December 7

[JoJo357]

*M.A.D.*

130476092_10158735561615586_1070588124737852927_n.jpg

[elmo]

May there sacrifice never be forgotten trivialize or made politically correct

[kitabel]

And it's still the reason why Japan isn't allowed to have an army - but it does, and we pay for it.

[T. Cotten]

I haven't snagged any Pearl Harbor pics with motorcycles, Folks,...

But this one captures the heroism for which we honor and thank all veterans.

strafingrun.jpg

....Cotten

[EricOlson]

Doing a little reading today and came across this: https://www.15wing.af.mil/News/Artic...ir-force-ball/.

Durward Swanson, third from left, stands with his patrol team in front of the 3,200 man consolidated barracks early 1941 at Hickam Field
Durward Swanson, third from left, stands with his patrol team in front of the 3,200 man consolidated barracks early 1941 at Hickam Field.jpg

Durward Swanson, sitting on the motorcycle, poses with his patrol team at the front gate of Hickam Field in early 1942
Durward Swanson, sitting on the motorcycle, poses with his patrol team at the front gate of Hickam Field in early 1942.jpg

Here's a small section of the article relating to Durward Swanson's service on Dec 7th at Pearl Harbor. Quite a story.

"I just missed my death by about 10 minutes," he stood telling his story to the security forces Airmen who currently work in the same room where he slept so many years ago. "It brought back some memories, it did. It kind of brought back what I had been through." Swanson was on duty the night of Dec. 6 as a military policeman on a motorcycle patrol. He finished his breakfast in the dining facility and retired to his quarters, which was a dormitory for the Hickam guards on the second floor of the fire station (Bldg. 1001). His downstairs section of the building served as the guardhouse for the military police. He was lying in his bed on top of the covers, getting ready to go to sleep after pulling the all-night patrol.
"My bed was right along here and my foot locker here," he said pointing to a section of the room now used as an office for security forces personnel. "(Harry) Albright runs in and wakes me up hollering about the Japanese attacking us. I got up and looked out of this window right here," he said gently walking over to a window facing south. "I saw a plane banking and the rising sun on the wing, and at that moment, I knew immediately, we were at war," he said. "I was scared." When the bombing started, he still had his pants on, threw on his shirt, strapped on his .45 caliber pistol and ran out the door. As planned in the event of an attack, he rallied with the other military policemen at the front gate. Realizing his best friend, Sgt. Albert "Stud" Lloyd, was missing from the group, he asked "Where is Stud?" He remembers someone in the group telling him, "'The last we saw him, he was in the middle of the ball diamond with a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) shooting and cussing at the Japanese.' I thought, 'Boy he is going to get himself killed.'" He jumped back on his motorcycle and raced to get his friend.
On the way, he encountered an attacking aircraft strafing Hangar Avenue, the same street he was racing down. He immediately looked for the first place to hide and ducked underneath a car parked on the side of the street. "I thought it was a good thing at the time, but later on I realized how foolish I was to do it," he said. "I laid my motorcycle over and slid underneath one of the cars, and he went on by. But, what if he had seen me and started shooting at the car and hit the gas tank? I wouldn't have been here today." Swanson found Lloyd at the baseball field, as reported, shooting and cussing at planes overhead. As Swanson watched the scene unfolding in front of him, another of his friends, James Strickland, was running across the baseball diamond to find cover. Lloyd fired at an oncoming attacker, but Strickland was strafed by the passing Japanese attacker, cutting him in half -- a memory Swanson said he will not soon forget. "I grabbed Strickland and told him to hang in there," he said as he looked furiously around to find help. "I spotted a medic running across the street nearby and ran to grab him, but I was too late. Strickland was dead before I could get back."
As his story continues, Swanson said pillars of smoke from the many fires all over Hickam Field and Pearl Harbor bellowed high into the sky. During the security patrols after the attacks, he and Lloyd saw the flag hadn't been taken off the flagpole and was still waving in the breeze. The 3,200-man dormitory engulfed in flames, only yards from the flagpole, lit up the night sky. "We were just out doing our checks," he said with a definitive Southern accent. "We had security guards posted around the entire field. Then it come nighttime, and I said to Lloyd, 'Stud, the flag is still flying. We've got to take that down.' "We took the flag down and folded it the best we could, as shattered at it was," Swanson said. He remembers feeling angry while trying to fold the flag and "wanted a piece of them."
He said seeing the historic buildings still riddled with pockmarks and the still torn and tattered flag encased in the Pacific Headquarters Building reminded him of the physical and mental scars he has carried most of his life. He said the events were best described as chaos. Of the casualties on the island, 184 Airmen, two civilians and three Honolulu firefighters were killed on Hickam Field.

