Crew members still entombed in USS Arizona

[The Blue Flower]

When I lived in Hawaii, I visited the Pearl Harbor memorial, and my heart broke for the crew that were trapped in the sunken warship. I became very aware that we were standing over their remains. My dad, may he rest in peace, spent his adult life recounting stories of his years in the south Pacific during the war. When he visited Hawaii, we took him to the Arizona memorial. The Park Service manages the site. They show a film about the Japanese attack for visitors. As we came out of the theater, he started ranting about "the damn Japs!" He didn't notice that most of his fellow tourists were Japanese. It was embarrassing, but he was a product of his time.

[Elessar Zappa]

1. My grandpa

was a WW2 Pacific theater vet and a good man but he remained prejudiced against the Japanese until his dying day. Not cool but as you said, product of the times.

[debm55]

13. So was my FIL. He was a Marine. He would get into this rants about the J---. I felt sort of

embarrassed for him. Because this would come out of nowhere. His apartment had a huge collection of photos and books of the Pacific Theater. I didn't say anything because I was sure since he served on one of the islands off of Japan, he had some major problems that were not addressed when he came home.

[hlthe2b]

2. Yes. It was very poignant when I visited. I only wish more (especially the young)

truly learned the history before visiting because, as with the Holocaust museum some of those in attendance were really inappropriate and insensitive.

[PCIntern]

3. My father, of blessed memory spent four years in the Pacific theater

Lost virtually everyone he knew over there. He came back and worked two full-time jobs and went to school for the rest of his life because sleep was impossible. He survived until the age of 82.

[Ziggysmom]

4. My father also was a WWII Vet. I recall how he hated Japanese cars when they started becoming

popular in the US. I would have broken his heart by owning a Japanese car while he was alive, so I never bought one. Today few things are really American made, but it was very important to him to buy American before he passed in 1998.

[bahboo]

6. my Dad was the same....as liberal as could be, except when it came to Japanese cars....

different times...

[Demsrule86]

10. I agree with your Dad...as an Auto wife, I watched the US open our markets wide while Japan

kept our cars out with all sorts of unfair actions. Globalism (do you know the job losses such actions caused in the rustbelt and elsewhere?) cost our party Ohio and other important states. Korea is just as bad. Joe Biden is finally sending jobs to the Mid West and in time I hope we will win back Ohio, and other states.

Now Hyundai is selling cars that don't have proper key recognition chips-cars from 2010 to 2021 are affected...and I wouldn't bet that their 2022 models are any better. People bust out the windows, tear out the dash and with an apple cord or a USB cord start the car and take a 'joy ride'...filming the entire thing for TikTok. They crash into things, have sex in the back seat, and destroy the interior all the while drinking...safety hazard for sure. Now consider that Hyundai has not even been forced to recall these shit cars. I know because my daughter bought a used one and is out a good deal of money. Thus far, it has been mostly in the midwest but is spreading. Oh, and since they are 'working on a fix for 23', I would imagine that 22 models are also affected...various owners are now suing them. If it was Ford or GM...a recall would have happened already.

'Hyundai selling a $170.00 kit that may fix this. The kit will cost $170, but installation costs will vary based on dealer location, a Hyundai spokesperson told Automotive News. Automotive News also reports that an attorney for plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed against Hyundai estimated the installation cost at roughly $500.

Affected Hyundai models include certain 2016-21 examples of the Accent, Elantra, Elantra GT, Kona, Palisade, Santa Fe, Sante Fe Sport, Santa Fe XL, Sonata, Tucson, Veloster and Venue. All affected vehicles both use a steel key and lack an engine immobilizer. Hyundai says it is also working on a software update for the first half of 2023 that should better protect its cars.'

https://www.cars.com/articles/hyundai-selling-170-kit-meant-to-foil-viral-thefts-457749/

[Ziggysmom]

12. Yes, my dad was a very strong Union member and liberal Democrat all his life. He even

participated in the Civil Rights marches for racial equality with his African American friends back in the 1960s. But he could not let go of what he saw in the Pacific, where he was in the Navy during WWII. He did not like to talk about the experience at all. One of his brothers told me about all the atrocities he experienced, after dad passed away. They held their pain inside back then.

