Free Republic

Hope you have a nice Fourth of July. Maybe you'll watch the fireworks, grill a few hot dogs, give a little thanks to those keeping watch — now and then. Dave Cohea knows where he was on the Fourth of July in 1944: on board the USS Boston, which was shelling the island of Iwo Jima, softening it up for invasion the following spring. The Boston was Cohea's second ship, the first having been blasted out of the water 18 months earlier at Guadalcanal. "We were torpedoed. The ammo blew up, and fuel was all over me," says Cohea, 85,...

Defense: As we prepare to celebrate our independence, North Korea wants to remind us of Pearl Harbor. Fortunately, we can make use of assets dreamed of by Reagan and deployed by Bush to defend our 50th state. Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported Thursday that North Korea would launch a long-range Taepodong-2 missile at Hawaii on or about July 4. This would be the anniversary of the first Taepodong-2 test on July 4, 2006. It would also mark the 15th anniversary of North Korean President Kim Il Sung's death.Those who know have stopped laughing at North Korea's increasingly credible nuclear and global...

This Monday, while the VFW is holding its 10 a.m. Memorial Day ceremony at the Cody Prosser Veteran’s Memorial in Frazier Mountain Park, Gary and Lois Lee of Lockwood Valey will be remembering Gary's father, Lt. Bert Lee. Lee was in the first plane to be shot down in the surprise attack of December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He lived to tell the tale. The phone rang this spring with an amazing message for his family. The well-known turkey rancher and apple grower, who passed away in 2006, had many tales to share around the dinner table about fighting...

Between April 4 and 8, the North Koreans intend to launch their longest range missile, the Taepodong 2 (TD-2) on a test into the Central Pacific. It is ostensibly a satellite shot, but is in reality a nearly full range test of the missile. The satellite ruse is being used to get around the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration in which Kim Jong Il promised the Japanese not to test long range missiles.

Richard Thill's high school education was interrupted by the largest war the world had ever seen. But Wednesday — almost 70 years later — it came full-circle for Thill, when he was awarded an honorary diploma from Humboldt Senior High School. The honor came as a surprise to Thill, and he was visibly grateful — his voice began to shake, tears welled in his eyes. It was something he had been thinking about for a very long time. 'I'm really proud — boy, you can't believe,' said Thill, 85, holding the diploma. 'I'm going to frame this and have it...

The Japanese emperor is likely to become the first member of the imperial dynasty to visit Pearl Harbor, the site of Japan's surprise attack on the U.S. during World War II. Emperor Akihito, who was seven years old when the airborne assault took place, and his wife Empress Michiko are thought to be planning a highly symbolic 'unofficial' stopover in Hawaii en route to Canada in July. A trip to the site of the 1941 attack has never been undertaken by a Japanese emperor or prime minister before. Emperor Akihito, whose father ruled Japan during World War II, hasn't travelled...

The Japanese emperor is likely to visit Pearl Harbor in July, the first time a member of the imperial family will have visited the site of the surprise attack that brought the United States into the Second World War.

CHICAGO – Illinois' embattled but defiant governor turned to the history books to describe the emotional strain on him and his family, comparing his arrest last month to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. "Dec. 9 to my family, to us, to me, is what Pearl Harbor Day was to the United States," .. "It was a complete surprise, completely unexpected. And just like the United States prevailed in that, we'll prevail in this." ... "I'm going to fight this to the very end," he said.

Doing my best to emulate the soldiers standing stiffly while tearfully watching Old Glory respond to the cool Mississippi breeze, my unresolved feelings of sadness comfortably morphed into those of a grandson’s immense pride. I had come to understand an important part of my family’s history – that my grandfather was a soldier, a veteran and a hero.

Shortly after Mitsuo Fuchida led the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he discovered just how fortunate he was to be living. Along with the 21 holes that visibly pocked the 39-year-old’s aircraft, a mechanic on the aircraft carrier Akagi found a frayed elevator cable that dangled from Fuchida’s reconnaissance bomber by a single thread. If it had been severed, the inevitable crash could have killed the flight commander — whose radio message "Tora! Tora! Tora!" was the final go-ahead for the attack that drew the United States into World War II.

