Let’s all remember that 62 years ago Sunday, the U.S. was drawn into a worldwide war.
We, here in America, need to take time to remember ALL those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and also those, from all nations, who lived to fight and defeat the enemies of freedom.
We also need to remember those who have fought and died in all actions that this country has been involved in and are currently involved in.
Remember that freedom isn’t free.
And we, as modelers, can look at all these conflicts and think of all the great subjects they have provided for us to build.
But most of all we must remember that “all gave some, some gave all” and many are still giving.
I’ll get down now. [soapbox]
Randie-it is strange to think we derive such pleasure from making these images of war. We sometimes forget what serious business this was to many. One of the reasons I disdain the use of “dead” soldiers or gravely wounded ones in modeling! Hopefully we won’t start modeling the planes that flew into the WTC.
True…
I am the gradson of a pacific theater veteran. He was captured and was on the Bataan death march. He was in a prison camp out side of Nagasaki when the bomb was dropped…
Where would we be without’em…
God Bless their souls…
On Pearl Harbor Day (and Veteran’s Day) I remember my uncles, one who was missing his right forearm (ambulance driver), another missing a finger (Seabee) and yet another without a physical scratch, but many nightmares (LCM pilot at Tarawa, Iwo, etc). Another two who didn’t return and I had never met, a B17 bombadier (killed over Germany) and a tanker (killed in Normandy). Add to this all of the other allied and axis soldiers, sailors, Marines and aircrews, civilians and property losses and one wonders why we haven’t learned better yet.
My best to all the vets and my fellow service members who are still serving. If anybody else has ever been to ‘Pearl’, it’s hard to imagine a battle in such a beautiful place, even when you’re looking down at the wreck of the Arizona.
Hear, hear. My father had been stationed at Pearl and got out of the Navy just a few years before the attack. After the Dec 7th, he wanted back in, but was in what the gov’t deemed a vital civilian government job (civil ATC management). He and my mother lost a lot of good friends there. My Mother was pretty bitter 'til the day she died. Thank the Lord that we have gotten to the point that we’re not holding the attack of that government and military against the people and government of Japan today. Life moves on, but may we never forget that we are vulnerable and a target to the extreme people of the world. I don’t, and never will, want to build a model of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers or the Pentagon, but also, I never want to forget the image and the horror I experienced as it happened. I pray nothing similar ever happens to any nation again.
Sunday will be a time to reflect on the first day of that catastrophic conflict known as World War Two. It began, for the United States, a war to end a terrible evil that threatened the world. Remember the men and women who fought that conflict here and abroad, especially those that never came home. Find those in your town, your neighborhood, your street, and thank them for their service to this country, for their many sacrifices, and for preserving our way of life. The late Professor Stephen Ambrose got it right when he said that “this is the generation that saved the world.” My thanks to those who gave their all.
Every year I remember and thank in prayer, all the servicemen and women who were there on that immortal day. We should never forget what that day symbolizes to our country, much like 9/11 does for today’s generation. Could one imagine this world if America weren’t drawn into WW II? People around the world just don’t understand our country. When we are attacked, we fight back with an overwhelming commitment and resolve. We are a nation united and free, thanks to the many sacrifices made by our serviceman/women. God thank all of them.
Being of English decent on my Father’s side and Dutch on my Mother’s, for me the count was really more like 64 years in September. My Maternal Grandfather was in the Dutch Army at the outbreak of hostilities and was shot in the lung by a German sniper soon after. Spent a long time in hospital recovering (lost the lung) and then had to ‘check out’ early before he was rounded up as a POW. Spent the rest of the war with the resistance.
Paternal Grandfather worked for the British as an Engineer in one of the "top Secret’ sections - died before I was old enough to ask real questions.
But all in all, they knew what they were in for at the time, whereas the guys and girls at Pearl didn’t; a big difference. May they truely rest in peace, knowing that their country men and those in other countries, still honour them after all these years.
I have a great uncle who fought in the Pacific and my granffather was in Korea. Ever since I was a kid I have always upheld soldiers of any conflict to very high respect. They were always my heros instead of ball players or movie stars like most kids. I always like to remember Dec 7 as an important day that changed not only thousands of lives but the world as well.
…as a kid i built the arizona…not knowing any which way about it…i’m sure i couldnt build it today…too many feelings…respect to all service persons…jeffl
[quote] Originally posted by tigerman
People around the world just don’t understand our country. When we are attacked, we fight back with an overwhelming commitment and resolve. We are a nation united and free, thanks to the many sacrifices made by our serviceman/women. God thank all of them.
In the immortal words of Toby Kieth, “We’ll put a boot in your ass, THAT’S the American way!!”
My dad’s war was WWII…My step-dad’s war was Korea…Mine was Vietnam…My nephew"s was Desert Storm…he has an 11 year old son, when/where will his war be?
Our family is not special, most if not all of you can site a similar lineage. We must not forget and must not let our children to forget. If/when any of them ask the question "where do we get such men (and women), we need simply say take a look in any direction, they’re all around you.
God bless all who have, are, and will serve. God bless all who have, are ,and will also serve by standing and waiting…THANK YOU.
World War II would always be remembered by us Filipino’s: The Bataan Death March, The commando raid on the Cabanatuan POW camp, Corregidor Island, McArthur’s promise:“I Shall Return”, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, McArthur’s landing in Leyte Island…Filipino’s fought side by side with the Americans not just in WWII but also in Korea.
My grandfather had to hide in his attic when German Wehrmacht cordened off the street and rounded up men between 15 and 50 to be sent to work in factories… He then defended the tree’s in the street from being cut down for firewood during the hunger winter. The council pulled them down after the war, so he was somewhat miffed about that.
He never ever told any stories about the war. I do know he was in the reserves of the Dutch army and was called up for active duty, but thats all. He sure as heck didn’t have any love for the Germans after that that. He was here during the German occupation trying not to get arrested and sent to camps or factories to his death. I also know he helped the resistance as much as he could. He’s a hero of mine and my only regret is that I never got to know him well enough.
Regarding the Japanese war plan, I think it was an act of monumental self-delusion that the Japanese convinced themselves that the Americans would fold and be unwilling to take the casualties necessary to regain the possessions we had in the Pacific.
File that under the category of “serious errors in judgment.” When we put the cap on their oil exports in July 1941 because they had marched into French Indochina, and to settle other scores for their misbehavior over the previous four years, the Japanese Empire was suddenly facing some pretty hard choices, with the fleet down to something like eighteen months’ supply and their army to a year, and then they would basically run dry. (The US was the number one oil exported to the world at that time – pretty wild to think of now, huh?) The oil supply of the Dutch East Indies was lookin’ pretty good to them, but they knew they’d have to fight off the US to keep it. And so was born the “cunning plan” purely out of Baldrick’s mind, which required that the US be soft and weak round-eyed capitalist non-samurai, and willingly allow them to take over areas in which we had hegemony.
Yeah right.
Once there were literally dozens of attack carriers basically blowing everything that moved in the Pacific to pieces, and then blowing the pieces to pieces, I imagine that required some adjustment to their perception of the weak materialialist capitalist Americans.
