December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—

[peejay 327]

Pearl Harbor memories still vivid for some

Survivor of 1941 surprise attack to return to scene for 68th anniversary

The Associated Press

updated 11:32 a.m. CT, Sun., Dec . 6, 2009

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Ed Johann will always remember the sound of planes diving out of the sky to bomb U.S. battleships, the explosions and the screams of sailors. He still recalls the stench of burning oil and flesh.

The 86-year-old retired firefighter is due to return to Pearl Harbor Monday for the first time since World War II to attend a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack.

"I really don't know how I'm going to handle it," said Johann, from his home in Oregon. "When I think about it, all I have is unpleasantness. I'm sure it's not like that now."

Johann was a 17-year-old apprentice seaman on Dec. 7, 1941. He had enlisted in the Navy only five months earlier so his parents, who picked and packed tomatoes and other crops in California's San Fernando Valley, wouldn't have to support him.

He and two other sailors were waiting to ferry passengers on a small boat to and from the USS Solace, a hospital ship that was moored in Pearl Harbor, when they saw the Japanese planes.

They first thought they were U.S. aircraft conducting drills until they saw explosions and flames from the stricken ships.

Johann's motor launcher boat rushed to the USS Arizona, which was hit by several bombs, one of which struck her forward ammunition magazines and set off a massive explosion. Already fueled and manned when the attack began, their 30-foot boat was the first rescue vessel to arrive at the scene.

They found the water littered with people — some wounded, some dead, some unharmed. Many were covered in the leaking oil from the ships.

They loaded as many as they could and delivered them to the hospital ship before returning to the USS West Virginia for more.

"As we're pulling them out of the water, a lot of times the skin would come right off the arm," Johann said. "They would just be black with oil, except maybe you could see the white of their eyes."

Scene of panic

The planes kept coming. Dive-bombers plunged out of the sky, dropping bombs and strafing the water and ships with machine gun fire before roaring back up for another round. Torpedo bombers flew in level to drop their submersible weapons for underwater assaults.

The burning, sinking vessels at first lowered men into Johann's makeshift rescue boat. But some sailors started to panic and jump into their small ship, forcing it to pull away so it wouldn't sink too.

"Some of the sailors would be like in shock and some of 'em would be like going out of control, screaming and hollering," Johann said.

The next morning — after nervously worrying the Japanese planes would return — Johann's boat unloaded men from the Solace who failed to make it through the night and delivered them to land.

"We had them stacked like cordwood in our boat. The open end where the feet was sticking out was these big brown tags that said 'unknown, unknown,'" Johann said. The military hadn't adopted dog tags yet and many couldn't be identified.

The attack sank four U.S. battleships and destroyed 188 U.S. planes. Another four battleships were damaged, along with three cruisers and three destroyers.

More than 2,200 sailors, Marines and soldiers were killed.

"We didn't survive by any skill," Johann said of his boat. "It was just luck, pure luck. Because all we were concentrating on was trying to save people, and not save ourselves."

'I wanted to help people'

Johann served the rest of the war on the USS Wright, a seaplane tender. After 1945, he returned to California where he worked in sawmills before moving to Portland, Ore., where he spent 28 years as a firefighter. He retired to a beach cottage in Lincoln City and where he served on the city council, helping build hiking trails and campaigning against domestic violence.

Every Fourth of July, the U.S. Independence Day holiday, he goes to bed early to avoid the fireworks because they remind him of Pearl Harbor's explosions. Even so, the blasts keep him awake.

But the horrors he went through also led him to become a firefighter.

"I think I had it in my mind," Johann said, "I wanted to help people."

For years, Johann said he wouldn't go to the annual observance in Hawaii in honor of those killed in the attack. But now that he's 86, it seemed liked a good idea.

"If I'm ever going to do anything like that I'd better do it now," Johann said. His son, who lives on Maui, will accompany him.

Organizers expect between 40 and 50 survivors of the attack to come. Overall, some 2,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony on a pier overlooking the spot where the Arizona sank.

The bodies of more than 1,000 sailors and Marines are still on board, and small drops of oil continue to rise from the submerged battleship.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34299994/ns/us...tary/?GT1=43001

[trillium13 84]

[slim 1,533]

I wonder if those men who were there that day saw the country we have now if they'd be willing to go back and do it all over again.

[Pooky 3,874]

I wonder if those men who were there that day saw the country we have now if they'd be willing to go back and do it all over again.

Show some respect.

The men that were there that day were prepared to give their lives for their country because it was their duty, because they loved their country and would fight and die to give future generations the chance to live a future of their own determining.

Damn right they'd do it all over again.

[slim 1,533]

I wonder if those men who were there that day saw the country we have now if they'd be willing to go back and do it all over again.

Show some respect.

There's no higher form of respect than EARNING the sacrifice they endured for us by exemplifying it every day. Many Americans have ceased doing this.

The men that were there that day were prepared to give their lives for their country because it was their duty, because they loved their country and would fight and die to give future generations the chance to live a future of their own determining.

Damn right they'd do it all over again.

I know they would. I've talked with many a WWII vet over the past few years and, to a man, they still support this country with everything they've got. But, also, to a man, they've expressed their dissatisfaction in what is to become of this country after they're gone.

That's where we come in!

We can honor their sacrifices by educating everyone about our heritage and by holding ourselves and future generations accountable for it.

[peejay 327]

I wonder if those men who were there that day saw the country we have now if they'd be willing to go back and do it all over again.

Show some respect.

There's no higher form of respect than EARNING the sacrifice they endured for us by exemplifying it every day. Many Americans have ceased doing this.

The men that were there that day were prepared to give their lives for their country because it was their duty, because they loved their country and would fight and die to give future generations the chance to live a future of their own determining.

Damn right they'd do it all over again.