Frenchman crying - June, 1940 He cries as he watches the German soldiers marching down the Champs Elysees. The glory of France has been ground underfoot by Hitler's goose-stepping legions. In a matter of weeks, the vaunted French army, the Maginot Line, and all of France's pride has been destroyed by the Nazi blitzkrieg. He is a middle-aged man, maybe in his mid Forties. Look at his tears, his tie, his nice suit. He survived World War One and looks like he has since prospered. And now? The night has fallen over France, and soon, all of Europe. He cries...

WORLD WAR II SURVIVORS : After the battle Deusterman recalls infamous day at Pearl Harbor BY TRISH HOLLENBECK Northwest Arkansas Times Posted on Sunday, December 7, 2008 John Deusterman and his buddies relaxed on the Sunday morning, taking a day off from their duties in the U. S. Navy. "There were some of us going into Honolulu," he recalls. They heard some bombing, but thought it was the U. S. Army training. Their thought, he said, was why did the Army have to do that on a Sunday morning ? Deusterman happened to look out the barracks window and saw...

Japan has launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and has declared war on Britain and the United States. The US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, has mobilised all his forces and is poised to declare war on Japan. Details of the attack in Hawaii are scarce but initial reports say Japanese bombers and torpedo-carrying planes targeted warships, aircraft and military installations in Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, the third largest and chief island of Hawaii. News of the daring raid has shocked members of Congress at a time when Japanese officials in Washington were...

First let me thank General Shinsecki for his service and say that I am appalled at the internment of Japanese-American's during the Democratic Roosevelt administration. My question to FReepers is, did Obama know he was announcing the appointment of the only General of Japanese descent on PEARL HARBOR DAY. Why today? "shisecki" apparently means "relative" in Japanese for what it's worth.

DECEMBER 7th, 1941 : DECEMBER 7th, 2008 = 67 YEARS JAPAN DECLARED WAR ON AMERICA Flags at half-staff for Pearl Harbor Day Flags should be flown at half-staff Sunday, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, in respect for the victims of Pearl Harbor. DECEMBER 7th, 1941 : DECEMBER 7th, 2008 = 67 YEARS JAPAN DECLARED WAR ON AMERICA Flags at half-staff for Pearl Harbor Day Flags should be flown at half-staff Sunday, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, in respect for the victims of Pearl Harbor. United States flag should be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset Sunday. This year is...

It has remained one of World War II’s most enduring mysteries, one that resonated decades later in the aftermath of Sept. 11: Who in Washington knew what and when before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941? Specifically, who heard or saw a transcript of a Tokyo shortwave radio news broadcast that was interrupted by a prearranged coded weather report? The weather bulletin signaled Japanese diplomats around the world to destroy confidential documents and codes because war with the United States, the Soviet Union or Britain was beginning. In testimony for government inquiries, witnesses said that the “winds...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2008 – President George W. Bush signed proclamations today establishing a World War II monument to those who fought in the Pacific theater and commemorating the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument will serve as a reminder of the sacrifices “The Greatest Generation” made to protect the country, Bush said before signing the proclamation. “But there’s a broader purpose, as well,” he said. “And that is to remind generations of Americans about the transformative effect of freedom. “One of the great stories during...

Barack Obama delivered a speech in West Lafeyette, IN on Wednesday and once again mangled some well known historical facts: Throughout our history, America's confronted constantly evolving danger, from the oppression of an empire, to the lawlessness of the frontier, from the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor, to the threat of nuclear annihilation. Americans have adapted to the threats posed by an ever-changing world. Aaah yes – "the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor." Who can forget that? It was the big one, the one that took out all those boats. I guess Obama's political correctness prevents him from...

HONOLULU - President Bush has asked his defense and interior secretaries to look into designating Pearl Harbor and other historic World War II sites in the Pacific a national monument. A May 29 presidential memo to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said such status could offer the sites additional protection. "These objects of historical and scientific interest may tell the broader story of the war, the sacrifices made by America and its allies, and the heroism and determination that laid the groundwork for victory in the Pacific and triumph in World War II," Bush said. The...

