Moonhowlings

The destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs.

  Most of the people who lived, first hand,  through the attack on Pearl harbor  are nearly 90 years old.  That’s very hard to believe.  The surprise attack left young men, barely more than boys, running for guns, weapons, anything to fight back with.  Many heroes arose that day.  Not all of the heroes lived to bask in the glory.  Some died and some were sealed in a watery tomb at Pearl Harbor. 

About 100 of the survivors will attend the ceremony at Pearl Harbor.  The ashes of one of the sailors will join the rest of his crewmen who never made it back from December 7, 1941. Approximately  2,390 Americans were killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

According to Voice of America:

Memorial events marking the December 7,1941 attack are being held throughout the country, the largest being on the Pacific island of Oahu, Hawaii, where the attack took place.

A dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors and World War Two veterans are among the 3,000 attendees expected at the event overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial, where the submerged remains of the fallen battleship rest. A moment of silence will be held at 7:55 in the morning , the exact moment Japan’s Imperial Navy began the surprise attack.

If you know someone who was at Pearl Harbor, run, don’t walk to talk to them and ask them to tell you of their experience.  Even if you know someone who was an adult on December 7, 1941, talk to them.  Find out what they were doing when they first heard the news.  Where  were they?  What did they think?  Did they ever think how much the news would alter their lives and the lives of their family and friends?  There is so much I now want to ask my parents and grandparents.  Opportunity knocked and I didn’t go to the door.  They are no longer living so I can’t ask them. 

From what I could gather from my relatives, they really were innocents who had no idea what the impact a world war would have on them, the family,  and America.   Pearl Harbor Day is much more than the 9-11- like attack on an unprepared nation.  Pearl Harbor marks the change of an isolationist, fairly agrarian country into a world super power.  The change was  almost instant, and we were never to return again to those times before Pearl Harbor. 

What memories do you have of your family members telling you about that day?  Did you have family members who served?  Did they all make it home? 

Let’s not forget Pearl Harbor and those who who were wounded or died.  Let’s not forget those who altered their lives and threw themselves in to a war movement unequal to anything this country has ever seen before or since.  There is a reason that the ‘greatest generation’ got its name.

From the News & Messenger:

BEDFORD, Va. (AP) — The National D-Day Memorial plans to reinstall a bust of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin that drew opposition from veterans groups, local officials and some lawmakers.

 Memorial President Robin Reed told The News & Advance that the bust will be included in a new Allied leaders section. The new exhibit also will include busts of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Charles de Gaulle, Clement Attlee and Chiang Kai-shek.

 The exhibit is expected to open in 2011. Reed says memorial officials are still working on the design.

 The Stalin bust was originally installed at the memorial in June. The bust was removed in September after veterans groups and others protested its display.

I dislike Stalin as much as the next guy.  My father, a WWII vet, also hated Stalin.  The family joke around the house was always if only people had listened to Churchill, Patton and my father, we would not have the problems we are having (cold war).  However, to deny his existence in WWII is a little much.  There is also the point of view that we might not have won had Stalin not been in the picture. 

Countries are often morally compromised in wartime.  They often find themselves in alliance with dubious characters.  In times of war, most countries aren’t in the position to take the high road. 

This new area of the D-Day Memorial sounds like a good plan and a compromise.  Donations were down significantly because of the Stalin bust.  It was removed after much controversy.  We can’t  ignore the fact that the dictator was an ally((well, sort of)   and we also don’t want to allow his wretched presence to stand over a memorial  to our heroes and our war dead. 

Stalin was a killer.  Historians make a good case for him being worse than Hitler in sheer number of people killed under his orders.  No glory or honor for him is deserved.  Let there be a ‘leaders’ section.’    That will just have to do.  Perhaps the controversy has been good for the country.  We need to not forget the evil that some men do.

(The removal of the bust of Stalin was in 2010.)

National D-Day Memorial

Sam Stone aka "B. Virdot"

This month’s Smithsonian Magazine features the story of B. Virdot’s mysterious letter in the Canton, Ohio newspaper during the Great Depression. 

Several folks have asked about the status of the War Museum. Need to Know, a regular contributor at Moonhowlings.net  has been following this initiative and has kindly offered his findings for a thread:

[Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration. M-H]

Regarding the proposed War Museum:

The land belongs currently to the Hyltons. They are “donating” it but the package the BOCS will consider October 5 includes new development rights that will benefit the Hyltons. They, Stewart and their proponents are waving the flag for a museum to honor veterans to garner support but it’s nothing more than a land deal to benefit special interests and campaign contributors. The “donation” of land will not go through unless the BOCS approves the entire package.

The staff report can be found at:

http://www.pwcgov.org/planning/documents/PLN2010-00379.pdf

Note that this staff report reads like a promotional brochure for the project, lacking any semblance of due diligence and analysis as to whether the project is in the interests of PWC taxpayers or not.

A few more details:

The supporters state that the project will need $50 million and that they will raise all of that from private sources. Note, however, that after allegedly working on development of the project for nearly a decade they have, as of the last Form 990 filing, less than $1 million in real assets. Form 990 is the annual tax filing required by the IRS for non-profit organizations. You can see them by clicking on this link:

http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/PubApps/showVals.php?ft=bmf&ein=200008915

The 2009 Form 990 shows total assets of a little over $4 million, but over $3 million of that is in the form of pledges and grants receivable that their statements have carried for at least two years. It’s not real money.

There’s not a chance in h*** they are going to be able to raise enough money, especially in an economy such as we have now, to build this thing without extensive taxpayer support.

 

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According to the Huffington Post:

Palin told the tens of thousands who stretched from the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the grass of the Washington Monument that calls to transform the country weren’t enough. “We must restore America and restore her honor,” said the former Alaska governor, echoing the name of the rally, “Restoring Honor.”

Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008 and a potential White House contender in 2012, and Beck repeatedly cited King and made references to the Founding Fathers. Beck put a heavy religious cast on nearly all his remarks, sounding at times like an evangelical preacher.

“Something beyond imagination is happening,” he said. “America today begins to turn back to God.”

I don’t ever recall America losing her honor. That is probably one of the most offensive remarks I believe I have ever heard. If America’s honor needs restoring, does that mean America is dishonorable? I sure hope that isn’t what Sarah Palin meant. She is on real shaky grounds with her remarks.

Latest Gallop Poll results indicate that Conservatives are more patriotic than liberals and are more than twice as likely to express their patriotic views. 

According to CNS News:

The poll asked respondents this question: “How patriotic are you? Would you say extremely patriotic, very patriotic, somewhat patriotic, or not especially patriotic?” The poll surveyed a random sample of 1,014 adults from June 11-13, and the margin of error was plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.

Overall, 72 percent of Americans said they were either extremely (32 percent) or very patriotic (42 percent), with another 19 percent saying they were somewhat patriotic. Only 6 percent said they were “not especially patriotic.”
 
The USA Today news story on this poll question did not report any data at all about the patriotism of liberals as discovered by the survey, although it did report that patriotism has increased among Republicans and conservatives, stating: “The number of Republicans and conservatives who describe their patriotism as running high has increased 24 percentage points since 1999.”

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