7 december 1941

[samari46]

My family had service members in WW1,WW2,Korea and Vietnam. When I got my separation papers while I was waiting for them at the Philadelphia naval shipyard. They were putting the USS New Jersey back into commission in a huge drydock. They wouldn't let us go below but were allowed on the main deck. One has to see those 16" naval rifles up close. When we finally got our papers, it was basically don't let the door hit you on the way out. Only time I went to the local VA office some grouchy old fart says "what do you want"?. I have a buddy with whom I served with. Never seen one person go through so much BS just trying to get a service connected disability regarding his hearing. I've never had trouble remembering December 7th 1941. In my opinion the Japanese got off way to lightly. Frank

[Idaho45guy]

My grandpa was Army in WWII, my dad was USMC in Vietnam, and I was Navy in Desert Storm. None of us got along, lol.

I wore a Hawaiian shirt and my Navy-issue ballcap for a ship I was on to work today. Nobody got it or remembered what day it was. Not a single person. Sad.

[gunther]

Dad was legally blind in his right eye, and got drafted anyway. He made tech sergant in the motor pool at Ft Benning by the time it was over. An uncle was a teacher in N California; got drafted, became a 90 day wonder. Was in graves registration with Patton's army, until he got sent out under fire (Belgium)to recover bodies by a superior looking to impress his boss. He couldn't get through a metal dectector, wore a leg brace, and had a staph infection in his back. And a captain's full pay until he died in the mid 1990's. He taught math in a small town 30 minutes north of Sacramento, where there was a VA Hospital. They never stopped helping. And he had a sense of humor I won't forget.

[ulav8r]

My wife had two uncles on the Arizona, both survived the war. Some time after Pearl they were stationed on separate ships. Another was on a ship that the Japs sunk, he named his son after the ship that rescued him.

My dad was drafted, went in the cavalry. Spent his first year as Fort Riley learning to ride the cavalry way. When they decided to disband the cavalry he was switched to infantry and sent to Europe just after the fighting ended. After returning home he was put into inactive reserve. On his last day, he got orders to report foe Korean duty. About 30 days after his time in Korea was to have ended, replacements had not shown up. He was driving a 2 1/2 ton truck and hit a landmine. Spent 6 months in the hospital. Died about 8 years ago, still had shrapnel under his kneecap.

[jimlj]

My dad was on the USS Portland. They left Pearl a couple days before the attack. He never talked about his experience, so I grew up thinking the Portland sailed around missing all the action. I mentioned this to an old navy veteran. He just shook his head and told me the Portland didn’t miss much, and was involved in the major battles of the pacific. A year or two before dad died I got him to open up a little about the war. The vast majority of people have no idea of the sacrifice our veterans gave for this country.

[rbuck351]

My dad joined the army in 1932 in an engineering battalion. Not too long before his company went to France, he was sent to OCS for the 90 day wonder treatment and put in charge of a recon platoon. When they went to Europe they were assigned to the 3rd Army, 4th armored infantry division, 24 armored engineers battalion. His job was to stay ahead of the 4th armored and to get details of the roads, bridges and enemy positions back to headquarters. The 4th armored was Pattons spearhead division so dad and his driver were able to be in front of the front for a good deal of Pattons drive to Germany. I was lucky in that dad was very willing to tell me about many of his experiences during the war. He was on an army rifle team in 1936 and 1937 and won the engineers individual in 1937. He earned 2 silver stars a bronze star an got three or four purple hearts for minor wounds. I believe the war was something he was put on earth to be a part of. He was very proud of what he did and I believe rightly so.

I think it's to bad other WWII vets were not able to talk about there part of the war with their family as I believe it would be good for them to hear first hand the horrors of war. I remember telling my dad I was going to join the army when I got out of high school. His response was an instant "No you're not". He then said that he and his father (Spanish American War) had done enough for their country and I was not going to enlist. Anyway they are not called the greatest generation without reason.

[WRideout]

My uncle Homer from Glenpool OK was an army medic in the European Theater. After VE day, he was put on a troop ship and went through the Panama Canal to finish the war in the Pacific Theater.

Wayne

[beezapilot]

When I was a kid there were a lot of Vets of WWII around town. Most of them never talked about it much. A neighbor down the was a Marine Officer on Suribachi, never knew it until long after I was grown and gone from town, when he was working on an Iwo memorial set up in CT. https://iwojimamemorial.org/ . Another of my father's friends was Navy in the Pacific, he said he "got to go swimming twice" as two ships he was on went under. Walking with giants, great men.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I just finished watching Ken Burns's Vietnam documentary and it reminded me how awful it seemed as a 10 year old. Then I realized my Dad was 10 in 1940 so he grew up with a war raging too. I will have to ask him about it while I still can.

[Rick Hodges]

My father served with the Navy in the South Pacific during WWII. He went swimming at least once when his ship, the USS Astoria, went down. The only person that I know he ever talked about it with was his brother-in-law, my uncle, a Korean war infantryman. I was supposed to be asleep but overheard them talking.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Growing up there were so very many WWII vets around. One guy at our church was a Norwegian resistance member who was caught and sent to Bergan Belsen concentration camp. Because he and his fellows were considered a "good race" they were not starved or brutalized by the Nazi but still suffered witnessing what was happening to the Jews. My wife had an Uncle who came back from Iwo Jima who was never right in the head afterward. The numbers who seved in WWII were staggering as were the numbers who perished in certain battles.