A date which will live in infamy

[CobyRupert]

Todays Dec 8, is also the 80th anniversary of another Japanese attack.
We should remember the service men who died or where captured with the Japanese attack that started at the same time as Pearl Harbor at another U.S. held territory and military base in the Pacific, the Philippines. The Philippines seem to always be forgotten. I wonder why, they were a territory in the Pacific that was attacked just like Hawaii was. Probably because they’re a bit farther out and didn’t later become a state.

US Army forced numbered about 31,000 there before the attack. Many went on to fight in the Battle of Bataan and were part of the brutal death March. R.I.P.

 

[MossRoad]

Todays Dec 8, is also the 80th anniversary of another Japanese attack.
We should remember the service men who died or where captured with the Japanese attack that started at the same time as Pearl Harbor at another U.S. held territory and military base in the Pacific, the Philippines. The Philippines seem to always be forgotten. I wonder why, they were a territory in the Pacific that was attacked just like Hawaii was. Probably because they’re a bit farther out and didn’t later become a state.

US Army forced numbered about 31,000 there before the attack. Many went on to fight in the Battle of Bataan and were part of the brutal death March. R.I.P.

They weren't a territory at the time of the attack. In 1934 they became The Commonwealth of the Philippines. That was a 10 year transitional government to guide them into full independence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_the_Philippines

 

[ArlyA]

Todays Dec 8, is also the 80th anniversary of another Japanese attack.
We should remember the service men who died or where captured with the Japanese attack that started at the same time as Pearl Harbor at another U.S. held territory and military base in the Pacific, the Philippines. The Philippines seem to always be forgotten. I wonder why, they were a territory in the Pacific that was attacked just like Hawaii was. Probably because they’re a bit farther out and didn’t later become a state.

US Army forced numbered about 31,000 there before the attack. Many went on to fight in the Battle of Bataan and were part of the brutal death March. R.I.P.

Those of us who read history, know about that.

 

[ArlyA]

I'm a slow typer and work full time but do have a couple of story's to write. Please give me time and will get them out.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^^
This thread was started to show respect. Please take your political BS elsewhere.

 

[CobyRupert]

Political? Meh…
Politics aside, when the Capital is overrun, it’s still part of the history of attacks on United States. In the context of significance, remember Hawaii wasn’t a state in 1941.
Like it or not, history from 80 years ago isn’t as relevant to newer generations. How many younger Americans if you said “Remember the Lusitania?” would know what you’re talking about?
For many younger people, they have no recollection or much knowledge of what is memorialized as America’s last “Good War”, 80 years ago. They only know the ones that followed and the recent attack.
But your right, these facts shouldn’t be brought up in a memorial thread.

 

[Hay Dude]

Eighty years ago, today. Never forget and never, ever let down your guard.
View attachment 723988

Unfortunately, I believe our guard is way down right now.

My dads cousin Chet, was a B-17 pilot. He aircraft was shot down over the France/Belgium border and while parachuting to the ground, lost an eye.
He was captured by friendly French underground. He stayed with them and performed direct and support roles to the French underground in destroying German controlled assets and assassinations of German military personnel.
My dad showed me pictures of him. He had the eye patch and the Thompsons sub machine gun. Pretty tough dude.

 

[wawajake]

Someone earlier asked for other WW2 family stories. My Mom and Dad were young teens ( 10 thru 14 yrs old) in Holland during the Nazi occupation. My Mothers Dad was in the resistance and his clothing shop was a temporary hiding location for Jews until they could be moved elsewhere out of the city of Zwolle. They had a short wave radio hidden screwed up under the dining room table. Eventually as food scarcity grew they had to abandon the city and found a dike pumphouse in countryside to live the last remaining 8 months of war , until the Canadian Army liberated the country. My father on the other hand akready lived outside of city on family farm , but it was overtaken by Nazis attempting to protect a railway bridge over the Issel River. My Grandmother was forced to cook for the Germans in her own home , My father as a young teen, and his brother, would collect the copper gun shells the allies planes would shoot down on the nearby railway bridge. He knew all the various allied plane types by the engine roars. They eventually got to move back into their home from the barn, when the bridge got bombed out. However the teen boys in Holland, ( like my Dad and Uncles ) had to stay hidden later in war so as not to be rounded up and sent to work camps by the Nazis. My parents met shortly after war was over and High School started, and they chose to marry and immigrate to Canada because of the liberation of Holland by Canadian Army and the type of stories they heard about Canada, instead of waiting years for when Holland would be rebuilt .

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
That's interesting. Recently I've read a couple of books written by Jewish women who ended up in concentration camps while in thier teens. They start by telling what life was like before the war, then how things slowly closed around them until they eventually were rounded up and taken to the concentration camps; life there, and then when they were liberated. Both women ended up living across the river from where I grew up, and both were teachers and administrators at Bates College, a private college in that town.

Your post reads a lot like that of those authors.

 

[CobyRupert]

Great stories.