Pearl Harbor recalled, 66 years later

[SHANMWEBB]

Having lived in Hawaii for 4 years, and entertaining family members that came to visit, the memorial was always a "must see." I think I have been there 5 times, maybe more, and it doesn't matter if I visited 500 times, the video and the boat trip out to the memorial is amazing very sobering. I don't know many people who would not feel moved by their experience to the Arizona Memorial.

A few months ago, I was doing some grocery shopping at the Top Foods in my hometown.....there was a little old man selling some books that he had written and had published. He said something to me, which I didn't understand, so I stopped the cart and asked him what he had said. He was asking me to buy some of his little books, and I noticed a model of the USS Arizona. He went on to tell me that he was one of the last remaining survivors that was onboard that day. He is from Louisiana, but settled here (Washington State) after his service because this is where he met his wife before being shipped to Pearl Harbor. I found it amazing that he still had his sight and hearing and wasn't taking any daily medications. For someone to first off, live through an experience like that, and secondly, to still be kicking at nearly 90 years old was just amazing.

We sat and talked for about 15 minutes before my children started freaking out on me, but it was truly an honor to speak with someone who had been there on that day and could personally share his experiences with me.

He told me he still prays for people, like my husband, who are over in Afghanistan and Iraq. I got to my car after doing my shopping, and out of nowhere just started bawling in my car! I will never forget this man, the sacrifices him and his buddies made on December 7, 1941. His name is Martin Shew, and I will always carry that day in my memory.

[CommunityEditor]

A few dozen graying and wrinkled Pearl Harbor survivors observed a moment of silence on Friday in honor of their comrades who perished in the Japanese bombing of Oahu 66 years ago.

Wearing aloha shirts and orchid flower lei, the veterans stood on a pier overlooking the sunken hull of the Arizona and saluted the flag as a sailor sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”

“We’re honoring the people who were killed. We’re not here for ourselves, we’re here for them,” said George A. Smith, 83, who was on board the Oklahoma the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

Overall, 2,388 Americans died in the Dec. 7, 1941, attacks, including some 900 still entombed in the sunken Arizona.

Hawaii Air National Guard helicopters flew over the harbor in “missing man” formation in honor of those lost. B-2 stealth bombers currently deployed to Guam from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri performed an additional flyby.

Survivors of each of the nine battleships bombed in the attack took turns setting wreaths before life preservers bearing the names of their ship.

The crowd of some 2,000 family members, friends, officials and the public honored then survivors with standing ovation and several minutes of loud applause.

Smith, of Olympia, Wash., was standing watch on the Oklahoma when he saw planes darting through the sky over the harbor.

“One plane came in, circled, came right down to us. The guy opened the hatch to his plane and dropped his torpedo, waved at me and took off,” Smith said. “The next thing I knew there was a big explosion.”

Smith was able to jump overboard, just avoiding being squashed by the capsizing battleship, and then swam ashore.

Smith was among 18 survivors of the Oklahoma who came to Hawaii to help dedicate a new memorial to the vessel after the main ceremony.

The Oklahoma lost 429 sailors and Marines — the second greatest loss of life among any of the battleships in Pearl Harbor.

The $1.2 million monument includes 429 white marble standards, each with the name of a fallen sailor or Marine, surrounded by black granite panels etched with a silhouette of the battleship and quotes from World War II-era figures that were selected by some of the survivors.

The Oklahoma was hit with the first torpedo of the morning assault. It capsized after being struck by eight more, trapping 400 men in its overturned hull. About 30 of the trapped men were later rescued by Pearl Harbor Navy Yard workers who hammered their way through the ship’s metal.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Tucker McHugh, who co-chaired the USS Oklahoma Memorial Committee, said he thinks the memorial will bring some sense of closure to those who survived and even to those who perished.

“I think there’s been a void in the minds and hearts of these shipmates that their shipmates were never honored with a lasting memorial,” McHugh said. “Total closure might come when the last survivor passes away and they’re all reunited together.

“Even though 429 soldiers and Marines died, I believe they’re still with us. I think they’re looking down and saying, ‘Thank you.’ ”

Retired Navy Adm. Tom Fargo, vice-chair of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund, an organization set up to raise money for a new Arizona memorial visitor’s center, said it was vital to remember the events of 66 years ago.

“We have a solemn obligation to protect and preserve for history the sacrifices and lessons of Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific for generations to come,” Fargo said.



Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/1...arbor_071207w/
A scout bomber pilot’s memories of Pearl Harbor: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/1...mories_071207/


Post your Pearl Harbor memories, stories and photos here.


The battleship Arizona topples into the sea during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. The ship sank with more than 80 percent of its 1,500-man crew.

