DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... OUR VIEW: Wednesday is anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack

Wednesday marks the 81st anniversary of the “day that will live in infamy,” as President Franklin D Roosevelt described it in a speech that will never be forgotten.

On that day, at 7:55 a.m., without warning, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor sending a shockwave across our country.

The attacks on Pearl Harbor changed the way Americans felt. The United States was no longer that country that seemed immune from outside attacks — similar to the way the nation felt after Sept 11.

According to the History.com, the attacks on Pearl Harbor took the lives of 2,403 servicemen and wounded 1,000 more. Civilians died too.

The attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into war against the axis powers of Germany and Japan. Roosevelt acted decisively, finding out about the attacks on a Sunday afternoon and by Monday morning the declaration of war was signed.

This is such an important date in our history, even if it’s one we’d rather not remember. 

We urge you to take a moment, grab your child or grandchild and let them read about what it was like for the people of Hawaii on that day and how the nation came together in support of this great country.

Pearl Harbor Survivors Association National President William Muehleib once said, “We did what we had to do. We did what we were called to do. And then we went on and lived our lives. It was over and done.”

Just because it is over and done, doesn’t mean we need to forget it.

https://www.lagrangenews.com/2022/12/07/our-view-wednesday-is-anniversary-of-pearl-harbor-attack/

Please remember those who lost their lives on this day and use it as evidence of what complacency can do when you wait for war to land on your doorstep.

My grandfathers younger brother, who I/we called "Uncle Louie", was at Pearl when it was hit. He made it thru the ordeal but many didn't.

May those who lost their lives that day as well as those in other conflicts Rest In Peace.

Handful of Pearl Harbor survivors remember 'date which will live in infamy'

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — A handful of centenarian survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor gathered at the scene of the Japanese bombing on Wednesday to commemorate those who perished 81 years ago.

That's fewer than in recent years, when a dozen or more traveled to Hawaii from across the country to pay their respects at the annual remembrance ceremony.

Part of the decline reflects the dwindling number of survivors as they age. The youngest active-duty military personnel on Dec. 7, 1941, would have been about 17, making them 98 today. Many of those still alive are at least 100.

Ira Schab, 102, was on the USS Dobbin as a tuba player in the ship’s band. He recalls seeing Japanese planes flying overhead and wondering what to do.

“We had no place to go and hoped they’d miss us,” he said before the ceremony began.

He fed ammunition to machine gunners on the vessel, which wasn’t hit.

He’s now attended the remembrance ceremony four times.

Schab stayed in the Navy during the war. After the war, he studied aerospace engineering and worked on the Apollo program. Today he lives in Portland, Oregon.

He wants people to remember those who served that day.

“Remember what they’re here for. Remember and honor those that are left. They did a hell of a job. Those who are still here, dead or alive,” he said.

About 2,400 servicemen were killed in the bombing, which launched the U.S. into World War II. The USS Arizona alone lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, nearly half the death toll.

Robert John Lee recalls being a 20-year-old civilian living at his parent's home on the naval base where his father ran the water pumping station. The home was just about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) across the harbor from where the USS Arizona was moored on battleship row.

The first explosions before 8 a.m. woke him up, making him think a door was slamming in the wind. He got up to yell for someone to shut the door only to look out the window at Japanese planes dropping torpedo bombs from the sky.

He saw the hull of the USS Arizona turn a deep orange-red after an aerial bomb hit it.

He still remembers the hissing sound of the fire.

Sailors jumped into the water to escape their burning ships and swam to the landing near Lee's house. Many were covered in the thick, heavy oil that coated the harbor. Lee and his mother used Fels-Naptha soap to help wash them. Sailors, who were able to, boarded small boats that shuttled them back to their vessels.

“Very heroic, I thought,” Lee said of them.

Lee joined the Hawaii Territorial Guard the next day, and later the U.S. Navy. He worked for Pan American World Airways for 30 years after the war.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t have statistics for how many Pearl Harbor survivors are still living. But department data show that of the 16 million who served in World War II, only about 240,000 were alive as of August and some 230 die each day.

There were about 87,000 military personnel on Oahu at the time of the attack, according to a rough estimate compiled by military historian J. Michael Wenger.

The ceremony sponsored by the Navy and the National Park Service featured a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the minute the attack began, and a missing-man-formation flyover.

Navy and park service officials are due to deliver remarks.

https://wcti12.com/news/nation-worl...pWl0diRyIwH5uGaol3cathSEDMbIF60goAMqIDyM

Man....the history here. My last three tours (current one and previous two) have been awesome regarding American history and current.

I loved DC. I could go on and on about seeing some of the coolest sites and etc. While we can see and learn some great history through tv/books and sites. What I've been blessed to see is things normal civilians do not get to see without clearance. Examples: The War College, the building and room where they held the trial Lincoln's conspirators, different gates that date back to the Civil war just to name a few.

As for Oahu/Pearl Harbor. The Pill Boxes are really interesting and cool to see on top on the mountains/ridge line throughout the island. They did an amazing job of honoring our brothers and sisters at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. It's a beautiful cemetery in the Punchbowl Crater.

And the heart of today....Pearl Harbor / Ford Island and Battleship Row. The first, if you visit Hawaii please go see Pearl Harbor. I recommend getting tickets online (though they say you don't need them) as if you don't get them beforehand, you might be in a standby waiting to get on the boat. It's humbling, it's amazing, and so hard to emotionally see all at once.

