The Big Ship That Could

I have a friend who claims to be ahlf Japaneese, and,half Jewish....every December 7th he attacks Pearl Schwartz

I liked this speech at the time and still do... a very nice man was he.

http://www.delsjourney.com/uss_neosho/aftermath/bush_speech_ph_1991.htm

 is

I did not mean to make lite of this day, a memorial of when we were mortally wounded, and with great determination,rebounded, and won. Yes, in the name of war, unspeakable atrocities were commited,by both sides. Yes,we closed our eyes and pressed the "detonate" button, and the entire world blinked. Sadly, that power now is filtering down to rogue nation states, and unbeknown to them, if they release that genie, they will cease to exist. And because some are martyrs,they think that taking their neighbors along is going to bring them closer to their God. I fear the war started that bleak day in 1941,has a componant that smolders, and it may reignite, and end again in at least one more mushroom shaped cloud.

My late Father served in World War II. He never discussed the war with us. I truly appreciate all of those who served.

My Dad also. And because I knew him as a great man, I believe he helped win the war

In essence, 9/11 was no different from December 7, 1941 ...  Why have we not retaliated in kind ??? Why have we not melted the Moslems into glass along with the sand ??? Could it be, because Islamization is succeeding quite well from INSIDE the United States ??? With the help of the Arab/Moslem who squats there ...  While we are so focused on another possible attack from outside, and not paying attention ??? Why is it Christians cannot Pray in School or in Public Places, but the Moslems can shut down traffic and pray in the streets ???  How many Moslems signed the Declaration of Independence ??? Why can't we exhume Madelaine Murry O'Hair and ship her godrotting ass to Iran ???
 
The losses on December 7, 1941 are ncalculable ... No Less 9/11 ... Let us never forget ANY of them, who died ... or who made a difference, and didn't sneak off to Canada and hide like a white livered cur ....... Pox Upon You Coward Fellow ... Creep and Stink With Stripe of Yellow ... How Proud Your Family Must Be, You Are So Scared ... Your Gutless Nothingness Fully Bared ... To Them Be the Glory, Who Answered the Bell ... For You Nutless Crapstain, There Is No Rest in Hell .......

Today the flag will fly at half mast at our local veteran's home, hopefully someone will notice, and thoughtfully reflect.....

You tell 'em, Ivan!
 

The speech that Stoney put up a link to is very moving. The days when we remember terrible events are not days for re-kindling anger, hatred and calls for revenge. They're days for thinking about more civilized ways to resolve our differences.

Just a little reflective piece to run in the
background.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVbwaHTuLvE
 
It is a good speech, Stoney.  Those great, those common men and women did crush
totalitarianism as Mr. H.W. Bush said.  Well, most of it.  Some of it.  It was
the war to end all wars.  At any given time, I think we hope that each war is. 
One day.  Y'all enjoy this day, that the Lord has
made peaceful, a peace that many have preserved for us.  And now a moment of
silence.

Mr. George H. W. Bush.  My apologies Mr. President.

A sad day in our history as is any call to arms as necessary as it may be.  Bless all who have been and are cast in harms way. peace out

The hard thing to do is most often the right thing to do. Thank God some have the guts to do it. We had a candleight service for my father in law who looked up at kamikazes and it probably scared the bejesus out of his teenage butt but he did it. He and others just did it. Admiral Halsey came on board once and he never forgot that day.

This is from a book I wrote called "The Train Ride", it's a true account of a Bucket list item my College roomate and lifelong best friend, Brian, and how a short train ride on a a rail car turned into a 187 mile walk back to our college town and my graduation. This excerpt is from a chance meeting with a true hero.

I don't think I dreamed at all when I fell into the thick black darkness of the wonderful sleep in the bad of ‘Old Coot's' truck. I was laying on farm tools, shovels and a pitchfork, and maybe something else but it mattered not to this old tired bag of bones. I eventually heard a voice calling out to me and felt a prodding in my side. "Hey Son!" I heard twice when I was coming to, "It's the end of the road for you two". I snapped awake, thinking he might have taken us back to the KKK regional gathering we had accidentally strolled up on earlier that day. I was lucid enough to recall him thinking Brian and I were two black men at the beginning of our journey due to the creosote covering our clothes and skin. He started to poke me again and I grabbed the cane he held out of instinct. "Take it easy there sonny, I'm a friend". His words sounded like a grandfather comforting his grandson for the first time, and it made me feel comfortable if even for a moment. Brian was standing along side the old fellow outside of his truck when I came back from dreamland, so we at least weren't about to be the main course at some backwoods feast. I had seen "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and knew I'd never get those two hours back as long as I lived. I sat up and immediately recognized we were off to the side of the road. The old fellow told us, "This is as south as I get, I'm headed east then north to home. I went to Birmingham to visit my Daughter and her family and I am headed to Tallassee." I knew from numerous trips back and forth from Atlanta to Troy that Tallassee was between Montgomery and Auburn on I-85 so he had covered some serious ground for us while we slept.

