December 7th - PEARL HARBOR DAY

[Die Fledermaus]

>> To the Congress of the United States:

Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

This morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, Dec. 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire. <<


Pearl Harbor Photo Gallery

War for the United States began on December 7th, 1941, with the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Nothing like it was experienced by the U.S. before, nor would there be anything like it again - until 9/11. But at least the Japanese targeted Military installations.

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In World War Two appeals to God remained common from Presidents, as they had been throughout American history.

This prayer, regarding the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, also spoken by President Roosevelt, was typical:

>> My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944 <<

easylink.playstream.com/historyplace/thp-fdr-prayer.rm


Can anyone imagine the current President leading America in such a prayer?

[Die Fledermaus]

Pearl Harbor veterans recall infamous attack.

L.A. Times, Dec. 6, 2009.

by Nicole Santa Cruz.

>> Few veterans who experienced the attack 68 years ago remain alive. 'We're vanishing rapidly,' one says.

Pete Limon remembers munching on an apple on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when he looked up and saw funny-looking planes flying overhead.

Suddenly the bombs started falling.

"You can't imagine that the [Japanese] would do this; we're not at war," recalled Limon, who was 17 at the time and served as a radioman on the seaplane tender Swan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The San Juan Capistrano resident, now 85, is one of the few survivors of the infamous attack at the Navy base who is still living.

In the early 1960s, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn. boasted as many as 20,000 members. That number has dwindled to just 3,000, with about a third of those living in California, said Arthur Herriford, president of the association.

"Considering the age group, we're vanishing rapidly," said Herriford, 87, who is traveling to Hawaii today to attend memorial services marking the 68th anniversary of the day President Roosevelt declared would "live in infamy."

For veterans such as Herriford and Limon, the Pearl Harbor attack, which prompted the United States to enter World War II, was a defining moment.

"It was the night I heard sailors cry," Limon said.

At the time, Herriford said, he was aboard the light cruiser Detroit, which was dry-docked about half a mile from the battleships that that were among the first targeted. He saw the battleship Arizona explode, then sink.

"Even to this day, it's hard to conceive that in a snap of a finger, 1,177 lives were wiped out," Herriford said during an interview at his Sherman Oaks home last week.

He hadn't been sure he was going to make it out alive, either.

"We thought it was a one-way trip," said Herriford, who occasionally wears his white Navy hat embroidered in blue with the words "Pearl Harbor Survivors."

He also treasures a photo of the Hawaii harbor taken just before the attack -- a time when he was sitting down to a bowl of cornflakes.

"I never got a bite," he said.

Some veterans, such as Joe Soto of Rosemead, surround themselves with memories of the time. Soto's tiny apartment is a mini-museum, crammed with photo albums, letters and postcards from friends in the service.

On his wall hangs the side of a cloth suitcase with all the locations Soto was stationed at written in black marker -- Bora Bora, Tulagi, Brisbane and New Guinea, to name a few.

His Purple Heart medal, from a head injury, is pinned on his old navy blue Marines shirt. His fleece comforter is emblazoned with the Marines insignia.

A copy of the Dec. 7, 1941, Honolulu Star-Bulletin hangs on the wall, as does a photo of the New Orleans, the heavy cruiser on which Soto served.

Soto doesn't recall many specifics of the Pearl Harbor attack, but he does remember his love for his comrades.

He pointed to a picture of several friends whom he served with who have since passed away.

"He's gone," Soto said, pointing to one, and then another. "She's gone."

A postcard in one scrapbook is written in neat cursive. It is addressed to Soto from the wife of Marine John Cartwright, who died Dec. 30, 1987.

"He sure did enjoy your letters and phone calls," it says. <<

www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vets6-2009dec06,0,6796046.story


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>> Attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941

The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.

Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships. In one stroke the Japanese action silenced the debate that had divided Americans ever since the German defeat of France left England alone in the fight against the Nazi terror.

