed, but as it's quoted, it can still be perused.
I was thinking the US was involved in Europe, prior to the Japanese attack...
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I removed my post which quoted your post too.
No problem, everyone steps in it once in a while, no big deal Rich. Besides, I was not cranky, merely confused.
And technically, the US was (kinda', sorta') involved in WWII before 7 Dec. 1941 as Americans crewing American ships, flying the US flag, were armed and actively engaging German targets, especially submarines, well over a year before Pearl Harbor. That is one of the primary reasons Germany declared war on the US after Pearl Harbor- there was a general feeling on the part of Germany (such as I can speak for an entire country) that they WERE already engaged in open warfare with the US. Of course this point is not well illustrated if you go to American schools such as you and I did..... :-)
But back to the original point: we are leaving the very tail- end of 'the greatest generation' to history and it is a bit sad, at least to me.
BrianI apologize, I was not thinking when I posted,
carry on. Post removed, but as it's quoted, it can still be perused.
I was thinking the US was involved in Europe, prior to the Japanese attack...
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B,
I fully agree about the sadness, but remain diligent with it all, but I'm just going by 'first hand conversations' with older, (now gone) family members; who were very well versed on the experiences they were involved in. It was quite painfully accepted by me, when seated and conversing over a thanksgiving dinner or three, and I really listened closely, to what my F.I.L. and His dad, both related to me. It wasn't based on a website, or modern adaptation, and permutation of "what is allowed/projected" as such today.
the heartfelt descriptions from my G.I.L., were very descriptive, and his stories of what he experienced, prior to the "documented" involvement in WWII, along with my F.I.L.'s accounting of his presence at Pearl Harbor.
I really felt bad about both of those dudes experiences, as I know they both saw horrible things... thus my initial posting. I can't physically explain how much anguish I saw in both of those men's eyes, but I have to assure you, it was not embellished by any way, on their parts..
really made me think, and I guess that's what I got caught up in.
My flag fly's 365 days a year, just for this reason.
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I got to hear a truly terrible and barbaric story from a German about 10 yrs. ago. Happened to be working with a gentleman who brought me to his parents home and between my bad German and my co- worker's excellent English, I got the story. This gentleman was in the Wehrmacht and of course on the eastern front (you know this cannot be good). He was captured and send 'to the east' (he literally did not know exactly where but in the Gulag system) in 1944 and was held there as forced labor until 1955 (yep, 10 years after the end of WWII but not for those guys). The toughest part was when he was telling about when all his toes froze and someone came along with wire cutter and clipped all of them off so they would not become infected. He said he could still hear those wire cutters snapping in the quiet, dark of the night. And BTW- when he was released, they literally opened the gates and told them they could go.... it took him a year to get back home to southern Germany, mostly on foot, begging and stealing food, etc. along the way. And remember, this was dessert after fighting in that oh so nasty theater of war. Even the 'bad guys' suffer in a war although we usually only think about our own and those from our 'side's suffering.
BrianB,
I fully agree about the sadness, but remain diligent with it all, but I'm just going by 'first hand conversations' with older, (now gone) family members; who were very well versed on the experiences they were involved in. It was quite painfully accepted by me, when seated and conversing over a thanksgiving dinner or three, and I really listened closely, to what my F.I.L. and His dad, both related to me. It wasn't based on a website, or modern adaptation, and permutation of "what is allowed/projected" as such today.
the heartfelt descriptions from my G.I.L., were very descriptive, and his stories of what he experienced, prior to the "documented" involvement in WWII, along with my F.I.L.'s accounting of his presence at Pearl Harbor.
I really felt bad about both of those dudes experiences, as I know they both saw horrible things... thus my initial posting. I can't physically explain how much anguish I saw in both of those men's eyes, but I have to assure you, it was not embellished by any way, on their parts..
really made me think, and I guess that's what I got caught up in.
My flag fly's 365 days a year, just for this reason.