The old guy told Brian that he had picked us up on I-65 sixty miles above Montgomery. He had taken us through Montgomery and deposited us on US Highway 231, 49 miles from Troy Alabama. I was so overwhelmed with appreciation I would have hugged the old fellow if I thought he might not crown me with that cane he toted. It took him a few minutes, but he quickly figured out we were both white guys, and he asked Brian what in the hell were we doing that far from Troy. Brian half explained the scenario to the sensible old guy, but hesitated, thinking the wise man might make us climb back into his truck and take us back up the road, making our walk just a little further, just for being so stupid.

I was wrong about that assessment and the old man. He said that after World War Two and his stint with the Navy, he hitch hiked across the USA a time or two just to ‘sort things out' after the experiences he had endured in the "Big One". I recognized the far away stare when he talked, almost in code, about having trouble reconciling war and its purposes. I had seen the same stare in my Uncle Sheridan's eyes as he was a Vietnam Veteran. I started to ask him more but decided to let it pass. He said he'd admired us for taking the chance train trip and reminded us how it might never leave us, giving us comfort in harder times that would surely come.

I saw a slight tear in his eye when he extended his hand towards mine to shake. I guessed he'd been alone and he was glad for the company even if Brian and I never said a word to him. If not for the brief conversation, we might not have known anything about the gentleman that had so kindly given us a ride. When I latched onto the old mans hand I noticed a strong grip, I assumed from years of hard labor on a farm, and a tattoo on his forearm. The way we shook and the area the tattoo was located made the inscription easy to read. It said:

"U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS"

I was standing with a true hero and a member of the "Greatest Generation" as Tom Brokaw so accurately identified them as. I looked him strait in the eye and told him "Thank you, sir, for your service to my country". 1196 on Board, 300 went down with the ship, four days later 316 men were found by accident, the rest perished in shark infested waters in the Philippine Sea. I had read the story numerous times and studied it in history books. The ship had carried the Bomb. It was top secret and there was no record of her sailing carrying its world changing cargo named "Little Boy" that would eventually level Hiroshima and spell the beginning of the end for Japan.

He had delivered the bomb, floated and survived in shark infested waters for four days with no sleep, listening to his friends get eaten wondering if he was next. To top it off his Captain was incorrectly held responsible for the deaths of the men who perished that fateful day. Coot told us he hitchhiked a cross the USA a few times to ‘sort some things out'. My God, what a man and what an honor to have stood in his presence if even for just a few minutes. Meeting him made all the hardships we endured by our own hand seem small in comparison.

I think of "Old Coot" often and pray that where he is now is peaceful, he'd seen and endured all the Hell a man should have to endure right here on earth.

The far right lashes out at Obama because he was a member of Rev. Wright's Christian church in Chicago and because they say he is Muslim. I live in a very conservitive area and in discussions with local right wing types it seems to boil down ,sooner or later, that it is the color of his skin that is the most objectionable. Much more so than his policies.
Lets face it if he fails ,the country fails. Look at the previous adminstration. It was not too successful and look at the mess we are now in.

Do you think the superstructure of that ship looks like a totem pole?

Sorry for the long post. I just felt that little excerpt would tell more than I could about the thousands of heros that are scattered across this great land of ours, living quiet lives externally and still at war between there ears...why i always say "Peace between your ears".

rwh1~ Presumably, Obama was advised of the heat in the kitchen before he went in there. I think he's a very brave man. He inherited a huge mess, not of his own making & seems to be quietly getting on with the job of crisis management. As for the colour of his skin - British people pay good money in tanning salons & holidays abroad to look like that.