Approximately three hours later, Japanese planes began a day-long attack on American facilities in the Philippines. (Because the islands are located across the International Dateline, the local Philippine time was just after 5 AM on December 8.) Farther to the west, the Japanese struck at Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand in a coordinated attempt to use surprise in order inflict as much damage as quickly as possible to strategic targets.

Although stunned by the attack at Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers, submarines and, most importantly, its fuel oil storage facilities emerged unscathed. These assets formed the foundation for the American response that led to victory at the Battle of Midway the following June and ultimately to the total destruction of the Japanese Empire four years later.

The battleships moored along "Battleship Row" are the primary target of the attack's first wave. Ten minutes after the beginning of the attack a bomb crashes through the Arizona's two armored decks igniting its magazine. The explosion rips the ship's sides open like a tin can starting a fire that engulfs the entire ship. Within minutes she sinks to the bottom taking 1,300 lives with her. The sunken ship remains as a memorial to those who sacrificed their lives during the attack. Marine Corporal E.C. Nightingale was aboard the Arizona that fateful Sunday morning:

"At approximately eight o'clock on the morning of December 7, 1941, I was leaving the breakfast table when the ship's siren for air defense sounded. Having no anti-aircraft battle station, I paid little attention to it. Suddenly I heard an explosion. I ran to the port door leading to the quarterdeck and saw a bomb strike a barge of some sort alongside the NEVADA, or in that vicinity. The marine color guard came in at this point saying we were being attacked. I could distinctly hear machine gun fire. I believe at this point our anti-aircraft battery opened up.

"We stood around awaiting orders of some kind. General Quarters sounded and I started for my battle station in secondary aft. As I passed through casement nine I noted the gun was manned and being trained out. The men seemed extremely calm and collected. I reached the boat deck and our anti-aircraft guns were in full action, firing very rapidly. I was about three quarters of the way to the first platform on the mast when it seemed as though a bomb struck our quarterdeck. I could hear shrapnel or fragments whistling past me.

As soon as I reached the first platform, I saw Second Lieutenant Simonson lying on his back with blood on his shirt front. I bent over him and taking him by the shoulders asked if there was anything I could do. He was dead, or so nearly so that speech was impossible. Seeing there was nothing I could do for the Lieutenant, I continued to my battle station.

"When I arrived in secondary aft I reported to Major Shapley that Mr. Simonson had been hit and there was nothing to be done for him. There was a lot of talking going on and I shouted for silence which came immediately. I had only been there a short time when a terrible explosion caused the ship to shake violently. I looked at the boat deck and everything seemed aflame forward of the mainmast. I reported to the Major that the ship was aflame, which was rather needless, and after looking about, the Major ordered us to leave.

"I was the last man to leave secondary aft because I looked around and there was no one left. I followed the Major down the port side of the tripod mast. The railings, as we ascended, were very hot and as we reached the boat deck I noted that it was torn up and burned. The bodies of the dead were thick, and badly burned men were heading for the quarterdeck, only to fall apparently dead or badly wounded. The Major and I went between No. 3 and No. 4 turret to the starboard side and found Lieutenant Commander Fuqua ordering the men over the side and assisting the wounded. He seemed exceptionally calm and the Major stopped and they talked for a moment. Charred bodies were everywhere.

"I made my way to the quay and started to remove my shoes when I suddenly found myself in the water. I think the concussion of a bomb threw me in. I started swimming for the pipe line which was about one hundred and fifty feet away. I was about half way when my strength gave out entirely. My clothes and shocked condition sapped my strength, and I was about to go under when Major Shapley started to swim by, and seeing my distress, grasped my shirt and told me to hang to his shoulders while he swam in.

"We were perhaps twenty-five feet from the pipe line when the Major's strength gave out and I saw he was floundering, so I loosened my grip on him and told him to make it alone. He stopped and grabbed me by the shirt and refused to let go. I would have drowned but for the Major. We finally reached the beach where a marine directed us to a bomb shelter, where I was given dry clothes and a place to rest." <<

www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pearl.htm


A captured Japanese photo shows Battleship Row under attack.
Hickam Field burns in the distance.

