63 Years Ago Today - Remember Pearl Harbor

[Keith Outten]

Historically December 7th, 1941 is one of America's most significant dates, "A date that will live in Infamy" according to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. December 7th 1941 for many marks America's finest hour with our entry into World War II. There are only four million of the sixteen million WWII veterans still living today, their contribution and sacrifice will forever stand the test of time. No other generation of Americans has ever faced a greater challenge.

Thanks, to all WWII Veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice.

"We will never forget" the 2300 Americans who gave their lives on this day in American History.

http://www.usswestvirginia.org/fulllist.htm

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The WWII veterans have my sincere respect! The generation as a whole worked for the general good of our country. My hat is off to them!

[Earl Reid]

The memories of Pearl Harbor will live with me forever. I was 9 at the time, we were listening to the radio when the program was interrupted. I knew many of the men that went to war, including, some of that were at Pearl
Harbor. I worked with a man whose brother's name is on the list at the Arizona Memorial.
God bless all the people that served and Thank You.
Earl

[Carl Eyman]

Thank you, Keith, for bringing up the subject. I don't believe most people alive today whether 70 or over, or under that age realize how close we were to losing that war (both Europe & Pacific). If anyone reading this, is in New Orleans don't miss going to the D-Day Museum. At the very beginning of the European Theater exhibit they have an exhibit that very grafically points out how pitifully weak we were. It is an excellent lesson for any one of us.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

How did I miss that? I guess at my age one just doesn't keep track of the days unless one needs to write a check. Ha. I was 21 and sitting at the lunch table when the news came over the radio. It kind of stunned us because it was literally out of the blue. We had no inkling that the Japs had it in for us. I was at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana within a month and was involved in training troops for a while before I was sent overseas. WWII vets are solidly behind our troops overseas. I would still go in a minute if they would take us old coots. Guess it would get expensive providing us all with armored motorized wheel chairs for when we got tired. (-;

[Keith Outten]

Don,

At the WoodCraft Turn-A-Thon on Veterans Day my 81 year old Father noticed that there was a Military Recruiting Office right across the street from WoodCraft and wanted to visit them and try to enlist in the Navy :) My Dad is a veteran of two wars and surely has done his part but is still willing to go again! We joked throughout the day about both of us enlisting and we even got one other turner to volunteer to go with us to the recruiting office...if they would just lower that dang enlistment age a tad there would surely be more volunteers :) :) :)

Carl,

I remember both of my parents telling stories of the War years and my Mom singing songs of the period. Actually my Mom worked at Langley Field during WWII changing tires on airplanes. My father was very young and during his first hitch he was on the Boxer then transfered to the Radford and sent to Eniwetok for the H-Bomb testing at Bikini-Atol. My grandfather worked at Newport News Shipbuilding and I remember stories of how fast they were building Liberty Ships and of course Rosie-the-Riveter. There were also very sad stories of our Soldiers returning home very badly wounded and our areas Veterans Graveyards are all full, there isn't any space left for Vets of other wars. The Civil War and WWII have taken their toll on the population of Virginia, the scars are still very visible today.

With the Price of Freedom being so high...you would think that we would never take it for granted.