In trying to quarterback a "go to" resource person committee for our new {effective 01 April 2011} Veteran's Court, flagship first case on my radar screen & dance card NOW, I found it a tiny bit sad that none of the other nine people in attendance {psychologist, Veteran's Administration resource people, special probation officer, special prosecutor} realized that today also happened to be Pearl Harbor 69th anniversary day......

rwh1, Hazel: I'm always amazed that human beings, sharing 99% of physical, psychological, & needs-related components with all other humans on this planet, somehow manage to focus not on what we have in common, but instead on the often trivial distinctions that pretextually set us apart.....
As for the Commander in Chief, I pray for him every day, just like I did for his predecessor, and for the others that served before them. I know on a tiny scale what really big responsibilities grafted at the hip to very few resources can do to a person. I ignore the free sample coupons for Grecian Formula hair coloring products that come to me thanks to my demographic profile gleaned from several subscription list data bases. Hell, I've earned the silver that's gradually overtaking the hair on my head, and I wear it as a badge of honor.....

How soon we forget...my uncle U. S. Army Private Charles Hall, killed in Germany WWI; my uncle U. S. Army Air Corps Staff Sergeant George Hall WWII-winner of two (2) Distinguished Flying Crosses and eight (8) Air Medals (I didn't know until I read it on his military grave marker) and innumerable thousands of others who claim to have been "just doing their job"including, but not limited to, Ivan, Eli, Lynn830, JaxZ. Thank you for your service.

Bert~ If you were a gorilla, being a silverback would be an honour, a sign of high office. I gave up dyeing my hair ages ago, and I really like my silver hair. Over the years, it's been all sorts of colours & it looked awful when I was growing out the stubborn bits of green, pink, purple, orange - my head resembled a chewed dog's toy. If you have a good head of hair, silver is very distinguished on a gentleman, provided he gets a decent haircut & shave.
Very BTW, our Royal Navy flagship, the Ark Royal, was retired last week. A huge & sinister-looking aircraft carrier, but (thus far) the last one of a long line of ships that served well under that name.

Hazel~ if Bert were a gorilla, it would explain all the double entries from his banged on keyboard keyboard ha ha

I want to thank all who gave their service to our country.
Reading all the posts brings me to tears.
My uncle, the paratrooper, didn't get his medals till after his death.
No ceremony, just "come pick them up". And that was after my brother did the investigation and found out they were awarded to my uncle, James J. O'Connor.
My other uncles were in the Army and Navy.
My dad got to stay home, maybe because he had 5 kids, a widowed mother and a younger brother who also served.
On Pearl Harbour Day my Mother was taking my brother and I to visit my grandparents.
We were getting the streetcar in Chicago. I was JUST under 1 year old so I have no memory of this.
She says the newsboys were doing an "Extra, Extra, read all about it".
Shocking.
She knew her brothers and brother-in-law were out there somewhere.
We were the lucky ones all of ours came home safely.
That's all I've got for now cause I can hardly read this post.

Hazel: Thanks for the kind words about the benefits of embracing the symbols of aging. As to the Ark Royal, not in service all that long, I knew she'd been retired, the new Queen Elizabeth (nuclear, bigger) class of aircraft carrier will eventually replace her.....assuming Britain isn't forced to cancel the build plan, the deficit & recession combine to beat up on Britain's economy. There were three Harrier jets onboard the Ark Royal, they were to be retired as well, their final mission would be to fly in formation to the boneyard. My source of information is the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, they lure you into reading the emails by giving subscribers state of the art newsy tidbits....and THEN solicit a few quid for their worthy efforts, helping families of fallen servicemen with special needs not otherwise provided for by The Crown.

Korthal, god bless you and your extended family, from the "extended family" of all who believe that everyone should have at least one value or cause which they are prepared to pay the ultimate price, if necessary, to preserve & defend.

RoadYacht, don't be so sure that I'm NOT a gorilla.....bananas, anyone?

Hazel~the Ark Royal came to Charleston when I was stationed there and we went out with her off the east coast and played a few games. She barely fit under the Cooper River bridge but she managed to get safely to port. Her and her crew seemed to have a fine time in Charleston as much as we enjoyed having her. This was in the late eighties and if memory serves she wasn't that old then. My own ship was sent to Brownsville Tx. for scrapping and she was just a bit over 25 yrs. old. Unlike the noble ships of the past our current ones seem to slip away all too soon. In the words of Captain Rameus "the cold war had no battles, no monuments...only casualties".