For The Sake Of Us All It cannot be refuted or denied, but it can be ignored. For whatever the reason, there have been times in American history where the U.S. government participated in the spreading of disinformation or lies. For example, until this day, many believe both Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew the Japanese were about to attack Pearl Harbor. Indeed, the conventional wisdom at the time was either Midway Island or Pearl Harbor, Hawaii would be targeted by the Japanese war machine. It is important to remember most Americans believed ...

The Robert L. Capp collection at the Hoover Institution Archives contains ten never-before-published photographs illustrating the immediate aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing. These photographs, taken by an unknown Japanese photographer, were found in 1945 among rolls of undeveloped film in a cave outside Hiroshima by U.S. serviceman Robert L. Capp, who was attached to the occupation forces. Unlike most photos of the Hiroshima bombing, these dramatically convey the human as well as material destruction unleashed by the atomic bomb. Mr. Capp donated them to the Hoover Archives in 1998 with the provision that they not be reproduced until 2008. Three...

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2008 – The top U.S. general in the Pacific told Congress yesterday that he’s working to strengthen the U.S.-Sino relationship, but he emphasized the need to keep a close eye on China as it strives to expand its influence in the region.Keating described what he thinks, but isn’t sure, was a tongue-in-cheek comment a senior Chinese officer made during the admiral’s first visit there as PACOM commander. With a straight face, Chinese officer said, “As we develop our aircraft carriers,” -- a remark Keating said he found interesting in itself -- “why don’t we reach an agreement,...

American Veterans Memorial Post 89 members Leo J. Pimple, left, Jim Hodges, along with Cub Scout Aaron Wallace from Pack 437 prepare a special American flag to be raised Monday morning at Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery. (Ed Honda-Herald/Review) SIERRA VISTA — Several survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor were on hand Monday for the local leg of “Old Glory’s Journey of Remembrance.” Organized by the White House Commission on Remembrance, the journey of a U.S. flag that flew at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the 66th anniversary last month, is making...

A quote from Ron Paul's speech at Politics and Eggs breakfast airing on C-Span now (actual comments aired appx 9:25 pm EST): "A president has a responsibility to, uh, you know, retaliate against an attack. I don't think there's been a good example of a need to do that throughout our whole history."

by Richard Lawrence Poe Monday, December 10, 2007 Permanent LinkPast Columns JAPANESE BOMBERS descended on Pearl Harbor 66 years ago, killing more than 2,400 Americans and demolishing our Pacific fleet. Every American knows the story. However, too few of us know that Japanese forces made additional attacks on U.S. soil after December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor was merely the first. Our history books grow strangely tongue-tied on this subject. After 66 years, it is time to tell the full story. Following his success at Pearl Harbor, Japanese Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sought to press his advantage. He planned a...

Sixty-six years ago- on a cold December 7th morning-I learned that Japanese planes had bombed a place called Pearl Harbor. I was only seven years old at the time, and , like most kids my age, barely knew where Japan was -or Pearl Harbor, for that matter. We would soon learn ! The next four years were lessons in history -taught while it was being lived; geography,and the always shifting landscape of alliances, mis-alliances ,patriotism , and politics. I mention the latter because our political leaders did face (sometimes rancorous) opposition at home - but it was almost always loyal...

I hadn't seen any discussion about this, so just to remind everyone, today is Pearl Harbor Day. Pearl Harbor/Military Tribute video

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech to Congress and the nation. December 8,1941

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2007 – It’s been 66 years, and tears still well up in the eyes of Robert Bishop when he thinks of that day. Robert Bishop stands outside the U.S. Capitol, where he and 13 other Pearl Harbor survivors and about 100 others including family, friends, servicemembers and members of Congress met for a remembrance ceremony sponsored by the White House Commission on Remembrance and the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund in partnership with the AMVETS and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. Photo by Fred W. Baker III  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. He was a 20-year-old...

