Never Forget

...a date that will live in infamy.

My deepest thanks to all those who serve and served.

Sadly, no survivors are living anymore.

I was there for the 50th anniversary. Lots of vets still around, and many attended - from both sides. There was no animosity left.

In reply to Ranger50 :

I think Lou Conter is still alive (102). He served on the USS Arizona. He is the last known survivor of Pearl Harbor.

But there are still about 115,000 surviving veterans of WWII who served at the same time (but not in PH).  Less than 1% of those who served.
 

My dad was one of them. (recently passed away)

There's a program on the History Channel called "Pearl Harbor:  the Truth"; showing the intelligence and military cues missed, which would have been early warnings.

SV reX said:

In reply to Ranger50 :

I think Lou Conter is still alive (102). He served on the USS Arizona. He is the last known survivor of Pearl Harbor.

But there are still about 115,000 surviving veterans of WWII who served at the same time (but not in PH).  
 

My dad was one of them. (recently passed away)

I had heard, or I think I heard, he had passed away around August or September.

My maternal grandfather was a Pearl Harbor survivor until he passed away in 2001.

Then you have my ex wife's maternal grandfather who was stuck in a tank during the battle of the bulge....

914Driver said:

There's a program on the History Channel called "Pearl Harbor:  the Truth"; showing the intelligence and military cues missed, which would have been early warnings.

Find a copy of Roberta Wohlstetter's Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision. It's an older book (1962), but she takes apart the lead-up process pretty effectively.

In reply to Ranger50 :

I know he made it to his 102nd birthday in September, but I haven't heard he died. I can't find an obit. 

to quote my grandfather:  "My weapon in the war was a piece of chalk."  He was an instructor for radar operators, posted to Hawaii from 1942 to 1945.  

My Grandfather was not fighting age in the 40s. He did fight in Korea however. He enlisted after being inspired by stories from the Oahu airfield.... tales about service crew taking up defensive positions as the 2nd pass was coming in.

jmabarone said:

to quote my grandfather:  "My weapon in the war was a piece of chalk."  He was an instructor for radar operators, posted to Hawaii from 1942 to 1945.  

That's what my father did during the Korean War.

My great uncle signed up in the Navy shortly after Pearl.  He got stationed in the New Hebrides as intelligence / administrative support.  Did his tour well away from any action, and when his hitch was up, he decided to reenlist because he felt he hadn't really done his duty.  He wound up... stationed in the New Hebrides as intelligence / administrative support.

SV reX said:

In reply to Ranger50 :

I know he made it to his 102nd birthday in September, but I haven't heard he died. I can't find an obit. 

Per a story posted today, he's still alive.  To be clear, he's the last survivor of the Arizona; there are other Pearl Harbor vets still living, but the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t keep statistics.  This AP story says six men are expected to attend today's ceremony.  https://apnews.com/article/pearl-harbor-attack-anniversary-world-war-ii-cdfd14ffccf0299305d90b61921fc95d

There were so many great little stories of heroism and bravery from this day 82 years ago. 

In reply to stuart in mn :

Gotcha. Thanks for the correction. 

In reply to stuart in mn :

Great information. Thanks. 
 

My dads oldest brother was Navy Non-Com pilot, and a survivor of Pearl. 
I had not remembered it was the 7th, till I saw this post, so thanks to the op. 
 

914Driver said:

There's a program on the History Channel called "Pearl Harbor:  the Truth"; showing the intelligence and military cues missed, which would have been early warnings.

They were not missed, they were dismissed. Well, most of them. Some were missed. Pretty much to a leader, nobody thought that Japan would attack Hawaii, so they looked elsewhere. And they thought bomber presence in the Philippines would deter Japan. Let alone nobody thought Japan's planes were that capable. 
 

alfadriver said:

914Driver said:

There's a program on the History Channel called "Pearl Harbor:  the Truth"; showing the intelligence and military cues missed, which would have been early warnings.

They were not missed, they were dismissed. Well, most of them. Some were missed. Pretty much to a leader, nobody thought that Japan would attack Hawaii, so they looked elsewhere. And they thought bomber presence in the Philippines would deter Japan. Let alone nobody thought Japan's planes were that capable. 
 

The older I get, the more it seems like every major catastrophe of the last 100+ years could have been avoided through a bit more diligence and planning, or at least a more cautious approach. Titanic, Pearl Harbor, the Challenger, 9/11, and so on.

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

alfadriver said:

914Driver said:

There's a program on the History Channel called "Pearl Harbor:  the Truth"; showing the intelligence and military cues missed, which would have been early warnings.

They were not missed, they were dismissed. Well, most of them. Some were missed. Pretty much to a leader, nobody thought that Japan would attack Hawaii, so they looked elsewhere. And they thought bomber presence in the Philippines would deter Japan. Let alone nobody thought Japan's planes were that capable. 
 

The older I get, the more it seems like every major catastrophe of the last 100+ years could have been avoided through a bit more diligence and planning, or at least a more cautious approach. Titanic, Pearl Harbor, the Challenger, 9/11, and so on.

That goes way beyond 100 years. Hence the saying "hindsight is 20/20"

Find a book called Inviting Disaster.  Pretty much the same missed cues but with accidents.  EVERY mishap, accident or catastrophe has no less than 5 warnings.  You just gotta notice them.

As a QC Inspector and then failure analysis Tech, this was pretty interesting.  Stories similar to Pear Harbor but with the 20/20.

Today always makes me think of Grandpa. He wasn't part of the Pacific Theater, he was in Europe, but today marks the day that everything changed for him, his family, and his future, which includes me. 

Grandpa was interviewed as part of the Veterans History Project Service, a Library of Congress project to document the experiences of those who were part of the conflict (as well as others). If anyone is interested, I highly recommend spending some time watching, listening, and learning. 

Here are 288 records of the collection that involved Pearl Harbor, including 214 films/videos.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

They could have been, or we'd have already been paralyzed responding to ten things ahead of it that looked ominous but were nothing. 

I read "A Matter of Honor" by Anthony Summers a few years ago, about the attempt of the Admiral who was commander of the Pacific Fleet and his family who was Court Marshalled to clear his name.  The Pentagon has refused to release the confidential files on the attack.  If you look at the Battle of Midway that took place six months after you will see how Naval Intelligence had already cracked the Japanese code and they set a trap for the Japanese.  Naval Intelligence had cracked the code a full year before Pearl Harbor.  There is some speculation that the Roosevelt Administration did not warn the Commanders in the Pacific to keep the code breaking a secret, that the Admirals felt that battleships could not be sunk by aircraft and that Pearl harbor was too shallow for torpedo planes to be effective.  The news media at the time was too incensed at the Japanese to do any detailed investigation.

My grandfather was at Pearl Harbor.  I think about it every year.