75 years ago

[melm00se]

today, IJN fighters and bombers, launched from the carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku, struck the naval base at Pearl Harbor at 7:40AM (Hawaiian time). In this attack, the USS Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia and California were sunk and 2,403 service members killed and 1,178 wounded.

This action brought the USA into the largest conflict that the world have ever seen.

We honor these men and women for their service and sacrifice.

[RKP5637]

1. K&R! n/t

[shenmue]

2. ...

[Fast Walker 52]

3. truly, never forget

[Botany]

4. And 6 months later @ Midway we sunk the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu

n/t

[melm00se]

8. Historical trivia

Major IJN Ships

Akagi - damaged at Midway, scuttled by the Japanese
Kaga - damaged at Midway, scuttled by the Japanese
Soryu - damaged at Midway, scuttled by the Japanese
Hiryu - damaged at Midway, scuttled by the Japanese
Shokaku - sunk by submarine during the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 1944)
Zuikaku - sunk Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944)

Major IJN attack players

Chuichi Nagumo - committed suicide after the Battle of the Philippine Sea (July 1944)
Isoroku Yamamoto - shot down and killed over Bougainville (April 1943). Secondary piece of trivia: Yamamoto's schedule was uncovered by "Magic" (US code breaking efforts) and Yamamoto's targeting was specifically (and personally) ordered by Roosevelt.
Mitsuo Fuchida - survived the war. Authored several books. Testified at Japanese War Crime trials. Died 1976.

[Botany]

9. Yamamoto told the Japanese leadership after Pearl Harbor is that you now have 6 months ....

.... in order to get a peace deal w/the US because he had studied here and had seen
our factories and knew that America would crush Japan. After Pearl Harbor American
Industries produced things for the war effort @ an incredible scale. @ the start of WW
II it took about a week to make a B-17 and by the end of the war a new one was coming
off the line every 1/2 hour.

BTW after 9/11 w bush went after Iraq which would be like FDR going after New Zealand
after Pearl Harbor.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. If Bush hadn't started a second war (Iraq), Afghanistan could have been finished properly & rebuilt.

As it is, Afghanistan is a damaged nation state, which may fail yet again.

[Botany]

11. In Dec. 2001 or Jan. 2002 We had ben Laden @ Tora Boro but Rummy told ....

.... the Army Rangers to stop and Osoma ben Laden got away because if we had
killed him there then they wouldn't have a reason to invade Iraq.

[ChazII]

5. in memory

[Auggie]

6. My cousin was serving on a Destroyer at Pearl Harbor ...

a green sailor accidentally activated the alarm for General Quarters instead of the Call to Muster on the morning of December 7. The crew knew it was an accident, but being trained servicemen, rushed to their posts. The ship's guns were manned with the engines warming as everyone was standing around waiting for orders of what to do next. Then the first wave of Japanese planes came roaring in. This Destroyer, the USS Henley, was the among the very first of Pearl's air defenses to fire a shot in defense.

[colorado_ufo]

16. Amazing!!!

[BumRushDaShow]

7. K&R

My mom was 11 when that happened and she would occasionally mention how they heard about what happened on the radio and then at the movies (no TV back then).

[csziggy]

14. The other night Smithsonian Channel played many of those radio recordings

On their show "The Lost Tapes" they played clips from radio and news reels, some of which had not been available to the public since 1941. It was chilling to hear that.

My Dad tried to sign up that week but he was told to enlist in the Naval Reserve and finish his engineering degree. A year later, he couldn't stand by anymore so he dropped out of school and enlisted. He was upset when they sent him to Washington to be a draftsman for Naval ordinance.

After a while he managed to get into Midshipman School (at Columbia), then into Submarine School (in Key West) and finished out the war in the Pacific. The sub he served on, the USS Spot, sank mostly merchant ships carrying supplies for Japan. One apparently was carrying a map of the mines across the south end of the Sea of Japan which allowed US submarines to get into that area to continue decimating Japanese shipping.

Dad didn't know about that until about fifteen years ago when he was able to get copies of the ship's logs and other records from the National Archives - he'd always wondered what he had done to earn the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.

[pintobean]

12. Manning the rail

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) renders honors to the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Battleship Missouri Memorial during its arrival to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. military and the State of Hawaii are hosting a series of remembrance events throughout the week to honor the courage and sacrifices of those who served Dec. 7, 1941 and throughout the Pacific Theater.

[sarge43]

13. Doesn't every USN ship render honors when they pass the Arizona Memorial?

[pintobean]

15. Yes.

I've done it many times.

[sarge43]

17. As it should be.

Thank you.

[JayhawkSD]

19. They man the rail when they enter or leave any port.

The honors to Arizona are extra. I believe they man the rail when entering Pearl Harbor, disband, and then man the rail again when approaching Arizona. Don't know that, though, as my ship never stopped at Pearl.

[JayhawkSD]

18. Not to be critical, but...

"This action brought the USA into the largest conflict that the world have ever seen."

I guess it depends on your definition of the word "largest."

Resolving that conflict took 3 years, 8 months and 7 days. The conflict ignited by 9/11/2001 is still unresolved after
15 years, 2 months and 26 days, and shows no signs that it ever will be resolved. We jubilantly acclaim that "Osama bin Laden is dead," and are still fighting wars in multiple venues with no end dates in sight. We no longer even mention end dates for those wars.

[dhill926]

20. I find myself getting oddly emotional about this today...

never really have before. I think it has something to do with how far our country has fallen....electing a madman who has the support of a major political party, not to mention those who actually voted for him. And who wants to throw everything those men and women fought for, away. Sickening....