History Dec.7,1941 8am---what were you doing?

the guy i consider my grandpa (closest thing ive ever had to one anyways) told me he had the option to join the army and go to war or stay home and work the farm. he went overseas with all his friends, and was the only one to survive. i honestly couldnt imagin going to such a place with a handful of your best friends and you watch them pass in front of you. anyways he was eventually left by himself fighting a few days, got out numbered then captured for monthes. but he made it home and now we just sit around and talk about the good old days and hot rods

 

I wasn't born yet, but my parents were in a movie theater in Los Angeles on that Sunday. The story passed down to me from my folks was that the movie stopped, the lights went up, and the theater manager went up on the stage and said "All military personnel please return to your bases immediately. Hawaii has been attacked by the Japanese".

 

Glad you asked that qustion....
How many kids now days sign up for selective services at your local post office when they turn 18 like I did back in '78??? .... And I wasn't even a U.S. citizen back then....
Was I ready to fight for the United States of America???
You bet!!

 

How did you register for Selective Service in 1978, when there was NO Selective Service requirement of any kind from 1975, when President Ford revoked the draft, to 1980, when President Carter reinstated the Selective Service???

To answer your question about today's Selective Service requirement, ALL men aged 18 to 24 are required to register. Generally, this happens at 18 when the person goes to get their driver license renewal, or initial license.

 

Being a baby boom guy who just turned 65 I wasn't thought about yet.

 

I was born a year a week and a day later and my dad was in the middle of it and flew missions over "the hump" and in the Air Corpse/Force.

 

I was 23 days away from being born, But my father was the Chief Radioman in Charge of the Navy cental receiving station outside of Washington DC. He was Probably the second person in the continental US to Know about the attack as they relayed it to the Administration.

 

I was only a few months over 2 years old at this time. But I still recall my dad telling me tails about the day everyone found out. No one wanted to get to far away from the radio.
Thank's DD for this post
4 years, 4 months & 14days served in the USN

 

I was a year and 2 days from being born

 

My mom wasn't born until about 8 years later. But my grandfather was working his farm in NE Arkansas and wasn't going anywhere for a few more years until 43' (Army - Europe). His brother Rex had joined the USMC a month before the Pearl Harbor attacks.

 

Canadians, Brits, Aussies and Kiwis were already at war for two years in Dec. 1941.

 

My mom was 4 on a farm in eastern Nebraska and remembers asking my grandfather "where's Hawaii"? From another perspective - my old man was 14 in a small east German village - they just found out his favorite uncle was killed outside of Moscow. I asked him what they were told - his reply was "when they announced on the radio that Hitler declared war on the US on Dec. 8, my father (grandfather) sat at the kitchen table, held his head in his hands and muttered "We're doomed. We're doomed."" Had he said that out loud in public, it would have been straight to a concentration camp for him.

 

I was only 4 months old at the time but I do remember a blackout we had when I was about 3 years old. Scared the shit out of me.

 

My grandfather married my grandmother October 15th, 1941. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he enlisted and his first overseas combat duty was on Omaha Beach, 06/06/44. He doesn't remember going up the beach. A few days afterward, he volunteered to go get the mail. The truck in front of him was shelled, then he heard a whistling noise.

He woke up in a German field hospital, expected to die, and was lucky enough to be part of a prisoner exchange. After a convalescent period for the next year, he was honorably discharged with a Purple Heart.

He is now 90, and Grandma and Grandpa celebrated their 70TH wedding anniversary this past October.

God Bless Rev. Alvie Glenn and his wife, Bertha.

 

My dad was hangin around his home town in northern Oregon, drinkin beer and doing odd jobs after graduating high school spring of '41...when he heard about Pearl Harbor he ran down and enlisted in the Navy as did his older brother and his dad...they all left town together to go to war.
Nobody in the family got killed and when the ol man got home, he met my mother and I came along in '48. The end.

 

These are great!!----Keep em' flying---er' coming!!!

