A day that changed America forever. Honor the fallen.

 

Many of us had fathers or grandfathers who served in WWII.  It's hard to imagine their sacrifice.   My father was 21 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  According to his family, he was a happy go lucky kid.  The war changed him.   You didn't know how long the war would last, you were in "for the duration".  He spent almost four years in the Pacific riding in the rear seat of a Dauntless Dive Bomber.  He was in many sea battles, the major one being the Battle of Midway, which was a turning point in the war.  His ship was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze and many of his friends were killed.  If that wasn't enough, he contracted malaria which followed him his whole life.  WWII veterans rarely talk about the things they did and saw.  They did their duty and never thought of themselves as heroes.  When I was a small boy, I found three purple heart ribbons in a drawer and I asked my father what they were?  He said it was something that happened at that's all he said.  It wasn't until after he passed that we found out what that was.  I am sure many others here have similar stories.  

 

 

I hear you, Phil.

Grand-Uncle - John (JW) Ryssy - commander of a Coast Guard frigate doing escort duty across the Atlantic then later Pacific

Grand-Aunt - Irja Hoffschire nee Ryssy (sister of previous) - Army Corps Nurse in Europe.

Grand-Uncle - John Hoffschire - Sgt, 1st Army - injured at Ardennes - met the Grand-Aunt while being treated...they got married in '46 after both mustered out.

 

None of them ever talked about their experiences - but Uncle JW was awarded the Legion of Merit.

 

My now deceased Grandfather John (Father's side) served in WW2 infantry.  He was one of the platoons that liberated Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.

 

He died in 2006.  RIP Grandpa John.

My grandpa was in oak ridge working on the thing that ended it all 

 

My father's wings.

 

43 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

My father's wings.  

 

 

THE GREATEST GENERATION

 

My Dad & his brothers, all survived!

I wonder if in 50 years anyone will "Remember Pearl"!  It seems that kids today aren't taught history w/o some kind of spin associated with it.  Today's generation blame the US and Truman for dropping the bomb.  Easy to say 78 years later.

My late father served during WW2. He was in the old Army Air Corps.

2 of my uncles were in the war. One in the army in Europe, the other in the navy in the South Pacific. Neither one would talk about their war experiences. I wish I would have asked them more than I did.

 

I just asked my son who’s in 7th grade if he knew about Pearl Harbor. He said, “it was a bombing a long time ago.” He also said they have not taught it in school so far. I do know they hit on 9/11 quite a bit in September. I was a junior in HS when 9/11 happened. Every year when I was in school we did learn about Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was a major event in our country’s history so was 9/11. 9/11 is this generations and mine as well’s Pearl Harbor.