[Die Fledermaus]

[Die Fledermaus]

December 7th, 1941.

The Attack on Pearl Harbor or Bombing of Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack on the United States naval base on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. It was launched on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 (Hawaii time) by the Empire of Japan's Carrier Striking Task Force against the U.S. Pacific Fleet and other US armed forces stationed at the harbor and also on the other side of Oahu. The attack spurred the U.S. into entering World War II on the following day and officially started the Pacific War.

This is one of the best sites with many different features:

plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/

[Die Fledermaus]

www.thetelegraph.com/news/ship_20988___article.html/harbor_japanese.html

Pearl Harbor survivor remembers

December 6, 2008 - 9:54 PM
By LINDA N. WELLER
The Telegraph

HIGHLAND - A retired U.S. Navy veteran living in Highland still retains the horrifying images in his mind of the surprise attack from Japanese pilots on Pearl Harbor 67 years ago today.

"The water was burning, the oil had spilled out from the ships, and it looked like the whole harbor was on fire," said Dallas Harvey, 89, one of the few survivors of the attack still alive in Southern Illinois.

The harbor was full of black smoke, he said.

Harvey, a 21-year-old corpsman (medic), was on the USS Argonne repair ship docked in Pearl Harbor in what then was the territory of Hawaii when the massive, surprise attack began at 7:55 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941.

There had been a bugle call five minutes before at 8 a.m. revelry. Shortly after that, the first three Japanese planes that he saw arrived.

"I was getting ready for sick call, for anybody on the ship who was bothered by a cold or headache" or other ailment, as the doctor was not there on Sundays, Harvey remembered this week.

"Three planes that I recall came over and dropped bombs on the naval air station on a small island (in the bay) called Ford Island," he said. The planes strafed the Argonne with machine-gun fire.

"The third plane flew over our ship, then I saw the red dots (Japanese sun insignia) on the wings," and he knew the attackers were Japanese.

"I didn't think for awhile," he said about the moments immediately after the shock. "After the initial attack, they called for volunteers to go to the rescue party to one of the battleships, so I volunteered for that. We were on a flat-bottom barge pulled by a little motorboat."

Harvey and the other men were out in the middle of the harbor when the second round of Japanese planes arrived, but they did not fire on the corpsmen in the water.

"We figured we would be strafed, but they were after bigger fish," he said. "I was almost positive we would be prisoners by nightfall."

The crew got to the sinking USS California, but its occupants had abandoned ship.

"There was not much of anything there; the commanding officer had called for abandoning ship," Harvey said about the California's crew. "They had already left. The ship was resting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor" in the shallow water.

"We searched, but we didn't find anybody," he said. "We went back to our ship."

From there, he helped with the awful task of unloading the hundreds of bodies from battered ships to the dock.

"I blocked that part out until 50 years later, when I went to the 50-year reunion," he said about the scenes of carnage. "I had a total blackout."

Among the dead was a friend from his hometown of Kentland, Ind., who had been on the USS Oklahoma.

"It just turned over," he said about the battleship.

He said he did not see the infamous explosion of the USS Arizona, aboard which 1,177 crew members died.

"The biggest explosion I can remember was a destroyer that they bombed directly," he said. "It just disintegrated."

The Imperial Japanese Naval Task Force launched 353 aircraft, which had traveled from Japan on six aircraft carriers, in two waves. The planes sank four U.S. Navy battleships and damaged four others; sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers and one minelayer; and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft.

The attack killed 2,402 and wounded 1,282 on land and ships.

The Argonne manned its guns "as quickly as possible (about 7:58 a.m.)," with total rounds fired at the Japanese: 3-inch, .23-caliber, 196; and .50-caliber machine gun, 3,885, according to a U.S. Navy report of 1942 by commanding officer F.W. Connor.

The firing from the .50-caliber machine gun shot down one enemy bomber plane "as it came along ‘1010' dock and turned toward Ford Island."

There were no losses to personnel aboard the Argonne, with minor damage to the vessel.

