December 7, 1941... do you know where your ancestors were?

[Fergasun]

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, a day that "will live in infamy". While my grandparents were old enough to remember and be a part of history, I do not remember them ever telling me where they were, what they remember about hearing the news of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

I wonder if in 60 years, on a day that "we will never forget" my children and grandchildren will be able to know where I was on September 11 (sleeping, waking up when my roommates told me what happened, thinking it was small plane and going into the shower, coming out and realizing it was a jetliner, walking to Tuesday classes in a surreal manner, wondering why we were having class (they were canceled on September 12) .

[Doozinbrah]

My grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, he survived and had to pick up bodies out of the water......its sad but I am proud of my grandfather and his service to our country..

[Sticksboi05]

Don't know but my great uncle eventually fought in Iwo Jima.

[Duckus]

My family had not immigrated yet. My parents immigrated from England (mom) & Scotland (dad) in 1983.

Not sure if I ever heard about where my grandparent were or what they were thinking on that day.

I do know my grandfather and grandmother on my moms side were in London during the war and had vivid memories of living in London during WII and the nightly bombings for months straight.

[The Brave Little Toaster Oven]

my great aunt said she was outside helping her mom hang clothes...

then all the men in my family signed up for the draft...my grandfather was drafted and became a SSG in the Army.

on the other side of the family, I found the draft cards for my family...my great grandfather registered and he was something like 57 years old. That made me smile.

[Madison Redskin]

My grandfather was somewhere on the West Coast about to ship out to Pearl Harbor. He arrived at Pearl Harbor about a week after the attacks and told me he remembers seeing the battleships that had flipped over, the wreckage, etc.

[No_Pressure]

My grandfather was still making cross Atlantic transport runs with the then SS Dorchester. In the years following he would jump ship in time to avoid its disastrous sinking at the hands of a German U-Boat, join the Army and spend 9 months as a rifleman in the 8th Infantry division. He was wounded in spring of 1945 by machine gun fire. While he won many commendations and awards, he was always the most proud of the fact that he personally took many German prisoners, captured Germans whenever he could, and I think the 8th Division in general had one of the best capitulation rates in relation to the Germans. He never wanted to see people senselessly killed in a war that they had all been sort of caught up in.

[USS Redskins]

My Uncle who passed away in 2005, was 15 or so and was able to fake his age and signed up for the NAVY in 1942. He spent a year training and became a Landing Craft driver. I know he was at Iwo Jima and a dozen or so other landings.

My wife's Grandfather (just passed away in November) was a real hero, too. He signed up right for the Marines right after PH... fought in something crazy like 18 battles in the Pacific Theater. The major one was Saipan. He was a grunt - his unit was always the first to land.

A great guy... I am a huge WWII history buff and for years was dying to ask him about it but was told never to bring it up - even after decades it took a real emotional toll on him after seeing his friends wiped out... he also killed quite a few Japanese.

The very few times he actually brought it up with me it was like talking to a human history book. It was fascinating. I wanted to know everything from the islands they were stationed on, to what they had for lunch and dinner... I wanted so bad to get a record of his service and his time in the Pacific but it didnt happen.

Approx. 850 WWII vets die every day now.

[@DCGoldPants]

My 4 Great Uncles were in Syracuse.....all ended up in the War. 2 died within a month of each other in the Air....and a 3rd was shot. The uninjured brother was sent home Saving Private Ryan style.

I've got boxes of letters from all them during the War, pictures, certificates, even the "report cards" from training.

[GoSkins0721]

My Uncle who passed away in 2005, was 15 or so and was able to fake his age and signed up for the NAVY in 1942. He spent a year training and became a Landing Craft driver. I know he was at Iwo Jima and a dozen or so other landings.

My father did the same at 17, but not until 1943. He spent the duration of the war in the Navy in the South Pacific. His brother (my uncle) signed up for the Navy shortly after PH. His ship participated in almost every major battle in the South Pacific. It also survived a direct hit from a kamikaze during one of those battles.

My wife's grandfather (too old to enter the war in 1941) was actually in attendance at a Redskins game in old Griffith Stadium on that fateful day. He recalled the public address announcements shortly after the 1pm kickoff (7am Hawaii time) calling for "Admiral So-and-So, please report to the stadiums special services office" "General So-and-So please report to the stadiums special services office". He said there must have been 50 high ranking officials called over the loudspeaker. He and the rest of the fans new that something big had happened.

We should all take a few moments to remember all those who died on that day of infamy 70 years ago.

[China]

I have no idea where my family was.

5 Facts About Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona

[pjfootballer]

My Grandfather was on a small destroyer somewhere in the South Pacific aboard the USS Catamount. He was a Gunner's Mate 1st class. He used to have nightmares (according to my Grandmother and Mother) about the war. Hate to say it, but he really disliked any asian people after the war. But he was a good man, a good father and a good provider. He died in 1998.

[thebluefood]

My great-grandmother and her family were sitting around the radio listening to the Redskins-Eagles game when the message came through.

[NavyDave]

Grandma and granddad were toiling the fields on their land. My mom was 3 years old, but 18 years to the day she would be responsible for a Birth that will live in infamy.