I believe I need to comment on the anneversary of Pearl Harbor. I am the son of a father that did not go to the Arizona because he came down with the flu while he was on leave in lousiana. My point to this I have researched a lot of info and In my own words FDR betrayed the US. Being that I am a retired Radioman 2ND Class I know how the military communications system did work. if you look at the time that his intell unit at pearl and the philippines was giving him classified info on the position of the jappanese task force. he needed japan to attack so that he could go help england fight germany. anyone with half a brain knows that. I have talked to many WWII military and they believe the same thing. so all those sailors and marines on the Arizona were used as they say cannon fodder. or in my betrayed by our on president at the time of the attack. say what you want but do some research you will come to the same conclusions I have. it might not mean any thing but. admiral kimmel and gen. short were hung out to dry on the stake. now admiral kimmell's grand son cannot even get his grandfathers records corrected.

just the thoughts from a retired sailor.

oh by the way my dad after his hospitial stay was sent to uss mccawly, he served at guadalcanal, saipan, bouganville, iwo juma, and okinawa. '

he is now in a assited living home in corpus christi texas. he still suffers from night mares at guadalcanal. he has alzhimzers, and dementia. I have read every book on WWII in the pacific and even did a paper on it in college.

[TJMAC77SP]

Originally Posted by LONHKIRBYTX007

I believe I need to comment on the anneversary of Pearl Harbor. I am the son of a father that did not go to the Arizona because he came down with the flu while he was on leave in lousiana. My point to this I have researched a lot of info and In my own words FDR betrayed the US. Being that I am a retired Radioman 2ND Class I know how the military communications system did work. if you look at the time that his intell unit at pearl and the philippines was giving him classified info on the position of the jappanese task force. he needed japan to attack so that he could go help england fight germany. anyone with half a brain knows that. I have talked to many WWII military and they believe the same thing. so all those sailors and marines on the Arizona were used as they say cannon fodder. or in my betrayed by our on president at the time of the attack. say what you want but do some research you will come to the same conclusions I have. it might not mean any thing but. admiral kimmel and gen. short were hung out to dry on the stake. now admiral kimmell's grand son cannot even get his grandfathers records corrected.

just the thoughts from a retired sailor.

oh by the way my dad after his hospitial stay was sent to uss mccawly, he served at guadalcanal, saipan, bouganville, iwo juma, and okinawa. '

he is now in a assited living home in corpus christi texas. he still suffers from night mares at guadalcanal. he has alzhimzers, and dementia. I have read every book on WWII in the pacific and even did a paper on it in college.

First of all let me start off by saying that I look at this thread as a tribute to those soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen that died at Pearl Harbor. It is also a tribute to those survivors who keep the memory of the dead alive. Thanks to SHANNON for that.

As for your contribution to the thread, I have a couple of issues. I readily admit to being only a casual student of history and not an expert in WWII Pacific Theater operations, and I am not a retired Navy E-5, but you said the US Navy had intelligence on the location of the Pearl Harbor fleet? This contradicts everything I have ever read on the Japanese fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor. Nagumo's fleet was formed and sailed from Tankan Bay in the Kurile Islands, one of the most remote areas of the Japanese islands. They maintained radio silence and avoided normal shipping lanes while crossing the North Pacific.

There is no question that the US military believed a Japanese attack was imminent, most likely somewhere in Southeast Asia. This is a vast expanse of area and included several American targets which would have been much easier to attack. The Philippines, which had been on high alert for months and whose command had moved to the fortress on Corregidor; Wake Island (which is why On 28 November, Admiral Kimmel sent USS Enterprise to deliver Marine Corps fighter planes for the defense of the island); Midway Island (which is why the USS Lexington was dispatched to deliver 25 scout bombers for the defense of that island). No military strategist believed that a large-scale attack by Japanese forces was possible on Hawaii. They believed that commando-style attacks were more likely, which is why aircraft were lined up in the middle of tarmacs wing-to-wing. This configuration makes defense from ground attack easier since you can concentrate your defensive forces. Unfortunately, this configuration makes attack from the air much more effective and is a primary reason Kimmel and Short were fired. On this issue I agree with you that they were unfairly blamed and betrayed.


When the multi-part messages to the Japanese Embassy in DC were decrypted the War Department (and President Roosevelt) realized that an attack was imminent and when the final message directing the Japanese diplomats to deliver the formal break in relations at 1:00 pm DC time, they realized that this time corresponds with early morning time in Pearl Harbor. The U.S. War Department then sent out an alert but used a commercial telegraph (Western Union I believe) because radio contact with Hawaii was down. I have heard no one dispute these facts. Radio communication in the early 1940’s was pretty sketchy at times. In fact, prior to SATCOM, communications remained that way (although with expected improvements). I have carried many a paperweight weighing several pounds around the boonies and couldn’t talk to someone 100 meters away (ok, that ends my commo rant).

I will agree with anyone who states that the US government knew (to the extent that Intelligence allows) that an attack by Japan on US interests somewhere in Southeast Asia (or even the Pacific). I draw the line however at the conspiracy theory that says the Roosevelt (or any member of the military or administration) allowed the attack to occur so that we could enter WWII. The fact that Roosevelt wanted the US to get into the war (against Hitler) is not prima facie evidence that the conspiracy is fact.