[CatWoman]

5. ....

[Prairie_Seagull]

7. I spent my USN time home ported at Pearl.

I have been by near the Az and the UT. Both battleships many times and what always struck me what that you could still see small oil sheens above or next to them. To me it makes it seem like they are still,,,, happening. As ex Navy the AZ memorial is hard. In many ways I have this in mind when I put out our flag on those holidays. My hat is literally off to these people, especially on this day. Best wishes to all swabs and fallen swabs and all those who paid the ultimate price on this day that "will live in infamy".

[The Unmitigated Gall]

8. I took my son there a few weeks

Before he shipped off to Navy boot camp. He walked up to the Wall of Names and gave his best salute. He’s serving on a carrier flight deck now in the Med and he tells he thinks about that trip often, standing over the ship where so many are still entombed.
My father was in the Navy in the Pacific in WWII. All through my childhood he used the “J” word, until one day I reminded him that Japan is NOW a close ally with a democratic system of government and a strongly westernized culture. “Son, you’re right, I should let that go” he responded and never used that word again as long as he lived.

[Aristus]

9. I'm glad to hear that.

I don't accept that "product of his time" bullshit. If one can't change with the times, especially if that change is for the better, one is not much of a human being.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

19. So you're saying that my dad, who served during the whole Pacific theater of war,

was not much of a human being because he never forgave the Japanese for the attack on Pearl and all the lives lost?

That makes me think that you have no fucking idea of what those men and women went through with the brutality of the Japanese.

I don't give a fuck what you accept, I can sympathize what my dad and his attitude towards the Japanese during that time in his life even if I don't agree with it.

[Aristus]

20. No, I've got a pretty good idea.

I'm just tired of people using the old "It was a different time" trope to excuse vicious racism.

It's kind of the way people say "Well, life was cheap back then" to explain away some of history's more soul-crushing massacres. No, it wasn't cheap; the people doing the slaughtering simply believed the ones saying that it was.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

21. You failed to answer my question so I guess you do think my dad is not much of a human being.

Have a great life.

[Aristus]

22. I think we've been through enough together not to have to do this.

My Dad served in Vietnam, and got pretty torn up by the things he experienced over there. But he didn't come home talking about "gooks", "zips", "slants", and all of the other vicious names they dreamed up to dehumanize the people of Vietnam.

It's not easy carrying water for my father, since, truth be told, in a lot of other respects, he was not much of a human being. But he must have thought it important not to inculcate his kids with racism.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

23. That's fair, and I was sincere when I said have a great life.

[Aristus]

24. Don't go without accepting my sincere apology for the implied slur against your father.

n/t

[MarineCombatEngineer]

25. And my apologies for jumping to conclusion about your post.

It's all good.

[Aristus]

26. I'm glad.

I really respect you very much.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

27. Ditto. nt

[Jade Fox]

11. K&R

[Paladin]

14. My mother was a schoolmate of a young man who went down with the Arizona.

She was a lifelong political liberal---but she never forgave Japan for the Pearl Harbor attack. Like you say, she was a product of her time.

[GoodRaisin]

15. My dad was a veteran of the Pacific War and was in and out of the VA hospital for

mental treatment from it for the rest of his life. He rarely ever spoke about it with us.

[mitch96]

16. My father was US Navy on a heavy cruiser in Europe. He had no love for Germany

And I'll just leave it at that... Lots of hate that never went away..
I lost a cousin in the Pacific war on Iwo Jima.. War touches lives in many ways and over time.
m

[pecosbob]

17. I was stationed at Pearl Harbor for several years and looked across at it every morning

I have visited many of the battles sites from that war all across the Pacific and some in Europe as well. Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Oradour sur-Glane all come to mind as having a significant impact on me.

[Texasgal]

18. My Grandfather served on the USS Hull

The boat was not injured in Pearl Harbor. It's a day that my grandfather rarely spoke about, and he was very prejudiced against The Japanese.