Today is the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/07/watch-fdr-s-day-of-infamy-speech.html http://www.ibtimes.com/pearl-harbor...tack-75-years-ago-japan-united-states-2455751
yep. My dad was 19.5 years old on this date in 1941. He had been following the war in Europe, and figured it was only a matter of time before the USA got dragged into it, but Japan and the Pacific wasn't really on his radar at all. Pearl Harbor came as a total shock to him. He heard the news that Sunday while helping some of his high school buddies break up an old basement floor at one of their homes, in preparation for pouring a new concrete floor in the spring of 1942. Of course all work stopped, and everybody stayed glued to the radio for the rest of the day. (The attack happened at about 1 p.m. Eastern time.) He didn't rush to enlist. He had just finished high school and had a good job (the Depression had basically ended in 1939 or 1940, thanks to massive federal spending on both social programs and defense contracts.) But when Congress (in 1942) lowered the draft age from 21 down to 18, and he became immediately eligible, he joined the Army and put in for the Air Corps, rather than wait to get drafted and assigned infantry or whatever the Army needed the most of at the time.
Great story. My dad's birthday is today, born in 1932. It was his 9th birthday. His war ended up being Korea, in the Navy.
My wife's grandfather holding our first born - he was a D-Day Veteran - Navy. He enlisted after the attack. He passed away 2 years ago and we all miss him terribly. Those who did not survive the attack - lives cut short. They never had the chance to hold their first born, or grandchildren, or great grandchildren. My grandmother's brother, Robert Virgil Cunningham, was killed at Pearl Harbor. He was 21 years old. US Navy SK-1. This is my mother's uncle, my great uncle, Warren Fanning. He survived the attack at Pearl Harbor. He also passed away peacefully in his sleep 2 years ago: His was an interesting story - he survived the attack, but was severely wounded. He was just an Irish kid from Brooklyn, NY.
My grandfather was in the 82nd which I didn't learn until my teenage years, though I knew he had been in the military. I recently found some of his old journal that described how he was moved from Panama iirc at the time and began Para training along side his best friend. Was a very interesting story, I also learned of his stint in AAA ball and some of his career as a Golden Glove boxer...apparently my great uncle is Spud Chandler (grandfather was nicknamed "little Spud") who played for the Yankees and they were very similar hence the nickname. He was a tough old bird I can tell you that, didn't speak of the war and I now know why, but those men are a breed all their own. I watched him knock a younger man unconscious with one punch because he was bad mouthing the troops in the Gulf at a local cafe in Douglasville, I was maybe 8-10 at the time and he was in his 60's. I miss him greatly.
Good thread - Never Forget! My dad joined the Navy in December 1941 after the attack. He was 17, his parents signed to get him in at that age. He also spent some time in Panama. He was a machinist mate on a PBY that flew around the Canal looking for subs. It hard to believe the feats those young men accomplished when I see some of the same aged yoots of today.
The attack from Japan was expected. They were down to two months of oil due to U.S. actions. Attack was expected at the Philippines, not Pearl.