December 7, 1941-Thanks to Many Brave US Veterans.

[beemerdons]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maryland_(BB-46) My Favorite Uncle Drew Skinner has been gone for a decade now, but every December 7 I think fondly of a wonderful Man that was so very good to his young Nephew. In my living room on the hutch, sits his tri-folded United States Military Veteran's Burial Flag in its triangular case, on wall of my hall hangs a picture of the USS Maryland sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Franciso dated 1940, and on a hook in my bedroom hangs his dress blue cap with U.S.S. Maryland emblazoned on it and inside burned into the leather band are his initials D.V.S..

Maryland was inboard of the USS Oklahoma on Battleship row when the 1st Japanese torpedo planes made their runs, two torpedoes hit the Oklahoma, but a gunner friend of my Uncle Drew on the Maryland, Leslie Short, shot down one of them.

The U.S.S. Maryland took so much intensive fire from the Japanese Air Force that day, Tokyo was sending out worldwide pronouncements that they had sunk her. Uncle Drew said it was truly a miracle she didn't go to the bottom with the Arizona.

She was able to limp to Puget Sound to be repaired and with new improved armaments. Outfitted and again ready for action, U.S.S. Maryland spent the next four years chasing and fighting the Imperial Japanese Navy around the Pacific!

The Japanese came close to sinking "The Fighting Mary" many times throughout the remainder of the Second World War. At Saipan a Mitsubishi "Betty" put a torpedo into her below the waterline that almost sent her to the bottom. At Leyte Gulf she was first hit by kamikaze plane attacks, followed by kamikaze attacks in Surigao Strait and once again at Okinawa.

Uncle Drew lost many shipmates during those 4 years and he was saddended until his end. Rest in Peace My Uncle Drew.

 

[cota95]

Great story. There were so many regular folks that that did extraordinary things. I'm hoisting one for Uncle Drew.

 

[ShowMeMo]

Well said!

True hero's ... My great uncle once treaded water with an injured mate on his back for many hours until a rescue ship arrived... Oh, and this was with 2 broken bones he sustained in the same attack!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Thanks Don for the post about your Uncle Drew.

There were alot of uncles, dads, and brothers that fought and died in that war...as well as sisters and aunts that died serving as nurses and auxilliary staff. To all who served in that war, I remember with thanks and amazement at your sacrifice.

 

[Dr. Rich]

I think stories like this are why this group of young men and women were called the Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. We owe much to all those who fought in WWII.

 

[DE OPPRESSO LIBER]

If only our country could always be united as we were after that horrific day. . . . God bless the men and women who gave so much with absolutely nothing in expectation of return.

:drinks:

 

[happyPuppy]

An interesting tidbit I read today was that recently discovered was 1 of 5 mini subs used by the Japanese in the attack 4 were found post the attack but one was never found. They were armed with 800 lb torpedos. One a dud torpedo was found near the Maryland, another is supposed to have struck the Oklahoma, as it rolled over ( Air barrages would have made it sink straight down) and the hole was at the waterline. National Geographic is doing a piece for cable on it. The History Channel has a well done WWII in HD series and it has some good footage of the attack on Pearl Harbor, truly horrific.

https://www.pamil-visions.net/pearl-harbor-...y-solved/29179/

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

I have a soft spot for the WWII vets I treat. They are as a general rule some of the most selfless, hardworking and amazing people I have met. I wish I could tell some of the stories I have heard. Some would make a stone heart cry, others would make your jaw drop. I have met men who served on the Indianapolis and survived, chased japanese in holes and caves, another was left for dead after being blown up trying to clear mines in ports (and survived with two steel plates for a skull), a man who served on Big Mo and saw the Japanese surrender, another escaped from a German PW camp and traveled across Europe to Spain and escaped, A man who told me his experiences of D-Day that I can't repeat, and on and on.

Usually it is the family that tells the story of their small and large glories. The vets rarely talk of it directly. And they are passing at an ever rapid rate. I've been lucky to serve them in my little way, and honored to have heard history from a perspective rarely experienced.

All who serve should be honored, but WWII has its day today.

 

[madmike2]

I'm more saddened by the newer generations who don't even know what "a day that will live in infamy" means, let alone know when it was.

We owe everything to my parent's generation. Without them life as we know it would be very different.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I'm more saddened by the newer generations who don't even know what "a day that will live in infamy" means, let alone know when it was.
We owe everything to my parent's generation. Without them life as we know it would be very different.