There are a few places I've been where I feel mentally in the moment been transported back in time and try to vision what played out where I was standing. Little Round Top at Gettysburg, where JFK was assassinated, and Pearl Harbor/Ford Island to name a few.

The second place is if you have a friend or government ID, go to Ford Island. It is where Battleship Row is located. Battleship Missouri (the general public can go there through a tour bus) is located there, that's the ship the Japanese officially surrendered. There is a trail that goes around the island, i love it. The trail tells the history of the island, the USS Utah Memorial is located on it. The ship was sunk, but part of the haul is still above the water. The crazy part is along the trail, you can still see bullet hole trails and also where bombs hit in the concrete especially on Battleship Row's side of the island. Buildings and even the glass at the Aviation Museum has the holes from 81 years ago.

One last small story I want to tell. My parents came to visit in September. Dad loves history and all the battles. So I took them around to the sites I mentioned above, and I decided to take them over to Hickam Air Force Base. So we were driving around, I was showing them the fighter jets at the airfield and so on. We were having fun and enjoying the beautiful area, and I took them over to one of the on base fishing and ship docks. It's a really cool and chill dock area that opens right into the open ocean. Dad says to me, wow this is the area. Me, not thinking about it....what dad? This is the Pearl Harbor entrance, this is where our ships/subs were trying to escape from the Japanese attacks to the open ocean. The Japanese planes were trying to guard this while they did their bombings. At that moment, I was taken back..81 years ago, when you physically see it, it's not very wide waterway. Our brothers and sisters fought through a major struggle to save what we had left of our fleet at this very place. It's just chilling.

Today, I am disappointed in myself as a leader. Next years anniversary I will take our staff to the remembrance ceremony and honor those who fought for us. They deserve better from us.

Rest in peace, we remember and appreciate your sacrifices for what you have done for all of us.

All I will say is I have been there. To watch that oil still leak out.....to know what happened. To think of all the men that died that day.............

Thank you for your stories and for your service. I have been all around Gettysburg and many Civil war battle grounds. Even taking a helicopter ride over them for an aerial view. Museums including one with a map lit up in blue and gray showing troop movements during the battle of Gettysburg. It's almost a miracle the North won that battle after seeing that.

If I ever made the decision to go to Hawaii it would mainly be for the purpose of seeing Pearl Harbor but I have not yet done so.

Thanks again so much for your service and your stories.

Wow, a helicopter ride over Gettysburg would be amazing. I loved Gettysburg, such an amazing piece of history especially with the markers throughout the land. It really gives you a great vision of the battlefield. Yes, of what I saw through documentaries one of the biggest reasons the North won was because of taking Little Round Top. The North arrived just minutes before the South, or the outcome could have been different.

Another thing we/people don't think about. After Gettysburg was over, Soldiers left to go home from all over the North (Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, etc) The wounded leaving Gettysburg was said to be around 24 miles long.

I highly recommend getting the chance to visit and seeing the sites. If you (or anyone else) come out within the next year or two let me know. I'll try to assist with tour guiding some things most do not get to see.

Thanks, tomorrow I fly out to Guam for some work. I am looking forward to seeing the beautiful island and experiencing the culture, but also see some of the WWII areas.

81 years after Pearl Harbor, a new USS Arizona is being built

RHODE ISLAND - On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor this year, there was a keel-laying ceremony for a new submarine - the USS Arizona.

This comes after the original USS Arizona sunk in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

"The USS Arizona in reference to the new one is the SNN803, a fast attack nuclear submarine," said Pamela Rinesmith, lead for USS Arizona.

The keel-laying ceremony was held in Rhode Island, and officials from the town of Gilbert were at the ceremony after being asked to host. 

For Nikki Stratton, the granddaughter of USS Arizona survivor Donald Stratton, Dec. 7 is a day she holds close to her heart.

"I am the ship's sponsor, I was named in 2020 when my grandfather passed away at the age of 77," said Stratton. "He was one of the last three survivors of the original USS Arizona."

Switching up tradition, Stratton was the first sponsor to weld her own initial.

"I capped everything off with welding my initial into the keel plate, which will be the plate posted in the submarine, and it will be there forever more," she said.

She had support from the town of Gilbert in Rhode Island as the celebrated the beginning stages of the construction of the new submarine.

"Back in 2020 I had reached out to Nikki," said Bill Spence, former council member for the USS Arizona Legacy Foundation. "I'm a retired Navy lieutenant commander submarine officer, and I heard about USS Arizona, and I reached out to Nikki and established a relationship with her and approached her with the idea of Gilbert being a host town."

Gilbert Mayor Brigette Peterson says the town is lucky to be chosen as the host.

"What it means historically is that those host towns have been a place where members of the crew of the submarine know they can come and always be welcome as part of our community," Peterson said.

This is only the beginning of the new USS Arizona submarine.

"The USS Arizona brought the country together once, and it can do it again, and it starts in Arizona," Spence said.

The keel-laying ceremony is the first step of the submarine being built. The next step is construction, which will take about 2 to 3 years to complete.

It will be assembled in Connecticut.

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/8...FlisWoMaFHka3gjRd0LhQOdsYkrrHPy5uU8vfc4k