I know they would. I've talked with many a WWII vet over the past few years and, to a man, they still support this country with everything they've got. But, also, to a man, they've expressed their dissatisfaction in what is to become of this country after they're gone.

That's where we come in!

We can honor their sacrifices by educating everyone about our heritage and by holding ourselves and future generations accountable for it.

My dad was a WWII US Navy vet that got drafted right after graduating high school as an 18 years old teenager toward the end of the war. He took part in the battles for Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. He was in Tokyo Bay on VJ-Day when the Japanese officially surrendered and he took part in the occupation of Japan before and after the surrender. He died back in 1986 of cancer. Sometimes I wonder what he would think of today's America.

I remember one time here in Off Topic on VJ someone posted an article about the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Several punks posted ####### denouncing it as racist and totally unnecessary along with stating that it was a war crime. I blew a gasket.

Unfortunately this kind of misinformation and biased garbage is spoon fed to too many kids now-a-days as fact in many universities. I remember quite well my dad relating to me the stark facts of that time. The Imperial Japanese were fanatics that often refused to surrender. Committing banzai suicide attacks in waves on the US marines rather than surrendering. They hit the US naval forces with suicide planes as they got closer to Japan. It was especially bad at Okinawa. Many guys like my dad were glad that Truman had the testicular fortitude to approve use of the bomb to speed Japan's surrender and they would never apologize for the USA doing it. Military leaders of the time predicted around a million US casualties if the US had to fight their way onto the Japanese mainland and the grunts were well aware of these facts too.

It is sad that the memory of the sacrifices of these guys are often dragged into the toilet by ignorant punks that never had to make any tough decisions or make sacrifices in their own lives, but think they are so hip by putting themselves on some sort of moral pedestal from the safety of their keyboard.

Unfortunately as WWII fades into the past and the vets themselves slowly die out...so do the younger generation's contact with them and their personal stories. It is my hope that the younger generation becomes educated rather than indoctrinated about our history.

[Nasturtium 500]

WTH? I just opened this thread just now, and I see that Pooky's post is quoted as me in all subsequent posts. Bizarre.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

WTH? I just opened this thread just now, and I see that Pooky's post is quoted as me in all subsequent posts. Bizarre.

Whoah! I see it too. Crazy.

[Nasturtium 500]

WTH? I just opened this thread just now, and I see that Pooky's post is quoted as me in all subsequent posts. Bizarre.

Whoah! I see it too. Crazy.

I bet I know what happened. That Slim

Anyway, I think they would do it all over again, even if they knew about and were saddened by the future. Those were stand-up people.

[NickD 203]

I wonder if those men who were there that day saw the country we have now if they'd be willing to go back and do it all over again.

Show some respect.

The men that were there that day were prepared to give their lives for their country because it was their duty, because they loved their country and would fight and die to give future generations the chance to live a future of their own determining.

Damn right they'd do it all over again.

I take this to mean, the Japanese taking our jobs and owning a huge portion of our entertainment, electronic, steel, and automotive industries. They own most of Hawaii. This question was asked many times, in particular by the vets that served in the Pacific during WW II. Exactly who is the winner. Our congress is responsible for a lot of this, giving the Japanese 10% back for everything we imported from them, was a reverse tariff. During that same time frame, IRS got greedy and counted our inventory at resale value, EPA, ERA, and OSHA was created making it impossible for us to compete with them.

Not very many WW II vets left today, but if you really want to tee them off, buy a Sony or a Toyota. A neighbor was running for state senator, was told to dump her Honda and buy a Ford, she still lost.

[tallcoolone 102]

The Japs were very sneaky in the attack.

The bombing of the the twin towers and 911, don't hold a candle to thier actions.

They awoke the sleeping giant, and forced the USA to declare on Japan and Germany

When the war was over after the USA saved the World from German or Jap take over, they have risen to be a Super Power both in Military and Economics

I do not forgive the Japaneese, for their cowardness. Very cruel hearted. study WW2 and read about the Bataan Death March.

[NickD 203]

The Japs were very sneaky in the attack.

The bombing of the the twin towers and 911, don't hold a candle to thier actions.

They awoke the sleeping giant, and forced the USA to declare on Japan and Germany

When the war was over after the USA saved the World from German or Jap take over, they have risen to be a Super Power both in Military and Economics

I do not forgive the Japaneese, for their cowardness. Very cruel hearted. study WW2 and read about the Bataan Death March.

Have no idea why my youngest son is living and working in Japan from his comments, like a blackman living in an all white neighborhood. He can't advance due his is race. Even I worked for Honda for a couple years, their first cars here were ####### and needed American Engineers to show them how. Granted, they were far more interested in quality than our own stockholders based management. But after the picked our brains, we were all dumped. Learned that only about 10% of their work force in automotive had permanent jobs, rest were so-called cottage workers to vastly reduce overhead costs. We tried to do that here at one time, but against our IRS regulations. To make even more money, many of our cost savings steps were adopted, this started in 1991.

Never blame engineers for the ####### coming from Detroit, and Chicago was the electronics headquarters of the world. Today, can only find a few Radio Shack dealers.

Our own government was responsible for all of this as they set up the trade policies. Asian countries get a free ride, but certainly not the case with our European allies where huge tariffs are still charged. Doesn't make a damn bit of sense to me. Perhaps our politicians are also owned by these Asian countries, never made a big deal about Clinton getting bucks from the Chinese, but sure made a big deal about his #######.

[JeanneVictoria 55]

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The sleeping giant was not pleased.

[Pooky 3,874]

WTH? I just opened this thread just now, and I see that Pooky's post is quoted as me in all subsequent posts. Bizarre.

Whoah! I see it too. Crazy.

And here was me thinking I'd had a sex change without knowing about it.