Gunny.

 

[kaitsdad]

Don, Thanks for the information regarding your father.

My father served in the Army Air Core during WWII in the AP theatre. When he passed in 1995 I cleaned out his home, and realized he was a photography buff during his early life and especially during boot camp. I found two photo scrapbooks covering a few years of his early life.

And that's where it ended. He never took any pictures of his military experiences after boot; he never spoke of his experiences. To this day I still have no idea what he went through. But I think long and hard about him every December 7th.

Thanks, Dad. Miss ya.

 

[Rogue]

I'm more saddened by the newer generations who don't even know what "a day that will live in infamy" means, let alone know when it was.
We owe everything to my parent's generation. Without them life as we know it would be very different.

Gunny!

They were The Greatest Generation!

 

[Patriot]

My Dad was an Army Medic in the Pacific. In the rear on Guadacanal, his duty was the health of the warriors. He ran a lab and worked to keep the drinking water and food clean, healthy, and plentiful. He stated more troops were lost to casualties because of disease and the environment than combat itself.

He spoke often of the funny stuff...his unit captured an abandoned Japanese Ice Cream Factory which had it's generators blown not long after they got there. They stopped and gorged on the "Ice Milk" as he called it before it melted and went bad.

A fellow comrade requested and was sent a book from home on tanning hides. He shot a croc with his M1, skinned it, and hung it in the tropic sun to dry and tried to tan it. He said belts and shoes were going at a large profit. Dad only said the longer the hide was worked on, the more it stunk and shriveled up to nothing.

Only rarely did something trigger Dad to mention the bad stuff. Tarawa after the Marines took it, he said, was the saddest sight. Many, many bloated bodies among the coral in the bay where the boats were to land and got hung up on the reef...becoming sitting ducks. He would mumble "War is such a waste of good men's lives" and say something about the family's that would never be and the children that would never be born.

Eddie Albert of Green Acres fame was a coxswain of a landing craft at Tarawa:

On September 9, 1942, Albert enlisted in the United States Navy and was discharged in 1943 to accept an appointment as a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. A genuine war hero, he was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for his actions during the invasion of Tarawa in November, 1943, when, as the pilot of a U.S. Coast Guard landing craft, he rescued 47 Marines who were stranded offshore (and supervised the rescue of 30 others), while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire.

These days, teaching students history doesn't stick with just books and lectures like with us. They need/want something interactive or hand's on like a project. I'm proud that here in New Orleans is what was initially the D-Day museum, created and developed by some motivated and wise folks. All the Higgins boats (landing craft) of the war were developed and built right here. Andrew Higgins was declared a hero by Dwight Eisenhower and when President Ike was asked what were the most important events of the war in his opinion?, he replied something to the effect that one very important thing was the fact he didn't think the war could be won without Andrew Higgins and the Higgins boat landing craft and that the numbers they needed were provided.

Now, the D-Day Museum which started to tell the story of Operation Overlord's invasion of France to overthrow Hitler and take back Europe, is now the National WWII Museum telling the whole story of the war. Come on down and experience it. Three major supporters are Tom Brokaw, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/

What's cool is the project from the very beginning that encourages Veterans to tell their story and experiences during that time to a recorder to keep for all time. They put these oral reports in listening machines throughout the museum and rotate them out periodically. I wish my Dad was alive (passed in '87) to record his story.

Funny, that I love war shows and movies, and Dad would have to point out at every turn what was wrong with what was happening in the movie or show. My memory of watching the old 60's show "Combat" and Dad would point out the officers wearing their shiny insignia or the medic carrying his medical bag with the large red cross on the side. He said those guys wouldn't last a day to Japanese snipers.

My Uncle Howard was a Marine in many of the tough battles like Iwo Jima, Tarawa, Okinowa, and Peleliu. He talks all about it and some hair raising tails right out of a war movie or history book. I recently learned that around the corner lives an old, crusty 1SGT company SGT who was at those battles and is a Purple Heart recipient. Still wears his starched cover (cap) when he's outside. His pickup is adorned with Marine Corp logos and his license plate shows he's retired Corp with his stripes insignia and his purple heart award.

enuf of this...

 

[madjackdog]

I'm blessed, my father is still around and in good health. He fought in WWII on a PT boat and took part in many battles. Mike, above, mentions the Higgins landing craft. Higgins, along with Elco, made almost all of the American PT boats of WWII. Ordinary people doing what needed to be done. A remarkable generation.