Scourge of War Boards

70 years and about an hour ago (1300 Washington D.C. time), my father was in his dress whites as OOD of the USS Curtis in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. They had just got back into harbor from training maneuvers a day or two before so they were feeling relieved, with lots of shore leave. Most of the rest of the ship's company were either ashore or still sleeping in their underwear.

Wow. I thank him for his service.

B

As do I.

I was reading this morning that there were a total of 84,000 service members in Hawaii on Dec.7, 1941 - and now there are only an estimated 8,000 remaining.

God Speed

I had no family at Pearl that day. My Grandpa and all 7 of his brothers served in the war and all but one made it home. My Grandpas oldest brother was killed in the Souuth Pacific when his ship (The USS Intrepid) was hit by a torpedo. He was the only sailor out of the 8 brothers. The other 7 fought their way across Europe with the U.S. Army and he is the only loss, what are the odds? I will say however, that because of their sterling example, my father (Vietnam) and myself (The Gulf) are also combat veterans. I am proud to be a 3rd generation American warrior. As horrible as war is, when my sons are of age(they're 6 and 12 now)and if they ask me for my feelings or opinions about them serving... I will tell them the realiities of service and sacrafice...and that nothing would make me prouder.

As do I.

I was reading this morning that there were a total of 84,000 service members in Hawaii on Dec.7, 1941 - and now there are only an estimated 8,000 remaining.

God Speed

Won't be long sarge, until there are no more voices from that era. Glad my boys had a chance to talk to their great-grandpa (my grandad) about that time in our nations history. They had the honor of hearing it straight from the source, just like i did when i was a kid. I'd urge the younger folks here at our little spot on the web, if they haven't already, search out one of those old vets and have a sit down with them. Most of them are more than happy to share their experiences and memories and most of todays youth could stand a good lesson about true sacrifice and service. You may even learn some other things. It was during these conversations, that my grandad would not only tellme about his experiences...he would also tell me the stories that his great-grandad would tell him about being a boy when another war, in which brother fought brother, was going on and that, my friend, is how i ended up here.

One very worthwhile project is being run by the Library of Congress. It's called the Veterans history project. Anyone can partake and add to it. I had the pleasure of interviewing my father and grandfather for it as part of my history major (we needed to do some oral history work). I found doing it in a formal interview style brought out a lot more stories and things I never would have thought to ask. I learned so much more and gained an even greater appreciation for what they did than I probably ever would have without needing to sit down and do a formal interview. I had heard some stories from them but I was stunned about everything I never had heard or even thought to ask about before.