12/7/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- More than 200 U.S. forces at this air base in Southwest Asia attended a memorial retreat in honor of the 2,340 killed and 1,143 wounded in the Dec. 7, 1941 attacks on U.S. military installations on Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. "We have come here today to pay honor and homage to our nations' heroes, the fallen and survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor," said Brig. Gen Charles Lyon, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing commander. "Let us never forget there is a price to pay for freedom. It doesn't come free" "Dec. 7th, a day...

USS Arizona Memorial Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Time Line Pearl Harbor Blue Champagne Embraceable You GI Jive Moon Dreams Stealin' Apples USS Ward, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack The Search for the World War II Japanese Midget Submarine Sunk off Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 Here We Go Again I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby I've Got A Heart Filled With Love Songs My Mother Taught Me Wang Wang Blue Attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941...

A few dozen graying Pearl Harbor survivors observed a moment of silence on Friday in honor of their comrades who perished in the Japanese bombing of Oahu 66 years ago. Wearing aloha shirts and orchid flower lei, the veterans stood on a pier overlooking the sunken hull of the USS Arizona and saluted the flag as a sailor sang "The Star Spangled Banner." Survivors of each of the nine battleships bombed in the attack took turns setting wreaths before life preservers bearing the names of their ships. "We're honoring the people who were killed. We're not here for ourselves, we're...

President Bush met today with Northern Ireland’s First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in the Oval Office. (Transcript) Vice President Cheney spoke to the Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. (Transcript) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended a meeting of NATO foreign ministers today in Brussels, Belgium. And Secretary of Defense Robert Gates attended the opening ceremony of the IISS conference in Manama, Bahrain. He is scheduled to speak at the conference on Saturday. Today is the 66th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl...

When the blasts started, Remo Cuniberti thought he was done for, but not that the United States was under attack. Cuniberti was in the forward magazine of the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored in Pearl Harbor. "I was with a couple friends of mine, way up in the forward magazine near the bottom of the boat, and we were checking propellant charges," said Cuniberti, who now lives in west Palmdale. In those days, some of the ship's munitions didn't have powder built in and needed powder cartridges - large pellets - for their propellant. Checking the cartridges was...

On December 7, 1941, our Nation was viciously attacked at Pearl Harbor, America's Pacific Fleet was battered and broken, and more than 2,400 American lives were lost. On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, America honors those brave individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our homeland, and we recognize those veterans who with strength and resolve defended our Nation and advanced the cause of freedom during World War II. When it mattered most, an entire generation of Americans stepped forward to protect our freedom and to defend liberty. Their devotion to duty and willingness to serve a cause...

Question for Freepers this December 7. Are your kids taught in school about the attack on Pearl Harbor? Unlike many educational theorists, I think certain facts ought to be memorized, and what happenened on December 7, 1941 is one of them.

America's latest blockbuster, Pearl Harbor, has already been blamed for dwelling on a shallow love triangle, ignoring the sacrifices of Japanese Americans, downplaying the Japanese empire's aggression, and generally Disney-fying the "date which will live in infamy." No surprises there; as director Michael Bay told Reuters, "It's not a history lesson." But it's far too easy to shoot holes in Hollywood history. Instead, I'm going to fault the movie for missing a poignant and inspiring Christian story: the saga of Mitsuo Fuchida. Fuchida grew up loving his native Japan and hating the United States, which treated Asian immigrants harshly in...

Edward Dutch Gaulrapp, Pearl Harbor survivor, shares memories of attack Blair Martin, Contributing Writer U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Michael A. Lantron - Pearl Harbor survivor Chief Cook Edward Gaulrapp (Navy Ret.), views the USS Arizona Memorial during a visit to historic Ford Island. Assigned to the Pearl Harbor-based, Perch-class submarine USS Pompano (SS 181), Gaulrapp was in his barracks when the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor began. It has taken former Navy Chief Petty Officer Edward "Dutch" Gaulrapp more than 60 years to come back to Pearl Harbor to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the Dec. 7,...

THE WORN AND TATTERED copy of the Honolulu Star Bulletin was there on the dining room table. The paper was from Dec. 7, 1941. In years past, on this date, copies of that same newspaper were set out in dens and kitchens and living rooms all over America, as those who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor reflected back upon the horror of that day. It happens less often these days.

