The FReeper Foxhole - CholeraJoe visits the USS Missouri & USS Arizona Memorial - Feb. 29th, 2004

CholeraJoe and other educational sources

[SAMWolf]

"I don't like spiders and snakes..." or electricity.

LOL! I don't either. :-)

[SAMWolf]

Spiders and Snakes
Jim Stafford


I remember when Mary Lou said
"You wanna walk me home from school"
And I said, "Yes, I do"
She said, "I don't have to go right home
And I'm the kind that likes to be alone
As long as you would"
I said, "Me, too"

And so we took a stroll
Wound up down by the swimmin' hole
And she said, "Do what you want to do"
I got silly and I found a frog
In the water by a hollow log
And I shook it at her
And I said "This frog's for you"

She said, "I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
Like I want to be loved by you"

Well, I think of that girl from time to time
I call her up when I got a dime
I say, "Hello, baby"
She says, "Ain't you cool"
I say, "Do you remember when
"And would you like to get together again"
She says, "I'll see you after school"

I was shy and so for a while
Most of my love was touch and smile
Til she said, "Come on over here"
I was nervous as you might guess
Still looking for somethin' to slip down her dress
And she said, "Let's make it perfectly clear"

She said, "I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
Like I want to be loved by you"

[snippy_about_it]

I kind of like fiddling with tools and such but I don't like snakes, or worms, or icky bugs. :-)

[SAMWolf]

Remarks as delivered by Admiral Thomas B. Fargo
Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet
60th Commemoration of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
INTREPID Museum, New York City, NY
7 December 2001

Honored guests, flag and general officers, our State and City officials, friends, veterans, and most importantly, the Pearl Harbor survivors that are here with us today...

It truly is an honor to stand before you on this solemn and important occasion to remember our dead, to honor our veterans of the Pacific campaign, and to take stock of our future as we reflect upon the infamous tragedy of December 7, 1941.

For 60 years, the attack on Pearl Harbor has been central to our concept of a national tragedy and our national conviction. In many ways it touched nearly everyone in the country. On USS ARIZONA, hundreds were killed in barely more than an instant. All told, hundreds more would die soon after. And the individual stories of loss were almost greater than anyone could imagine in 20th Century America.

For example, there were 36 sets of brothers assigned to the USS ARIZONA alone. Of those 75 men, 61 perished in the attack and only a single set survived.

I visit the ARIZONA frequently. When you step onto the Memorial today, and walk amidst the dappled pattern of shadows and sunlight, where the only sounds are whispered words and the snapping of our flag above, the unmistakable reality of loss is captured in our memory. It is impossible to not feel the impact of those names carved in the cold stone of the memorial shrine room.

And nothing is more striking to me personally than the new names you find to the lower left of the memorial's wall. Many of the ARIZONA survivors have returned to be entombed with their shipmates - reunited at last in the inevitable finality of death. Despite the separation of decades, it is there that they find their final resting place. It is an undying testament to esprit de corps and to the unbreakable bonds that unite all those who served on ARIZONA or were in Pearl Harbor that tragic day.

The dreadful events of that long ago December morning united this Nation in a common goal. In one stroke, the attack silenced the debate between isolation and engagement and launched us wholeheartedly into the war with the Axis powers and Japan. But such was the confidence in the strength of purpose of this American generation that victory was a foregone conclusion.

And so it is that in some form or fashion we have gathered at hallowed sites like INTREPID, a truly heroic stalwart of the Pacific Fleet herself, for each of the last 60 years to reflect on the events of that one day - events that would spark the conflict that would shape a generation. Young Americans, from all walks of life, born in the small towns and rural farms of our Nation, or raised in cities like this one, thrust together in the flashpoint that was Pearl Harbor.

On the waters of the Pacific, in the air, under the sea, on untold islands and, eventually, across the globe, that generation signed up and moved out - they surrendered their lives and committed their futures to a cause greater than any individual. As my mother, a Navy nurse in the Pacific during the war, used to tell me, you saw it everywhere - in fact you never saw a man on the street between the age of 18 to 40 that wasn't in uniform or a woman that wasn't contributing in some fashion.

The result was astounding. For almost sixty years, America has been strong, peaceful, and prosperous because of the sacrifice of a generation of men and women who were willing to fight for their country.

Today, there is a new generation of Americans who live up to the legacy of courage and conviction this great generation has left them. Just a few blocks from here, tragedy has given way to conviction once again. The terrorist attacks on 11 September were more than attacks on American citizens and American property; they were attacks on freedom, on liberty, and on democracy - all that our forefathers and the generations before us, have fought to protect.

And while we could debate forever the similarities and differences between December 7th and September 11th, it is clear to me this new generation has the strength of will and fortitude to persevere. Whether it is the firefighters, police officers and rescue workers who plunged into the burning World Trade Center to rescue others, or the airline passengers who wrestled United Airlines Flight 93 from terrorists over the Pennsylvania countryside, or the Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Soldiers who are bringing this fight to our Taliban and Al Qaeda enemy in Afghanistan at this very moment, Americans today - everyday citizens - are born of the same sense of sacrifice and spirit.

Ronald Reagan liked to call this "the formidable will and moral courage of free men." It has always been this country's most precious asset - at Pearl Harbor or at Ground Zero - and it always will be. It is the legacy our Pearl Harbor and World War II generation has left us, and it is this legacy that inspires the men and women who serve in our armed forces today, in the war on terror.