Thanks mom

[GoSkins0721]

Hate to say it, but he really disliked any asian people after the war. But he was a good man, a good father and a good provider. He died in 1998.

To this day, my father will not ride in nor buy a Japanese auto. Asian products are always an option of last resort.

[Riggo-toni]

My uncle, who passed away last year, worked on the Manhattan Project and was the Electronics Officer on the Enola Gay. It was the only combat mission he ever flew. I guess if you had to choose one, that'd be it.

My father wound up in the Army Corp of Engineers but never saw combat.

[Kilmer17]

My uncle, who passed away last year, worked on the Manhattan Project and was the Electronics Officer on the Enola Gay. It was the only combat mission he ever flew. I guess if you had to choose one, that'd be it.

My father wound up in the Army Corp of Engineers but never saw combat.

Holy Cow!!!!

That is cool as hell.

Was he open about the experience? I would have loved to sit down with him and just listen.

My Great Uncle was on the Tennessee but not on the ship during the attack. He jumped on a rescue boat of some sort from shore after the attack. He died before I was born so I never got to talk to him about it.

[Predicto]

Most of you have already seen this, but my grandfather is the guy on the left with the binoculars. mcsluggo owns the binoculars now.

Apparently, my aunt was at the Redskins game at old Griffith Stadium that day, and George Preston Marshall refused to allow an announcement of the attack to be broadcast over the loudspeakers. So the crowd found out after when game was over, when they left and newsboys appeared yelling "Extra Extra Read All About It."

---------- Post added December-7th-2011 at 12:35 PM ----------

My uncle, who passed away last year, worked on the Manhattan Project and was the Electronics Officer on the Enola Gay. It was the only combat mission he ever flew. I guess if you had to choose one, that'd be it.

My father wound up in the Army Corp of Engineers but never saw combat.

Wow. That is amazing.

[pjfootballer]

To this day, my father will not ride in nor buy a Japanese auto. Asian products are always an option of last resort.

Yeah, by today's standards he's racist, but everyone has to understand the context of it. When you have Japanese guys in planes trying to kill you, not just with bullets, but the actual plane itself, you can see why he was the way he was.

And cool story about the Manhatten Project and Enola Gay Riggo-Toni.

[thebluefood]

My uncle, who passed away last year, worked on the Manhattan Project and was the Electronics Officer on the Enola Gay. It was the only combat mission he ever flew. I guess if you had to choose one, that'd be it.

My father wound up in the Army Corp of Engineers but never saw combat.

That is pretty friggin' cool.

[LadySkinsFan]

My parents had graduated high school that June. I don't know when my dad enlisted but he served in Oklahoma at Ft. Sill and learned air traffic controlling and became a civilian ATC after the war. My mom used to note in her yearbook all the young men from her class who died in the war. Sad to read those pages and she didn't have a lot to say.

[Rypien 91]

My grandfather was in WWII, not sure when he enlisted. He was over in Germany as a paraglider. His group was going to fly over enemy lines and the day he was suppose to go,he woke up sick as a dog. Needless to say, he didn't go and later he find out that almost everybody that jumped that morning was shot down and killed. Crazy world, if he dies, my whole family is wiped out.

[RiggosMohawk]

My stepdad was 7 when he heard the news over the radio. He said it literally stopped him dead in his tracks.

His father worked in a GE factory all through WWII, making all sorts of machine parts. The most important thing he ever told me about it was, "Nobody ever complained about working harder, or longer, or extra at that factory. We all just knew that doing more here every day meant our boys would kick their teeth in faster". I always loved that.

My mom was a boomer (not born yet), but her father was a Treasury agent in 1941. They all got enlisted in the Coast Guard during WWII, and I have the watch he received from that enlistment.

[SKINS@THEGOALLINE]

Pearl Harbor Survivors Meet For The Last Time

The 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack will be the last one marked by the survivors’ association. With a concession to the reality of time — of age, of deteriorating health and death — the association will disband on Dec. 31.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/us/fewer-veterans-to-remember-pearl-harbor-day.html?pagewanted=all

Never forget.

[Riggo-toni]

Holy Cow!!!!

That is cool as hell.

Was he open about the experience? I would have loved to sit down with him and just listen.

My Great Uncle was on the Tennessee but not on the ship during the attack. He jumped on a rescue boat of some sort from shore after the attack. He died before I was born so I never got to talk to him about it.

Much to my embarrassment, I never got to meet him. I gew up in MD and he lived in Pebble Beech, so all I know of him is what my father has told me and interviews I have read. My Dad has a framed picture of the plane that was signed by all the crew members. The last year of the war he kept writing to my grandmother promising the war would be over in a few months...but he couldn't tell her why. My Dad was with him at some remembrance event, and I think it was Tibbetts talked about going on a bombing mission in N Africa with only outdated maps provided by an oil company. On a whim he bombed some large tents. Years later he found out he had hit the Nazi Pilots' mess hall during lunch and wiped out half the flyers stationed there. My uncle also had the last remaining pieces to the bomb - plugs he had to pull out in order to arm the bomb. Eventually he auctioned them off to help finance his retirement.

Here's his bio on Wiki.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Jeppson