[JoJo357]

Thank You Eric, interesting reading.

*M.A.D.*

[PaulCDF]

Yes; Good Read. Good to REMEMBER.

[Rubone]

I have noticed that in the last couple of years there are a lot of new films with both WWI and WWII as subject matter. Many have been foreign made. I have seen at least a half dozen recently.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

I have noticed that in the last couple of years there are a lot of new films with both WWI and WWII as subject matter. Many have been foreign made. I have seen at least a half dozen recently.

Until very, very recently there was an extremely strong sentiment on the continent against making war films. Whilst the British suffered, the civilian population in all of Western Europe was flat out traumatized. Even after the war, the sheer abuse of the civilian population did not let up until 1948/49.

in many areas, annual munition sweeps would pull 5-15 TONS of ordnance out of battlefield areas and children were routinely wounded by unexploded ordnance well into the early 1960s. Through 1950, there was still active grave relocation and moving. BUT, due to climate and soils, it was horrific work and many bodies were only partially decomposed. In areas where the Germans used Bakelite mines, it took almost a decade to clear them.

WW1 was flat out terrible with an even higher percentage of duds just left behind. WW1 saw 15-20 percent dud shells or literally millions left behind. WW2 saw 10-15 percent with rifle propelled grenades and 500# bombshaving thegreatest dud factors. ALL of those remain viable today as they were packed with compounds that do not degrade overtime or with water. I can still remember going through Flanders in the 1990s when farmers would stack their hails from plowing at the ends of fields. This was 80 years later! Shells of all sorts, still fused, still deadly.

The worst of the worst are the two unexploded mines at messines. In 1917, the British set off 22 massive mines simultaneously. 19 to 20 went off, three did not. In the mid 1950s, a lightning strike lit off one of them and created a 200meter wide by 50 meter deep crater, killing some local children. 105 years later, the remaining mines are perfectly viable and may eventually do the same.

The US got lots of rah, rah we won films to help bolster Cold War feelings and because the only place that saw carnage was pearl. Meanwhile, Most of Europe was still rationing into the 50s. What’s funny is how many Americans don’t realize far more Marines were killed on Iwo Jima than at d-day nor that airmen on bombercrews suffered the most. And all of that pales in comparison to the slaughter house that was every WW1 battle.

think about this: ww1 gas attacks were so bad that even at the height of his delusions Hitler refused his general staff’s calls to gas the Allies. My grandfather got gassed twice, lost two companies under his command, and had not a stitch of hair on his body. He refused to ever talk about it and his diaries are haunting.

The current crop of Norwegian, Danish, and German films really bring the tragedy full circle.

Sorry for digressing.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

PS

the Pearl Harbor aviation museum just raised the funds needed to reroof their historic hanger on ford island. Go to their website and check it out.

it’s also a terrific museum.

I’ve had the honor of attending their gala in the hanger several times. When you dine with CMoH holders next to a downed B17, with a bunch of bullet holes still in the walls andthe shattered wreck of the Arizona 300 meters away, you suddenly don’t feel so bad ass about anything.

[Steve Swan]

i realize this is unrelated to Pearl Harbor, but on the other hand Pearl Harbor set the stage for this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UJY...estDocumentary

damn good era color documentary that must not have been too long post-war