December 7th, 1941 -Pearl Harbor Remembrance!

Many | December 7th, 1941 | Mixed-Self & Others

[wtc911]

I had the honor of knowing Navy Corpsman Joe Hydrusko while growing up. He owned Dick & Dora's Restaurant, a legendary Italian place on the Alhambra Canal in Massapequa on Long Island.

Joe was officially credited with rescuing @ 300 sailors from the burning waters during the attack and the leading the efforts to cut 36 sailors from the burning hulk of the Oklahoma. (as we say in his hometown...you can look it up)

Joe was also a Fleet Boxing Team member (heavyweight) and a legitimate tough guy who beat the snot out of four punks who tried to rob his restaurant..when he was in his sixties.

Joe became a pilot and initiated the annual dropping of the roses over the Statue of Liberty on the anniversary. He continued this until his tragic death in a fueling accident. He was a family friend and a hero.

[wtc911]

See my post 22 about Joe Hydrusko, a Corpsman from the USS Solace.

[bowzer313]

Absolutely excellent posting!

[M. Espinola]

Most likely.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Last man to hire me before I went in the Air Force was a navy vet named Porter Ellis. Mr. Ellis was a plank owner on the Hornet, was on board when she launched the Doolittle Raid, and was on board when she was sunk. He was a great guy to work for.

[Frank_Discussion]

May I add:

http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/mainmenu.html

[M. Espinola]

Thank you for sending your post. I fully agree we must instill in our sons & daughters our history.

My father was off Okinawa while on board ship fighting fires from incoming Zeros Kamikaze attacks. He also talks about being involved in the 150 mph typhoon on June 2nd and 3rd, 1945 east of Okinawa. This typhoon damaged 33 ships and destroyed 76 airplanesmostly on the flight or hanger decks of aircraft carriers after the airplanes broke free of the chains holding them down. The storm killed six men on U.S. ships. The tropical storm died at sea without ever hitting land.

I am thinking of doing a posting on that subject later on.

[M. Espinola]

The more information we have the better. This is a great listing of links. Well done!

[Frank_Discussion]

Here's something I pulled off the site: Looks like a recent cartoon to me...

[tanknetter]

Three of their B-25B bombers are visible. That in the upper left is tail #s 40-2298, mission plane # 6, piloted by Lieutenant Dean E. Hallmark. That in top center is tail # 40-2283. It was mission plane # 5, piloted by Captain David M. Jones.

That would mean that the third plane in the picture (the one right at the very bottom) is #7, 40-2261 - aka "The Ruptured Duck" commanded by Ted Lawson and made famous in his book (and the Spencer Tracy/Van Johnson movie) "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" ...

[Christian4Bush]

Well done.

[Paperdoll]

God bless you for an excellent thread.

Now, a moment of silent prayer in memory of that tragic day, December 7, 1941.

Amen.

[Paved Paradise]

Just excellent beyond belief. What were all the ships we lost again? I forget all the names?

[mainepatsfan]

The American left has become the America First crowd of 1941.

[CougarGA7]

One of my favorite stories about the Doolittle Raid was about the crew of Bomber #8. This was the bomber captained by Edward York that landed in the Soviet Union (Vladivostok) instead of going to China. The Soviets held the crew for 13 months until they escaped to Iran in May of 1942.

The thing I've found amusing about this was in an interview with Doolittle years later, he related how every month he would get a call from Henry Stimson who was mad as hell because he had just received another bill for the food and care of these 5 airman detained in Russia.

[reagan_fanatic]

I shudder when I think of the immense sacrifice and bravery that this generation exibited in the face of unspeakable evil.

Gold bless them and all who fought to keep this country free.

[mainepatsfan]

Just popped in my DVD of "Tora! Tora! Tora!". So far superior to that joke of a movie "Pearl Harbor".

[Frank_Discussion]

So I fear.

[mainepatsfan]

They were still luckier than the pilots the Japanese caught. Stalin had good reason for not wanting to get the Japanese upset. The last thing he needed at that point was to fight on a second front.

[CougarGA7]

"Pearl Harbor" was a terrible movie. It's a shame they had to have a war break out during that bizzare love triange.

When I saw that movie I had to watch "Tora, Tora, Tora" just to clense myself.