Dec. 7

[Ken_gone_flying]

I dunno ... but I do know that when you see black Navy bunker oil, nearly 70 years old, still seeping up to the surface, you are speechless. I was .... that's oil in the foreground -- not algae. Sorry for the size of the pic, but I thought you might want a clearer look ... it has a very somber, sobering effect on one.

photo by A4sForever

Did you take that picture? Having had a grandfather that was on the U.S.S. California during the attacks, pearl Harbor Day has special meaning to me. I look forward to the day when the opportunity to visit Hawaii presents itself. I'm sure it will be an emotional experience for me. I will be taking a lot of pictures, and posting them in here. Thanks for the pictures.


-Ken

 

[jollygreen07]

It's hard to imagine that beautiful water full of that oil... The whole episode still amazes me to this day. It may have been one of our darkest hours as a nation, but it really went to show just how heroic those men were. It's a shame that they obviously aren't putting more of an emphasis on events like that in schools these days.

 

[A4sForever]

Did you take that picture? Having had a grandfather that was on the U.S.S. California during the attacks, pearl Harbor Day has special meaning to me. I look forward to the day when the opportunity to visit Hawaii presents itself. I'm sure it will be an emotional experience for me. I will be taking a lot of pictures, and posting them in here. Thanks for the pictures.


-Ken

You're quite welcome.

I've taken a lot of pix in Pearl over the years as part of the research I'm doing. This is the first year in several that I haven't been in Pearl for Dec. 7. I don't know why, but I am drawn to the place as well -- ghosts of those who came before us or something --- have been ever since I lived there as a kid in the early '50's ...

You may want to try the "private tour" if you are still military -- active or retired or dependent. You need to make reservations w/ Pearl Harbor Barge Tour (as in Admiral's Barge) @ 808-474-2194 or the Pearl PAO if the # has changed. It's first come/first served and reservation only. It's far better -- you get to see more and tour all the way around Ford Island -- and more "personal" than the larger tour from the NPS Arizona Memorial, which is good but very crowded. The "Admiral's" tour leaves from Aeia Landing, a.k.a. the old Fleet Landing, down by the present day Pearl Harbor Navy Yacht Club.

all photos by A4sForever

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

^^^Awesome, thanks.

 

[goosegagnon2]

This is a little late, but why would Marines be on a battleship? To protect from mutiny like the old days?...or did they serve another function?

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

This is a little late, but why would Marines be on a battleship? To protect from mutiny like the old days?...or did they serve another function?

They needed guys to swab the decks.

 

[A4sForever]

This is a little late, but why would Marines be on a battleship? To protect from mutiny like the old days?...or did they serve another function?

In the battleship era, Marines served in ceremonial functions, guarded the C.O.'s and Admiral's country, stood brow watches in port, served as a nucleus for potential landing parties, and usually manned one of the BB's main turrets. They numbered @ a full platoon on the larger ships. I'm sure there were other functions as well .... being in charge of the ship's brig comes to mind .... but that's a quick glimpse.

In the CVA era, they served largely the same functions (minus the obvious one -- no 16" turrets on aircraft carriers) and even put down a quasi-mutiny or two when presented with the race riots aboard USN ships during the Vietnam time frame.

 

[jollygreen07]

---A4's beat me to it---

 

[nittany03]

My God, what are they teaching - or in this case not teaching - you kids today?

Talk about weeping for the future.

I'm not surprised. Back when I was in high school, my History of Western Civilization teacher wrote the final with the intent that "You don't have to remember dates or events . . . you just need to know the 'concepts.'"

 

[Tex_Hill]

I'm not surprised. Back when I was in high school, my History of Western Civilization teacher wrote the final with the intent that "You don't have to remember dates or events . . . you just need to know the 'concepts.'"

My dad has a masters in history, taught at Carter High School in Dallas for 27 years, & he would say that your Wester Civ. teacher is full of it. The dates are just as important as the events themselves. BTW, my dad turned 6 the day Pearl was bombed.

 

[brownshoe]

---A4's beat me to it---

Me too! A bit of a threadjack about A4’s comment about marines and navy brigs:

We had a guy in VA-44 who had a bit of a drinking problem. He was a nice fellow, worked hard, did his job, got along with everyone… but had a drinking problem.

His nickname was Arsh short for his last name. Ole Arsh got in a bit of trouble because of his drinking and pulled some brig time. I did my best to try and stay out of sight at the hangar the day ole Arsh had to be transported to the brig at JAX, but I guess not a good enough job… Seems as though I was always selected for jobs no one wanted to do, and this was one of those jobs.

Armbands on, a squadron mate and I manned up the duty crew cab pickup and headed to the gate to pick up Arsh from the base lockup. When we got to the gate a pair of very serious looking blackshoes asked us to sign some papers and issued us two 38’s and a pair of handcuffs, then led us back to the cell where ole Arsh was being held.

When Arsh saw us he was obviously very embarrassed, knowing his fate, and looked away. I held up the 38’s and the cuffs and asked… “Arsh, we gonna need these?” He looked up at me, looked back down at the floor and said, “No.” So I gave the guns and the pair of handcuffs back to the serious looking blackshoes. They protested, but off we went with Arsh to the truck.

Down 103rd Street then down 17 to JAX Arsh said nothing. Got to JAX went to the brig and turned over custody of Arsh to the marine guards. They too didn’t understand why we weren’t armed. Anyway, after an argument with the marine guards I signed some papers. Then two marine guards grabbed Arsh and dragged him off. He looked back at me, and to this day I remember that moment.

Now, back to the point… Those of you that might have known JAX back in those days must know that NAS JAX was mostly sand, very little grass. The brig however had the most lush looking grass and flowers on the base. And this is why the navy keeps the marines around. They keep stuff lookin’ neat!

Sorry you marines… couldn’t resist the “sea story” and my jab toward you as a squid.

Steve

 

[jollygreen07]

I'm not surprised. Back when I was in high school, my History of Western Civilization teacher wrote the final with the intent that "You don't have to remember dates or events . . . you just need to know the 'concepts.'"

Ah, okay. World War II according to your history teacher:

"At some point in the last century (not important when, exactly) a massive, world altering war took place. Now, past events, and in fact the event itself aren't really important. All you need to remember for the exam is that alot of people died when we needlessly dropped an atom bomb on the poor, helpless Japanese civilians of a couple of cities who's name isn't really important."

The end.

*note, I took some editorial liberty in assuming that your teacher was a liberal.

 

[GroundPounder]

I speak to hundreds of people a month in the course of my duties, and in the flow of the questions that I ask, I usually throw in a few that are not really " on point " for various reasons. You would be surprised at the number of people, from all social strata, that do not know who the President of the United States is. I have noticed that the more that a person depends on the government for their basic needs the less that they actually know about the sytem that supports them.