"The entire crew of this vessel performed their duties in accordance with the best traditions of the service, assisting to get wounded from damaged ships, taking bodies from water and assisting with repair facilities to full capacity," the report says at:

www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/...g31-Pearl.html

Despite witnessing the horrible, historic bombing that prompted the United States' entry into World War II, Harvey stayed in the Navy for 26 more years, retiring after 30 years of service. During that time, he married a Navy woman he met at Great Lakes, Ill.

Dallas and Rita Harvey, who have been married 61 years, have two sons: Ed, of the Highland area, and Steve, of Detroit. A daughter is deceased. They have seven grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.

The couple later was stationed in Taiwan, during which time Harvey said his wife befriended the late Madame Chiang Kai-Shek (Soong Mayling), wife of the leader of the island, where the couple was exiled from mainland China.

"I've had a very interesting life," Harvey said.

While living in Taiwan after the war, the Harveys took trips to Japan, despite Dallas Harvey's experiences at Pearl Harbor.

"I have nothing against the Japanese," he said.

After leaving the Navy, he was a missionary for Campus Crusade for Christ, establishing military chapters in numerous countries' armies around the world.

Harvey said he tries to get together with other Pearl Harbor survivors who meet in Springfield, Ill., a couple times a year. He also speaks to classes in Highland schools about his experiences, is a member of Highland VFW Post 5694 and Faith Baptist Church.

Kate Broadhurst, deputy chief of staff for Post 5694, said Harvey has "a natural knack with kids."

"He's just a great inspiration to the community," Broadhurst said. "He's very active in his church and is always here (at the VFW) for veterans' activities."

Post 5694 is planning to hold a commemoration ceremony at 3 p.m. today, honoring Pearl Harbor victims and survivors, especially Harvey. Broadhurst said she expects both Harvey and the mayor of Highland to speak. The ceremony will conclude with veterans lowering a memorial wreath into the VFW Lake.

The public is welcome.

The Springfield chapter of Pearl Harbor Survivors and Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors plan a ceremony at 2 p.m. today at Lake Springfield. Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, is they keynote speaker.

There also will be a rifle salute and taps, and veterans will drop a memorial wreath into that lake.

Also in Illinois, the city of Chicago played host Friday to a ceremony, "Chicago Remembers Pearl Harbor," at Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. It honored "all of those who fought in the face of extraordinary odds that Sunday morning," a city announcement said.

The event included a bell-ringing ceremony in remembrance of the seven Illinois Pearl Harbor victims who died and whose remains still are on the submerged U.S.S. Arizona. Representatives from the Illinois and Chicago chapters of Pearl Harbor Survivors were special guests.

[Die Fledermaus]

>> PEARL HARBOR REFLECTIONS - DECEMBER 7,1941
Ralph Jeffers, ADC, USN (Ret.)

Ralph Jeffers

On Sunday morning, 7 December 1941, the Japanese navy without warning attacked by air the U.S. Pacific Fleet lying at anchor in Pearl Harbor, the U.S. navy base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Within two hours, every capital ship of the fleet was either sunk or severely damaged. Over 2400 lives were lost in the attack. Serving aboard the USS Curtiss, a navy seaplane tender located in the harbor near “battleship row”, were two young sailors, Ralph Jeffers and Thomas Mahoney, who witnessed an event that day that not only changed their lives but that of every American. Both recorded their memories in diaries and they are being published for the first time on this web site for everyone to read. Ralph is currently the president of the NJ Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Association and Tom is president of the Monmouth Chapter of the Association, Monmouth County, NJ. After the attack which brought the United States into World War II, both men served valiantly the duration of the war in the U.S. Navy.

Ralph Jeffers in 1952, just after returning to
the U.S. from Naval Mission duty in Chile





The day broke with the usual quiet Sunday morning in the harbor at Pearl Harbor. The assembled fleet looked majestic, as always - Battleships tied up along the quays - Cruisers and Destroyers tied to their buoys or moored along side their support ships. Nothing in the harbor was moving except probably a small boat scurrying between ships, or going to and coming from Fleet Landing. I had been on deck rather early to take in some fresh air before going down below to have breakfast. The time was about 7:30. The mess compartment on our ship, the U.S.S. Curtiss, was very spacious. On both sides of the compartment were large hatches that were opened for ventilation. These hatches are normally used for loading and unloading various ship's stores, (food, munitions etc.).

