Community Chat

[Noel7]

The later husband of my mother's best friend survived Pearl Harbor.  I think he was on the Arizona, but I can't remember which ship for sure.

This date was a big deal when I was growing up.  My parents were young then and Pearl and WW2 marked them both.  I grew up hearing stories of blackout curtains and rations, and the horror endured by the man we knew.

Bless them all, the greatest generation

[Nancy Drew]

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@151949 wrote:

One of my Uncles was on a ship at Pearl Harbor, his ship exploded and he was knocked into the water. He remembers the planes straffing them as they tried to swim to shore. He was shot but not killed , however, that was the end of the war for him - he came home to Pittsburgh and built ships instead. He suffered terrible PTSD and was in & out of the hospital a lot for many years.

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Your uncles story is exactly why we must never forget. Did your uncle ever make it back to Oahu for the renunions? My husband maned the rails on the USS Reeves for the 50th when Pres Bush. Our 8 year old knew all about the significance of the day. We saw so many heroes who came back for it. 25 years later so many are now gone.

[violann]

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@songbird wrote:

Well the problem is that it doens't live in infamy.  September 11, 2001 took that mantle away.

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[Noel7]

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@violann wrote:

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@songbird wrote:

Well the problem is that it doens't live in infamy.  September 11, 2001 took that mantle away.

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IMO it does live in infamy.  The problem is there are a lot of people in this country who know pretty much nothing about WW2.  It's the older people and well educated who know about it. 

We are in a sorry state when so many don't know history.

[pitdakota]

There is no way I blame the educational system for younger individuals not knowing much about Pearl Harbor.  It is an easy scapegoat to blame education.  Who knows what teachers across the country include in their lessons?  Doesn't mean that children actually remember it or relate to something they talked about in school.  And they are pretty busy teaching quite a bit of material and can't be held responsible for teaching everything that society feels is responsible.

Where does it stop?  Should education be responsible for teaching about the Whiskey rebellion, remember the Alamo, the battle for San Juan hill?  Where does it stop?

And BTW, as an educator at the college level in a nursing program, I can personally attest to the fact that I spend hours at times teaching content and then when the students move on to another course, they tell that instructor...we didn't have anything about that.  LOL!  Ask any educator about those occurrences.

If we value these occurrences ourselves we teach our own children about them.  We talk about it on our own homes & with our family.  We do things as tradition to remember.  That does more to set an example than any lesson they may or may not have in school. 

[Noel7]

@pitdakota

I didn't blame the education sytem, but then again, I do think American history should be taught.

About two nights ago, our local ABC news did a short report on Pearl Harbor Day and the results of a study of young people who didn't know much about it, if anything. In fact, a significant number didn't know which side won WW2. 

I don't know who is to blame, but that's just sad.

ps By young people, I don't mean children.

[151949]

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@violann wrote:

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@songbird wrote:

Well the problem is that it doens't live in infamy.  September 11, 2001 took that mantle away.

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Deaths at Pearl Harbor - 2403 - wounded 1187 Plus this attack propelled us into WW2 within a day, where tens of thousands died. 9/11 was more recent but certainly not more impactful.Also 9/11 did not cause the  war as that was supposedly because of WMD.

According to google - 60 million people died as a direct result of WW2. Can you possibly imagine? That was worldwide on all sides. Certainly the worst hit of all that was taken by the Jews in Europe, but also included all the civilians who died in bombings including Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Europe and London.

My first husband was a small child (born in 1939) in London during those bombings - watched his mother die from a rocket hit and then was taken away to live with strangers in the countryside.He absolutely was scarred for life, it was something that was never far from his consciousness.

[pitdakota]

Hi @Noel7!  I agree...I definitely think the younger generation should be more aware of Pearl Harbor.  And many of those younger people may have had content about Pearl Harbor but don't remember anything about what they talked about in class.  So, if as a society we value the message then we should do things in our own family to educate and remember.

I am also very surprised that many of my generation don't know the reason that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.  Shocking to me that so many people my age may know about Pearl Harbor which led to our involvement in WWIi, but not know why Japan attacked us.       

[Noel7]

@pitdakota

I'm with you all the way regarding the importance of the family teaching their children.  I always felt that was a priority, I never thought of assuming that was a job for just her teachers. 

[pitdakota]

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@Noel7 wrote:

@pitdakota

I'm with you all the way regarding the importance of the family teaching their children.  I always felt that was a priority, I never thought of assuming that was a job for just her teachers. 

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@Noel7, Absolutely!!

Just a side story here, My daughter learned something about Abraham Lincoln's grandfather from the local PBS station that took place not far from where we live.  She researched the information, and then arranged to take my grandson to go to the area and to also visit Abe's grandfather's grave.  I guarantee my grandson was very interested and enjoyed the trip along with what he learned.   

And both my husband and I learned something very interesting about Abe's grandfather that we certainly didn't know.  It was a great experience and Pumpkin is so proud to tell you what he learned and that he went to the very place!  lol