Accordingly, I ask of the Democrats:
Where's the beef?
Posted on 12/06/2005 9:30:44 PM PST by HarmlessLovableFuzzball
IMPERIAL LEADERS 'IMMORAL' Pearl Harbor was mistake: attack vet, 89
By MIYA TANAKA
KOGA, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) To Zenji Abe, 89, a former dive-bomber pilot, Pearl Harbor was a place where he headed to risk his life to defend his country. But more than 60 years later, it has turned into a place where he can nurture ties with American friends who had once been his foes.
News photo Zenji Abe poses in front of a bomber in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in late December 1941, after returning from the Pearl Harbor attack.
He can clearly recall the day when he joined the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 1941. The spry white-haired veteran spoke about his experiences in an interview at his home in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, where he lives with his wife.
"I put a photo of my (former) wife holding my 6-month-year-old son in my uniform's inner pocket. . . . I didn't feel fear, or such excitement as 'I'm going to beat the Americans!' Instead, I thought it's just like (an) exercise," Abe, then a 25-year-old lieutenant and squadron leader, said.
Taking off from the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier, Akagi was part of the second wave of planes. The raid crippled the U.S. Pacific Fleet by sinking or severely damaging eight battleships, including the Arizona -- a symbolic figure of the largest U.S. naval loss in history.
"I nosedived from an altitude of about 3,000 meters and practically a 60-degree angle. It was like plunging headfirst and I released a 250-kg bomb," Abe said, adding that he was "lucky" that he survived..
(Excerpt) Read more at japantimes.com ...
Since it ended with two big bombs, ignominious defeat, and occupation, do ya think?
Dawn on a Sunday morning,
Dawn on the wide blue sea,
Hawaii, isle of sunshine, lay so peacefully.
Then from the sky without warning,
The vultures swarmed to attack.
Hiding behind their "peace talk,"
They stabbed our boys in the back.
Remember Pearl Harbor, every hour, every day that we live.
Remember Pearl Harbor, and the crime we can never forgive.
Through the sweat and toil,
Through the blood and tears,
Keep this battle cry ringing in our ears:
"Remember Pearl Harbor," let this song keep us strong through the years.
Remember how we used to call them our "little brown brothers?"
What a laugh that turned out to be.
Well, we can all thank God that we're not related
To that yellow scum of the sea.
They talked of peace, and of friendship.
We found out just what all that talk was worth.
All right, they've asked for it, and now they're going to get it.
We'll blow every one of them right off of the face of the Earth.
Remember Pearl Harbor, in the air on the land and the sea.
Remember Pearl Harbor, here's a job we can do, you and me.
Keep'em flying high clear across the pond.
Make our dollars fight, buy another bond!
Remember Pearl Harbor, day and night, pray and fight, carry on!
Carson Robison, Bluebird Records, c. 1941
Well that's the argument the Dems are using against us in Iraq.
The Japanese war colleges trained on bombings and tactics that including surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor from the 30's... it was no 'accident'.
My twin 8 year olds said they'd get extra credit if they looked up on the internet to find out what happened on Dec. 7th. I pulled out my book of "We interrupt this Broadcast" that has an old radio show with the bulletin on it.
After hearing about the attack, and President Roosevelt's sound bite I asked them what that reminded them of. They said 9-11. (They were 4 at the time!)
I told them of how Dec. 7th was their Bopa's and Nana's 9-11, and how my dad went down the following day with all the other men in the country to sign up and fight in the war, and that it was a long and hard war fought all over the world and that in the end we had to drop - not one, but TWO atomic bombs before the Japanese would quit.
My one daughter said "And now they're our friends". And I said yes, our very good friends in that part of the world.
Half the battleships sunk in the attack were refloated and refitted, but not as quickly as you might think. One was refloated but never saw service again.
Arizona - lost.
Oklahoma - refloated but not returned to duty.
California - refloated March 25, 1942. Returned to combat June 1944.
West Virgina - refloated May 17, 1942. She reached Pearl in September, 1944, and returned to combat October, 1944.
Others
Utah (converted from a battleship to a target ship) sunk.
Oglala (minelayer) - refloated 'late 1942). Placed in full commission February 1944
So I couldn't come up with any that were sunk that were back in the war within a year, and only half, not most, that returned to service at all.
Sources - US Navy Historical Center
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq66-2.htm
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/o-list.htm
DANFS at Hazegray
www.hazegray.org/danfs/
The Democrats are intent on telling the giant to go back to sleep, all the while the building is burning down around it.
We are a sleeping giant, but lately it seems as if what we've done since 9/11 was more akin to groggily smacking at an annoying mosquito. All attempts to wake up fully have been hindered by the media's attempt to cover our ears and close our eyes to the horrific nature and goals of our enemies.
At least that has always been their excuse.
The US wasn't the only place that they could have obtained those materials.
"Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell.! Admiral Halsey - December 1941
Now there is fighting spirit. No wonder McArthur called Halsey the greatest fighting Admiral of the Navy.
How come they don't make men like this anymore? Like Halsey and Patton. I know, everyone has to toe the pc line, blah, blah.
A sub can be built in 6-9 months, a carrier takes 18-24, a battleship 30-36. If you are aiming to win within a year, which do you go after?
Men like that are in Iraq now. They just need to step up to the plate and do what they know is right and their higher-ups need to do a better job of backing them up publicly.
We went there for a reason: To take it to them, not to sit in the sand and wait for them to shoot first. Do a search and see what General Pershing did about the Muslim Terrorists in the Philippines.
Oh wait, I thought he was referring to the Michael Bay movie of the same name.
I wonder if we'd get the same admission had the US and the allies lost to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
Accordingly, I ask of the Democrats:
Where's the beef?
Well, he did speak English fluently...
Abe promised he would send Fiske, who was a volunteer at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, some $500 each year and asked him to lay two roses at the memorial on the last Sunday of each month, one for him and one for Fiske, and to play taps on his bugle.
Fiske kept his promise for more than 10 years before he died in April 2004, Abe said.
I remember seeing these two men on the History Channel, and just this morning I saw a Pearl Harbor article in the local newspaper which made me wonder if either of them was still alive. It saddens me to hear that Richard Fiske is gone - but he has plenty of shipmates to keep him company.
Their first clue?
I hate you.
As Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman, "Big mistake....huge."
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