I was enjoying my breakfast and gabbing with several shipmates when suddenly explosions were Looking out through the starboard open hatch from as we were sitting we saw the Fleet Target ship, the U.S.S. Utah, capsizing on its port side. At that instant, over the loud speaker, came those dreaded words: "Attention, Attention, this is no drill, All hands to battle stations". This ominous call was repeated time and time again as we hastily made our way from the messing compartment to our battle stations. The time was 7:55 when the Curtiss and its crew went to General Quarters under enemy attack. I climbed over bunks to get to an open hatch in order to make time to get to my battle station. By this time the harbor was alive with bursting shells and machine gun fire, with ships aflame and smoke rising everywhere. Planes overhead were clearly not ours, but Japanese, with the distinctive Rising Sun emblem. As I ran aft to the ship’s fantail I expected to find the usual gun crew, but only three of us were there instead of the 7 or 8 regularly assigned to the machine guns. I immediately went below to the Chief’s quarters to turn on the water required for cooling the guns. As I did so, I yelled to some Chiefs who were still in their bunks that we were under attack by the Japanese. Back up on deck again the other two men were getting the ammunition into the guns. The three of us then began firing.

The following action was witnessed by our gun crew from back on the fantail of our ship. I felt the three of us had a ring side seat witnessing the havoc that was happening all around our ship and the fleet assembled in the harbor.

The Japanese had already bombed the seaplane hangars at Ford Island. Many ships in the dry dock and in the channel had also been hit. Within minutes a submarine periscope was sighted on the starboard side of the ship. The Curtiss opened fire with main guns and machine guns. The Curtiss ceased firing when the U.S.S. Monaghan steamed alongside the submarine dropping depth charges. The submarine, while sinking, fired a torpedo at the Curtiss, missing it and the torpedo ran up into the Pearl City channel. During this period the Curtiss was being attacked by enemy planes and our ship responded with its anti-aircraft guns. A Japanese dive bomber was hit while making a diving pass at the ship's starboard side. The aircraft burst into flames and crashed in the No. 1 crane on the ships starboard side where it burned completely. The blast and heat effects put the ship's No. 3 main gun out of commission and the crew of No. 3 gun was forced to abandon the gun temporarily.

Sometime after 9:00 AM, a enemy plane came in low over the bow of the Curtiss passing from starboard to port. This plane was hit by our forward gun crews. It crashed immediately. Shortly after, another enemy plane made a steep diving attack on the starboard side, releasing a bomb. The bomb hit in the vicinity of the same crane that was damaged previously, exploding below decks. The attacking plane was hit and crashed about a 1,000 yards on the port side. The bomb hit setting the hangar, main deck aft, and the No.4 ammunition handling room on fire. This fire put No.4 gun out of action, consequently causing many casualties. At this time all preparations were made for abandoning ship or for running aground. Three enemy planes again attacked the ship dropping one bomb to starboard, and the other two near the stern where my battle station was located. Luckily, none of these bombs struck the ship or caused any apparent damage.

The after engine room reported out of action at around 9:30 AM, due to smoke and a ruptured steam fine. All fires were reported under control. However, all fires were not extinquished until late that afternoon.

That evening, after the holocaust of December 7, 1941, the Curtiss counted 79 causalties, including 21 dead. After making emergency repairs, the Curtiss sailed for San Diego. Unfortunately, I was put ashore due to my aviation rating. I was assigned to a PBY Squadron at Ford Island, until I could once again rejoin the Curtiss after major repairs were completed in the states.

In all, the Curtiss earned seven battle stars, commencing from Pearl Harbor until the end of the war. The ship continued to serve the navy and our nation until she was placed out of commission. It was put in reserve on the 24th of September 1957.

