Days of Infamy

[reisen55]

A former Marine I used to work with some ages back got me to writing tonight, sharing this with our community today.

From the 101st floor of the south tower, I can see the mainmast of the Arizona.
Not so far away, not so long ago as time passes by.
Dwindling numbers from BB39 and others stand with us.
Fewer next year.
Dwindling numbers from first responders stand with us.
Fewer next year too.
The flag still flies, Above the ship. Above the towers.
The soldiers, sailors and marines still fight.
In Guadalcanal, at Tarawa, Iwo and Afghanistan.
They stood on the Deck of the Missouri
They stood in the courtyard of Baghdad.
They sleep under the pacific waters with their ships
They sleep with the twisted steel from the towers.
Honor them, never forget them.

I am a survivor, Tower 2, 101st floor
September 11, 2001
Aon Consulting

[nachtjaeger]

Thanks. It seemed like this was the year everybody forgot Pearl Harbor. I think it was Heinlein that said "A nation that forgets its past- has no future."

[Mynock]

^^You're not the only one that noticed that. Called my grandfather like I usually do (he wasn't there but he is a WWII vet) and he wasn't too happy about it either.
I've heard 9/11 called "My Generations Pearl harbor" before....I agree but disagree. Both were dirty, low blows that came out of nowhere, and both made us realize that we as a country are not invulnerable......but at least the Japanese had the decency to hit a military target and not deliberatly aim at innocent civialians.

[kham]

Driving home, think Hannity mentioned that today; they spent more time on media gabbing about the 30th anniversary of Lennon getting killed than they did the 69th anniversary of Pearl. Disgusting


From Lex, FDR Speech

Never forget.


*Oh, one comment I caught on Cmdr Sal's blog, re the usual tourist shenanigans on the Arizona Memorial: Japanese tourist asking where is the "Arizona Monument"

'Right where your ancestors left it pal'

[MuddyEddie]

....but at least the Japanese had the decency to hit a military target and not deliberatly aim at innocent civialians.

You mean like the United States did on both August 6th and August 9th 1945? Of course that was "justified" because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor first. So the U.S. had the right to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children.

Eddie

[kham]

Nanking

'nuff said



They got off easy

[bbjohn]

Nanking

'nuff said



They got off easy

I couldn't agree with you more, Kham. If anyone needs to know what the results of Japan's military conquests were like, just ask any World War II survivors in China. The Japanese claimed they were "liberating" Asians from European and American colonial rule, but they reserved their worst atrocities for other Asians. The Rape of Nanking was a deliberate effort at terrorizing and punishing an entire civilian population. Keep that in mind the next time someone criticizes America for dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I see in the news there are Japanese historians and politicians who claim the Rape of Nanking never happened. The world should be at least as outraged at this as we are by those who claim the Holocaust never happened. Both are trying to whitewash history.

I also see there are some Japanese historians who claim Japan warned the Americans they would attack Pearl Harbor. If you believe that, I have some nice beachfront property in Tucson I'd like to sell you.

I recall reading of a conversation between a Japanese gentleman and an anti-war protester which occurred in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The anti-war protester said to the Japanese man, "I wish to apologize for my country."

"For what?" the Japanese man asked.

"For dropping the atomic bomb on your country," the anti-war protester said.

The Japanese man look confused for a moment and then laughed.

"Young man," he said to the anti-war protester. "You can believe me when I say this: if we had had the atomic bomb in 1945, we wouldn't have hesitated to use it on your country!"

America didn't start the war. We finished it, and millions are grateful we did.

"Nuf said.

Big Bad John

[bart1997]

You mean like the United States did on both August 6th and August 9th 1945? Of course that was "justified" because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor first. So the U.S. had the right to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children.

Eddie

Well, last time i did criticize the US-military-spending i got a beating, but regarding that issue it is something different.
In fact what would have been the alternative? Execution of operations Olympic and Coronet and the probably most bloody invasion ever with hundreds of thousands of dead soldiers of both sides and fighting against totally fanatic civilians.

There's also one interesting german movie about the Rape of Nanking, just search for "John Rabe". It was quite controversial because of a scene with lots of chinese people seeking cover from japanese planes below a giant swastika-flag.

[Mynock]

....but at least the Japanese had the decency to hit a military target and not deliberatly aim at innocent civialians.

You mean like the United States did on both August 6th and August 9th 1945? Of course that was "justified" because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor first. So the U.S. had the right to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children.

Eddie

Heh heh.....the minute i finished typing that last post, I thought someone would come back and say this.
The dropping of those bombs can be justified two ways.
The first is that they actually saved far more people then they killed. By all accounts the Japanese were fanatical in their devotion to the concept of "Death Before Dishoner". Personally I find this admirable, but what that means is had we taken the Island with a "Normandy" style invasion these people would have literally fought to the last man, woman, and most sadly, child to defend their nation. Causualties would have been somwhere around a million Allied troops and one to two million Japanese, and every major city would've been turned into a parking lot. By all estimates, had we chosen not to drop the bombs, the above scenario would have been the biggest, bloodiest battle in the history of mankind.
Secondly, payback's a bitch. The atrocities commited by Japan during World War II rival if not surpass what the Nazis did in Europe (Google "The Rape Of Nanking" and do some reasearch on how Jap POW's were treated), and unlike Germany, they've never apologized for what they did.

[MuddyEddie]

Interesting, and expected, replies. The American propaganda ministry has done an excellent job on all the proles!

As for Nanking... who gives a shit! Just like it was with the Korean war, the atrocities committed there had nothing... NOTHING... to do with the United States. Who cares if one Asian country beats on another Asian country?

I stand by my principles on this. Two wrongs never make a right. Just because the Japs were barbarians doesn't mean that the United States had to be barbarians as well. By the time we dropped the atomic bombs the war was almost over. The only reason we bombed Japan was to test out the effects of the atomic bomb. Google "Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission" and see how we treated the people who's lives were devastated by the bomb.

And if you really want to get picky about it. the United States did provoke Japan into attacking us. Going to war gave FDR such a woody that he was chomping at the bit waiting for the chance to send our military over to fight for England and France.

Just another power trip courtesy of the United States Government.