Wikileaks site has been disabled with Julian Assange's arrest.. 

I salute all those who have served, and especially those known personally to those of you here.  We in the East have often benefitted from your aid. Stoney, thank you for the link to a great speech and Ummgawa, wow! Did you really write that? 

Hazel, you were a punk star! Any photos? Heard of the joke where an old guy is sitting next to a young man, staring at the latter with hair of green, pink, purple, orange etc. Young man turns to old guy, irritated, and says sarcastically "what's wrong old man? Never done anything wild in your life before?" Old man, without batting an eyelid, says "Got drunk once, had sex with a peacock and just wondering if you are my son" 

Bert...you in your gorilla suit...are you the "fat finger" responsible for hitting a couple of extra zeros on the trading machine? 

BTW, have you all heard the speculation that the pilots in the Pearl Harbour attack were German or Russian mercenaries as there is a predisposition to myopia with the Japanese?

It took a whole generation of people on this side of the world to forgive the Japanese. When I was growing up, none of the elders would have anything to do with Japanese people or their products. When I was a child I would sometimes hear the adults using the word "Bagero" (fast spoken version of bakayaro)....its only recently that I found it was a curse word the Japanese soldiers brandished when they abused the POWS or the locals. The meaning can range from the misbegotten offspring of a feral and a domestic animal, and, an ignoramus. 

Much as I love the Japanese culture and especially their cuisine, I am not blind to the fact that they are really a pretty xenophobic race. Seriously. Many Asians, and especially the older ones, are well aware of that. Even today, their history textbook whitewash their actions during WW2, and is of continuing concern to many of the victim nations. There are even arguments that an attack never happened, as technically, Japan, on the other side of the International Dateline, did not attack on the 7th Dec. 1941.

The perception by the Japanese that they are a superior race colours (oh gee!! Unintended pun!) their immigration policies despite the fact that the aging of Japan outweighs all other nations, with the highest proportion of elderly citizens (21% over the age of 65).  The Koreans (26% of its population) have been there for yonks but are still denied citizenship. A large proportion of the earlier migration had happened when Korean landowners and workers lost their land and livelihood due to Japanese land and production confiscation initiatives and had to migrate to Japan for work. Another almost 30% of its population is Chinese who also suffer a second class existence.  Many who have worked for Japanese firms (I worked briefly for their largest brokerage firm) will have some stories to tell. 

This is an excellent multimedia presentation by Nat Geog on the attack on Pearl Harbour    http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ax/frameset.html

Bert I agree about the color of grey hair. I have earned it, I deserve it and I'll be damned if I'm going to change.
 Too many people in trying to keep from being old don't seem to know the difference between being young and being immature. Sadly most just act and look immature.

I found today's post taking the story of one ship to be a particularly moving tribute to December 7th. And I  appreciated the personal stories of our members, whose lives were touched by World War 11.  I also found myself sad and upset by the annointed "hero" of our village and the kind of simplistic hatred displayed. I was glad to see that rant engendered no agreement. The Eye is a fascinating and wonderful place to experience, and I'm grateful for Mr. P for providing a place where intelligent dialogue (for the most part) can be exchanged. Thanks all. On to a new day.

Well said Gia, I applaud your courage.

Thanks jmr. I appreciate it.

Ditto to the accolades to the ones who served the nation...my dad served in the Army in WWII, but no valour that I know of. He died at a bankers' convention in 1963 in Orlando.
 
My other reference to this day is that my only son was born on this day 42 years ago. Poor kid, he will always be sharing the date with the big bombing on Pearl Harbor. Hope he is not a bomb....So far he is doing pretty well as pres./owner of his own company in Atlanta. That's all. I do appreciate the posts with the patriotic links and do have great admiration for those who have gone to war and upheld the nation's honor.
 
Now that I am 65 and the golden/red locks are mixed with gray, I am for one, thankful for L'Oreal! I don't want to look in the mirror and see an old lady yet. Red hair mixes nicely, however, and truly gives us the phrasing, "silver threads among the gold." For that I am grateful. And for so much else!

If you are not upset by the things of which we speak ... then you simply are not capable of understanding the problems, and should therefore, excuse yourself from pretending to be entitled to an opinion, much less knowing how to form one .......