 

One grandfather had just got out of the Marine Corp late '39 and after Pearl Harbor joined the Navy and served in the Pacific. He was almost fatally wounded by a kamikaze but never spoke about it. He always carried a pic of his ship with him. My other grandfather fought in Europe earning a silver and bronze star and two purple hearts. He never spoke of the war either.
In 1980 I was stationed at Schofield Barracks Hawaii and our building still had bullet holes from the strafing. I visited the Arizona Memorial and will never forget the feelings while there. Thank you to all our veterans and RIP my brothers who gave all for all of us.

 

My dad was just shy of a month old. My grandpa served in the Navy during WWII. Wouldn't talk about much.
Got an Uncle who was in Vietnam. I remember kneeling with my Mom and brothers praying ever night. He just turned 62.
Thanks to them and all our Vets!

 

Real simple! I went to my "Go Postal" office here in Dearborn and asked to fill out the little 5"X8" white card with all my info...

 

well I was 7 years old than & dont know what i was Doing
at the Time probaly listining to the Radio
I did see the Original Photo's when I was in the Navy
just before being shipped out to Korea in 52
I was Front line Navy, Destroyer Escort off the Coast of
Korea, we usually had 85 guys on the Ship supposed run
with 125 but couldn't keep them on the Ship too long
every ( mig ) would use our Ship for Target Practice
I thinkI said enough now its starting to Bring back
Memeories that I had Buried
Good Thread

 

American pride in the 40's... Young men lied about their age to go defend our country. American pride in the 70's... My generation lied to get out of doing the same. My respect to ALL that have served.

 

On Pearl Harbor Day at 0800 Oregon time I was 5 years old and listening to adult relatives discussing what they heard on the radio. By late afternoon I was standing in the middle of Klickitat Street in Portland with my Uncle and looking to the West for the approaching Japanese bombers. My uncle went in the U.S. Army Air Force and served all through WWII. He died about 5 years ago.The Japanese missed an opportunity to really screw us up and attack the Mainland because everybody here was unprepared and in a state of panic.
When I was a teenager I joined the Air Force in time to be a Korean War Veteran. We landed at Hickam Field on one of my TDY trips and I ate in the Mess Hall at Hickam that was attacked that Sunday morning. The machine gun damage around the windows in that concrete building had not yet been repaired. The Japanese were strafing the guys in the mess hall. A very sobering thought while we ate in there.

 

YEP!,----After the war, they interviewed top nippon official & asked why the Japanese didn't continue to invade our Western shores.
His answer was very simple "We were knowledgeable that EVERY AMERICAN HOME HAD FIREARMS!!!!!

 

i wasnt even daddys little squirt yet, but i have heard him talk about that day.

 

A couple of years ago, there was a gentleman on Leno's show that was 101 years old...he volunteered and fought in WWI...WWII...and Korea.....when asked about it ..he told Jay he was just doing his duty as an American.

 

Hell, my parents wernt even born yet. They didn't get here for another 15 years. But my grandfather was already enlisted in the Navy. When they were headed out after Pearl Harbor, all the sailors were getting a final check up and as he put it "unfortunately I was medically discharged."
They truely were the greatest generation ever. Todays youth don't have the same fire in their gut that that generation had. That entire generation ran to enlist. Thank you for what you have done foe the rest of us. The 7th of December will never be forgotten by this guy who was born in 1974, the grandson of the greatest generation ever!!!

 

I'm just shy of 10 years after the attack, but I remember dad talking about hearing of it on the radio while at the volunteer fire hall. Enlisted the next day. They didn't want to take him because of his flat feet, but somehow he got in, ending up in the AAF and served in the SWPA from Aug 42' through Sep 45'.. Rarely ever talked about it..

 

My old man wasn't even born yet. If I recall correctly, my grandfather was over in Europe around this time though.

Once again, take the time to remember those who gave so much for us.

 

Amen!....