re: Does anyone else here actually remember 12/7/41 ??

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ChineseBandit58

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Would buy you a Manhattan or an Ole Fashioned! Cheers

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What must have been going through their minds when they heard the news? I can only imagine the anxiety.

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True. And the exact opposite was the case when the Civil War first started. From letters we know that many people were thinking "This should be over in a week or two."
Boy were they wrong.

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 I envy your experience of hearing his stories. I sure wish I hd asked more questions.

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Yeah, we were sippin' on some bourbon outside our house during the Christmas holidays and I asked him about the war. He spoke pretty "matter-of-factly" about it. He was neither bragging or emotional about it. Guess so many years had passed that it didn't bother him.

I was a teenager and was a big WWII buff, so I wanted to know about his experiences.

He told me about the first time he killed an enemy soldier. Said they were trying to take a hill, and he was crawling up the hill on his belly hiding behind boulders and rocks. There were 8 German soldiers in a trench above them firing at them. Apparently they weren't trained to not keep coming up to fire in the same spot repeatedly, or didn't have enough space. He said during a lull in the shooting, he aimed his rifle where one guy kept coming up and shooting, and when the soldier came up again to fire, he shot him in the face. About 30 seconds later, one of them started waiving a white rag on a stick, and they all threw their rifles out of the trench and came out with their hands in the air. 7 prisoners. They were actually Italians in German uniforms who were forced to fight. Hence the lack of training and will to fight.

They did come into combat with Germans solders also, and every time he mentioned them it was "Those German sons-of-bitches".

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ChineseBandit58

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Beautiful story, Bandit. You were born two days before my father. I am blessed that he is still around for my children to experience his love and wisdom.

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Yes. I was born in December of 1936.

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Glad to greet an elder on here -

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No one had heard of Pearl Harbor until that day. For the next 4 years people lived by their radios. .

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I still remember that great big radio. don't remember the maker but it was about the size of a liquor cabinet. We all knew not to make any noise when the adults were listening to the radio.

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Each Sunday afternoon neighbors would gather to discuss the war. Everyone worked a 6 day week in those days. Young people please absorb the fact that the outcome of the war was very much in doubt for a long time. It was a fearful time but also a time of great patriotism. DON'T EVER TAKE YOUR FREEDOM FOR GRANTED

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If only the snowflakes of today could experience just a week of that culture.

I was 8 years old . Dad had a 1939 Buivk Roadmaster, we all went for a Sunday afternoon drive. We were listening to the radio , when it was announced late in the afternoon that Japan had bombed pearl Harbor. two years later in 1943 my dad went into the Marines at age 33, mom raised 3 children on $120 A month

Have an upvote Sir...and thanks for the great post! And for making me feel like a young 'un on this board.

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The Silent Generation are the first who pretty much don't know a world without the threat of nuclear war.

I'm insanely jealous of people your age because you got to see the beginning of rock n roll as a teen.

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Interesting thoughts