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Never forget

I think of my late buddy Carl, who shared with me a love of Darne guns. Not at Pearl Harbor, but, was onboard the USS Gambier Bay at the battle off Samaar, the day the Japanese managed to get the 18” guns on the Yamato trained on her. He said it looked like a Buick Roadmaster went through both sides of the ship.
He had to tread water for four days, and ended up on another jeep carrier that ferried troops back from Japan.

He lived a long life, never married, and had no kids. He didn’t talk much about the war.

He did say he figured the “CVE” classification of the Casablanca class carriers stood for “Combustable, vulnerable, and expendable”.
Best,
Ted

Do we have enough men today who would take up the fight to defend freedom? I wonder. I do see a bit of a resurgence in patriotism, post kneeling for the anthem. I saw a T-shirt for sale recently that read "If trouble must come, let it come in my time, that my children might live in peace." That reflected my feelings perfectly.

I am cautiously optimistic, but then again, that is how I am wired. I am about as far removed from pessimism as one can be.

On this day, I often think of an old friend's dad who was a PT skipper stationed at Pearl Harbor. He was playing tennis when he heard the planes attack. He went to his Elco and spent the day rescuing seaman from the water. Six months later he led a squadron of PT boats to Midway, being refueled by seaplanes and ships enroute. It was 1600 miles of open water from Pearl to Midway. He is listed in the USN''s official order of battle as commanding the smallest vessels present during the Battle of Midway. https://www.history.navy.mil/conten...etically/c/composition-of-us-forces.html Post war, Captain McKellar, a graduate of Annapolis, served as liaison between the Navy and Senate during the time JFK was in the Senate. Gil

I am reminded of my grandfathers one fought his way from Sicily to Berlin the other from Pearl to Iwo Jima. They are my hero’s; growing up, as a child and a young adult they were there for me at every game, match, birthday, and graduation. Later in life I learned what they and the others of their generation had endured to give the rest of us the possibility of safety, freedom, and opportunity that many of us have inherited. That generation was there for all of us. No I can never forget, none of us should. Thank God for all of those Americans!

One of the members at my gun club would show up to shoot trap wearing one of those ball caps you see on veterans. His said "Ford Island".
He was a j.g., PBY pilot. Was still mad at the Japanese for wrecking his plane. He went on to fly a Cat in the Solomons, then instruct and made a career in one PatWing after another.
He averaged 18/25 at trap until he stopped. Aged 94, his new girlfriend decided he liked bowling more than trap. He passed a couple years ago. Still missed.

I haven't forgotten what happened at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th, 1941. And I remember the stories of the Great Uncle I never met, told by my Grandmother and his older brother, who missed him most of their lives because he was killed in Africa in WWII. Some other Uncles served in WWII, but never spoke about what they saw or did. One got malaria, and took malaria medication the rest of his life.

I find it very sad that many barely remember what happened on this date, if at all. We have a one day holiday to remember our military veterans, and a one day holiday to honor military men who died for their country. Today, Dec. 7th isn't even a National holiday, it's just another day on the calendar. Yet Liberal Democrats seem to think it is more important to dedicate a whole month to pride month, in order to celebrate sexual deviants... and to light up the White House with colored lights and rainbow flags. A whole month to normalize perversions and mental illness. That's beyond disgusting.

For the Brits and some of your older folks.
Eleventh Month. Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour. Lest we forget.

Carl was trained as an aircraft mechanic, and assigned to jeep carriers in the South Pacific. As the war dragged on the Brewster Buffaloes and Wildcats were replaced with Hellcats and Corsairs on the big carriers, and the older planes ended up on the CVEs. Eventually, fewer of them came back, and there were fewer planes to fix. The Navy put him in a net on the front of the boat, crewing a .38 gun mount. That is what he did until the war ended.
He was being treated for skin cancer on his head, and I gave him a lift to the doctor in the winter, he was trying to hang on to his driving privileges as long as he could, and would ask for help when it was prudent. The doctor, probably about thirty, asked him if he had ever been sunburned. “ Just for four years, during the war”.
That ended that conversation.

He was a great guy. Came to my family holiday celebrations after I figured out he was completely alone in this world. He was 97 when he died.

Best,
Ted

"....a date which will live in infamy...."

Sadly, it is now forgotten. It's also my mother-in-law's birthday and we mark it dutifully but... todays popular "cell-phone" culture and media almost completely ignore it. The lessons of history mean nothing to the children of the "me" generation. The recent Hamas attack on the Israelis demonstrates that for me.

My parents were engaged when Pearl Harbor was bombed. They talked long into the night about what to do. The next Saturday, the 13th, they eloped and not long after he enlisted and was gone to the Pacific for the duration. He came back in ‘45 to a wife and a little Ozark farm. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary shortly before his fatal heart attack.

That “greatest generation” was cut from different cloth, woven on the depression loom. I have to wonder how many marriages today would survive such a start.

Ted you were lucky to know someone involved in the taffy 3 fight of Samara island I have read so much about that ordeal it is one of the greatest naval battles in history.and on paper the greatest victory.i would have loved to talk with you friend

I am glad you guys are responding it's a good thing to remember the great real heros in our life