Remembering Pearl Harbor

Sadly, it won't be long before no one cares.

I went to Pearl Harbor on my honeymoon. The amount of Japanese people that were tour guides were astonishing and ironic all at the same time. Bunch of Japs settled on the island

Thanks for posting. Never forget.

My great uncle received a Silver Star at Pearl Harbor. He was later shot down over the Pacific and spent a year in a Japanese POW camp. He was reported KIA and my family didn't know he was still alive until after the war. He was a Mormon and stayed well fed by trading his four cigarettes a day for extra food.

quote:

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STODDARD, LOREN A.
Citation: The Silver Star is presented to Loren A. Stoddard, Second Lieutenant (Air Corps), U.S. Army Air Force, for heroism in action during the attack on Hickam Field by Japanese forces (aircraft) on 7 December 1941.

Second Lieutenant Stoddard, a Pilot in the 19th Transport Squadron, proceeded to Hanger No. 17, where the squadron's planes were parked. The adjacent hangar, No. 15, had already been severely bombed. A plane close by had been hit and was burning rapidly and its proximity to the transport planes greatly endangered them. Noting this danger Lieutenant Stoddard, on his own initiative and without orders, started the motors of one of the planes after the crew had rolled it back from the hangar a short distance. Although under fire by the enemy, Lieutenant Stoddard, with a crew member observing for him through the escape hatch, taxied the plane through debris and smoke to a relatively safe position on the field away from the hangars. Lieutenant Stoddard displayed fast thinking, bravery, coolness and a great devotion to duty by his action and was an inspiration to all who saw him. The heroism displayed by Lieutenant Stoddard on this occasion reflected great credit upon himself and the military service.

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This pic is from the award ceremony. He's second from the left (first guy in the second row).

I went to Hickam headquarters for business a few years ago. You could still see the pock marks in the concrete and in the sides of the building from the Japanese guns that shot at the building. They never repaired them and they serve as a reminder of Dec 7.