Naval Base Pearl Harbor National Historic LandmarkPearl Harbor was established as a U.S. naval base in 1908, and remains a vital part of the U.S. defense establishment today. Pearl Harbor is a national historic landmark because of its essential contribution to the rise of the U.S. as a major power in the Pacific and the crucial role it played in World War II, beginning with the December 7th attack. Included in this virtual tour are structures and locations of architectural and historic interest that were important on the day of the attack and during the war years that followed. ...

To the Congress of the United States: Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to the Secretary ...

Dec. 7, 1941 I was 10 years old and having fun running my toy putt-putt boat in the bath tub, you remember those steam boats you put a candle under the boiler and they run around making a loud putt-put noise. My mother came in very excited and told me Japan had bombed us at Pearl Harbor. I ran out in the front yard and many neighbors were outside loudly talking of the attack and we kids were scanning the skys for enemy airplanes because there was talk of Japan invading California and we were in the center of California. ...

<p>I remember Dec. 7, 1941. Our family was at home in Illinois. Around midday, my mom, dad, sister and my grandmother and great-grandmother gathered in front of the old radio in our living room. I was nine, so I suspect I didn't really understand the news about Pearl Harbor. And yet I knew this much: Something important, something truly momentous, had happened to our lives, and to the lives of our friends and neighbors.</p>

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of &#147;word for the day&#148;. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the &#147;word of the day&#148;; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... The enemy has been engaged, and Hitlery got boooooed and we brought out the &#147;Daisy Cutters&#148;! As we continue our battle, remember why we are fighting. The Eagle is awake and demanding retribution. ...

The Objective American Daily Friday, December 7, 2001 The Objective American Daily | Last Three Days | Contact | Subscribe Past Bests | Search the Archive DEFENSE: What We Learned from Pearl Harbor (PP: The Next Gen Jet) By E.G. Ross, Editor The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. —Gen. Douglas MacArthur TODAY, exactly sixty years ago, in a surprise attack, Japanese warplanes slammed into the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The raiders killed and maimed over two-thousand people and destroyed millions ...

blockquote> CL7/A16 (0167) U.S.S. RALEIGH &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; December 13, 1941 From: Commanding Officer. To: Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet. &nbsp; Subject: Report of U.S.S. Raleigh's participation in the battle of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. &nbsp; Reference: (a) Article 712, Navy Regulations. &nbsp; Enclosure: (A) Executive Officer's ReportAbout 0755 on the morning of December 7, 1941, I was in my cabin drinking a cup of coffee when I heard and felt a dull explosion in the ship. Looking out my airport I saw the water boiling amidships. I started up to the bridge and was met by lieutenant Taylor who ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Early that Tuesday morning, terrorist suicide crews piloting hijacked jetliners killed an estimated 4,000 people from 86 countries. Quickly labeled the Pearl Harbor of 2001, Sept. 11 has been acknowledged as a massive intelligence-gathering failure at the highest levels. On that infamous Sunday morning 60 years ago today, against the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, Japanese Adm. Chuichi Nagumo's Operation Z carrier task force launched its attack that destroyed nearly 200 American aircraft, sank five battleships, severely damaged three cruisers, three destroyers and three auxiliaries, and killed 2,476 U.S. servicemen and civilians. Flagrant absence of advance intelligence? ...

I received these in an email. They are said to be from some film found in a Brownie camera in a footlocker.

<p>Nine years of shoe-leather reporting, nine years of doggedness, nine years of bucking an unhelpful bureaucracy took J. Robert Lunney to the deck of an aircraft carrier off the coast of Croatia.</p> <p>This is a Memorial Day tale, though the events occurred before the observance yesterday. It is a Memorial Day tale because it is about remembrance. And honor. And duty.</p>

Missing WWII Sailor is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Fireman 3rd Class Alfred E. Livingston, U.S. Navy, of Worthington, Ind. He will be buried on Saturday in Worthington. On Dec. 7, 1941, Livingston was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma when it was attacked by Japanese torpedo aircraft and capsized in Pearl Harbor. The ship sustained massive casualties. Livingston was one of hundreds declared...