FSM Board: In Memoriam - Pearl Harbor (2024)

My wife and I have been to Hawai'i a few times and were able to visit Pearl Harbor on our second-last trip there. If you've never been, going to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is truly one of the most chilling and haunting experiences of my life. I don't think you can stand on that memorial without feeling at least some of the weight of the souls who lost their lives in that water and at that harbor.

Like September 11, 2001, a day never to forget.

Seems we each have a place we'd like to visit and pay tribute. I haven't been to Normandy but would also like to go there to pay my respects. I believe when you get to Pearl Harbor, you truly will feel that same sadness you mentioned.

And thanks, Eric, for posting the speech. A day of infamy indeed.

My wife and I have been to Hawai'i a few times and were able to visit Pearl Harbor on our second-last trip there. If you've never been, going to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is truly one of the most chilling and haunting experiences of my life. I don't think you can stand on that memorial without feeling at least some of the weight of the souls who lost their lives in that water and at that harbor.

A day of infamy indeed and a bad move by the Japanese.

Before Pearl Harbor even happened many thousands of lives were lost here in Great Britain, 43.000 citizens in London alone and many thousands in my own city of Bristol which was heavily blitzed, I have a number of family members who I never got to meet who would have been great uncles, Aunts or cousins who perished in WWI & II.

My wife and I have been to Hawai'i a few times and were able to visit Pearl Harbor on our second-last trip there. If you've never been, going to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is truly one of the most chilling and haunting experiences of my life. I don't think you can stand on that memorial without feeling at least some of the weight of the souls who lost their lives in that water and at that harbor.

I pray soul of many all of you who died by this attack may rest in peace.

My wife and I have been to Hawai'i a few times and were able to visit Pearl Harbor on our second-last trip there. If you've never been, going to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is truly one of the most chilling and haunting experiences of my life. I don't think you can stand on that memorial without feeling at least some of the weight of the souls who lost their lives in that water and at that harbor.

A day of infamy indeed and a bad move by the Japanese.

Before Pearl Harbor even happened many thousands of lives were lost here in Great Britain, 43.000 citizens in London alone and many thousands in my own city of Bristol which was heavily blitzed, I have a number of family members who I never got to meet who would have been great uncles, Aunts or cousins who perished in WWI & II.

With all due respect to that terrible day I'd point out that America should have entered the war long before that infamous day, a view shared by many Americans at that time, Britain was left to fight alone for too long, it's hard to imagine what could have happened and how things would have "progressed" if we had been bombed into submission.

My wife and I have been to Hawai'i a few times and were able to visit Pearl Harbor on our second-last trip there. If you've never been, going to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is truly one of the most chilling and haunting experiences of my life. I don't think you can stand on that memorial without feeling at least some of the weight of the souls who lost their lives in that water and at that harbor.

A day of infamy indeed and a bad move by the Japanese.

Before Pearl Harbor even happened many thousands of lives were lost here in Great Britain, 43.000 citizens in London alone and many thousands in my own city of Bristol which was heavily blitzed, I have a number of family members who I never got to meet who would have been great uncles, Aunts or cousins who perished in WWI & II.

With all due respect to that terrible day I'd point out that America should have entered the war long before that infamous day, a view shared by many Americans at that time, Britain was left to fight alone for too long, it's hard to imagine what could have happened and how things would have "progressed" if we had been bombed into submission.

With all due respect to everyone who perished on all sides, this really isn't the time to have this discussion. (And what about all the people who died in places like France, Germany, Poland...?)

...and the end of all the rest of these friggin' wars.

I'd prefer if we convened to commemorate V-E and V-J Days.

...and the end of all the rest of these friggin' wars.

Hear, hear, that man!

My wife and I have been to Hawai'i a few times and were able to visit Pearl Harbor on our second-last trip there. If you've never been, going to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is truly one of the most chilling and haunting experiences of my life. I don't think you can stand on that memorial without feeling at least some of the weight of the souls who lost their lives in that water and at that harbor.

I pray soul of many all of you who died by this attack may rest in peace.

Thank you, Chickenhearted.

There is not one scrap of evidence to support that argument. Roosevelt was anxious to eventually get America into the war in Europe, but the notion that he allowed Pearl Harbor to happen to achieve that result is ludicrous since Japan's attack offered no guarantee America would become involved in the war. Roosevelt's Day of Infamy speech contained no reference to Germany or Europe, and had Hitler decided not to invoke his alliance treaty with Japan and declared war on America first, then America might have been boxed into the position of fighting a one-front war in the Pacific only for the time being.

In marking Pearl Harbor, we have to focus on how this was the event that brought America into the forefront of accepting the role of being the major power that could provide the key to defeating aggressive totalitarian expansion, be it Japan or Germany.

It isn't being political to note the realities of what was at the time. Not even Roosevelt, the one who was most anxious to see America take part in the European struggle, was going to ask for a War declaration in the period 1939-41. He did the maximum he could do under law with Lend-Lease and providing needed help to the British. But I would note also that even if you could have American entry sooner, America did not exactly possess an Army that could make a difference since in 1939, America's army was less than the size of most European nations that Hitler was gobbling up. Even with a peacetime draft in 1940 that made them in better shape by the time war broke out, America still demonstrated their slowness to make a big impact in the North African theater in 1942 and didn't become a truly effective fighting force in that theater until after several months.

I'm not sure though why this has to be brought up though in the context of noting those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor 70 years ago.

This is an absolute disgrace and on the heels of the Alec Baldwin (his presence BTW is one of the many things that makes the movie "Pearl Harbor" impossible to sit through) incident of last week, a nice reminder of the arrogance entertainment industry people possess within themselves.