In retrospect to the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, I believe it was inevitable that our nation would be drawn into the conflict raging in Europe. Many months prior to Pearl Harbor, as the Curtiss made port in the islands of the Pacific, we were in the state of readiness for any eventuality that coutd happen at any time. The authorities in office in Washington, D.C. were well aware of the conditions prevailing in the Pacific.

My feelings about Japan have not changed over the years, nor have I mellowed about the Japanese. I still think of the Bataan Death March, where over 10,000 prisoners of war lost their lives to a cruel and vicious enemy. I also believe that the Atom bombs that were dropped on Japan was the correct decision by President Harry Truman. By doing so, it saved countless lives and ended, thankfully, World War Two. <<

>> Pearl Harbor recalled at Camden ceremony

By BRIDGET SMITH • Courier-Post Staff • December 9, 2008

CAMDEN — When Ralph Jeffers awoke the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, there was nothing to indicate the day would be anything other than ordinary.
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He got out of bed around 7:30, had breakfast, and walked out onto the deck of the USS Curtiss to get some fresh air.

That's when he heard the explosions.

Japanese forces had just begun their attack on U.S. military personnel stationed at Pearl Harbor, and, Jeffers recalled, "it was all hands on deck."

"All hell broke loose," he said.

Jeffers, of Oakhurst, Monmouth County, shared his experience Monday morning during a ceremony to mark the 67th anniversary of the attack, which killed 2,388 Americans and wounded 1,178 others.

More than a hundred veterans, residents and local officials braved the bitter cold and biting winds to attend the hourlong ceremony, held on the pier in front of the Battleship New Jersey Museum.

Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., called on the crowd to remember the men and women who lost their lives that day, and the many others who served in the military throughout the years.

"At first glance, (Jeffers) would appear to be an ordinary American," he said. "But his service wasn't typical at all."

He noted that Jeffers is one of a dwindling number of World War II survivors, and asked for a moment of silence for those who survived the war but have since died.

It was the 18th year Andrews sponsored a Pearl Harbor remembrance.

The hourlong ceremony also featured a 21-gun salute, a blessing by Father Peter Molnar, an Army chaplain, and music by the Eastern Regional High School jazz band and several singers.

Following Jeffers' keynote address, Andrews and several veterans walked a wreath to the edge of the pier and dropped it into the Delaware River as taps echoed through the nearly silent harbor.

A smaller wreath-dropping ceremony was held aboard the battleship on Sunday, the anniversary of the attacks.

Several veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars were on hand for that event, World War II-era memorabilia was on display throughout the day, and a retired Navy captain read the names of each ship damaged or destroyed in the attack.

In his closing prayer, Molnar made one request.

"Never forget what our servicemen have done for us, what they are doing for us, and what they will do for us," he said. <<

[Hamsters82]

Thank God for our military or we'd be under German (Nazi) rulers. We should always thank our military for our continued freedom!!

[Die Fledermaus]

I always do. Would that our leaders did.

Note also FDR's PRAYER at the bottom of the first post. Imagine any politician doing that today. Read it; it's very moving.

Saturday I was with a friend at the big rally in Manhattan protesting the civilian trial of 9/11 terrorists in a Federal Courthouse just a short distance from the WTC site. The rally went on for two hours with speeches, and the people there were quite angry. The weather was awful, but we endured for a good cause.

See www.911neverforget.us. And I am not forgetting Pearl Harbor, either.

[pinky]

You do realize that Ralph Jeffers is my landlord, yes? Did I post these remembrances before, like perhaps last year?

He just celebrated his 90th birthday last week. I will make him a pie eventually.

[Die Fledermaus]

Yes, and yes. Some of that is a reprise. Happy 90th!

What kind of pie?

Ever make WHITE Gazpacho??

[pinky]

I think he likes apple a lot, so it may be that.

White gazpacho? With white tomatoes?? ;D

[Die Fledermaus]

I will mail you the recipe. No tomatoes are in it.