You should all know I am a great fan of this new and present generation. The Sailors and Marines that make up our Navy today have much in common with those that preceded them. They are unafraid of hard work, unmistakably intelligent, and always engaging. The quality of this generation shows forth each day and they are part of the best Navy I have seen in my 30-year career. Most importantly, they are a cross-section of America, a generation of young men and women who are tested each day in a profession that remains inherently dangerous.

Make no mistake. This generation is equal to the task before them. You have only to walk upon the flight deck of an aircraft carrier that is launching and recovering aircraft every 40 seconds, or stand on the pitching foc'sle of a guided missile cruiser preparing to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, or sense the energy within an amphibious ship putting Marines ashore, or step into the darkened control room of a submarine as it prepares to submerge. To see them in action is to appreciate their talent and motivation.

This generation gives me great confidence for our future. Because of them, their commitment and the conviction of our national leadership, it is clear to me that we are going to win this fight. And when I say win this fight, I am not talking about just the battle in Afghanistan, but the larger campaign against terror.

To those Pearl Harbor and World War II veterans here this afternoon, we salute you for your service, your sacrifice and your spirit. I'd like you to know that in Pearl Harbor today, the ARIZONA Memorial and the USS MISSOURI rest at moorings that form a monument to the beginning and end of the war in the Pacific.

These two great warships symbolize more than the historical bookends of the war however - more than the just the tragedy and the triumph. To me, they are a symbol of the American fighting spirit, the "formidable will and moral courage" I spoke about earlier. And to those Pearl Harbor veterans in the audience today, thank you for this legacy. You have given this nation a gift not one of us can truly repay. On behalf of all of us in the Pacific Fleet, I would like to ask Marty Steele to accept this rendering of the ARIZONA Memorial and the MISSOURI - the embodiment of your generation's enduring sacrifice and indomitable spirit - for permanent display here in INTREPID.

Gen. Steele...

Thank you all for coming here today on the 60th anniversary of this important occasion in our history. It is one I will remember forever. It is clear to me that Pearl Harbor will forever have a lasting impact on our lives. The events that followed December 7th have long inspired us, and they will be a shining example for this nation for years to come.

For we gather here, and will continue to gather here, in memory and respect for those brave men and women who were lost in little more than an instant to honor the legacy of courage you've left us. And it is in paying our

respects, that we find hope for our future, and a renewed sense of purpose. In the words of Joseph Drake (to the Defenders of New Orleans, 1814):

"And they who for their country die
Shall fill an honored grave,
For glory lights the soldier's tomb,
And beauty weeps the brave."

May God bless each of you and the United States of America.

[SAMWolf]

[Samwise]

I didn't know you could sing!

[snippy_about_it]

[Samwise]

LOL. Time for me to go feed the kid now.

[SAMWolf]

I didn't know you could sing!

I can't, just ask Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

I didn't know you could sing!

I can't, just ask Snippy.


LOL. I love to listen to Sam sing but it's because we have so much fun listening to music and it brings back great memories of my trips and all the driving around we did. However, it is possible that it may be hurtful to other people's ears. :-)

[Professional Engineer]

Wow. Thanks for the tour Joe.

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am

[SAMWolf]

I love to listen to Sam sing

Even my dogs can't stand to hear me sing, people are gonna think you're a weirdo. :-)

[snippy_about_it]

[SAMWolf]

Morning PE.

[snippy_about_it]

...people are gonna think you're a weirdo.

I'm not weird, I just enjoy laughing hysterically. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

Ewww on the icky bugs. That is the one thing I hate about gardening. Have you ever seen those big green tomato catepillars. Yuck!

[SAMWolf]

After the Surrender ceremony ending World War II was completed, MacArthur broadcasted the following message to the American people:

"Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death -- the seas bear only commerce men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace. The holy mission has been completed. And in reporting this to you, the people, I speak for the thousands of silent lips, forever stilled among the jungles and the beaches and in the deep waters of the Pacific which marked the way. I speak for the unnamed brave millions homeward bound to take up the challenge of that future which they did so much to salvage from the brink of disaster.

As I look back on the long, tortuous trail from those grim days of Bataan and Corregidor, when an entire world lived in fear, when democracy was on the defensive everywhere, when modern civilization trembled in the balance, I tank a merciful God that He has given us the faith, the courage and the power from which to mold victory. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war.

A new era is upon us. Even the lesson of victory itself brings with it profound concern, both for our future security and the survival of civilization. The destructiveness of the war potential, through progressive advances in scientific discovery, has in fact now reached a point which revises the traditional concepts of war.

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the ages have attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start workable methods were found insofar as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years, It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.

We stand in Tokyo today reminiscent of our countryman, Commodore Perry, ninety-two years ago. His purpose was to bring to Japan an era of enlightenment and progress, by lifting the veil of isolation to the friendship, trade, and commerce of the world. But alas the knowledge thereby gained of western science was forged into an instrument of oppression and human enslavement. Freedom of expression, freedom of action, even freedom of thought were denied through appeal to superstition, and through the application of force. We are committed by the Potsdam Declaration of principles to see that the Japanese people are liberated from this condition of slavery. It is my purpose to implement this commitment just as rapidly as the armed forces are demobilized and other essential steps taken to neutralize the war potential.

The energy of the Japanese race, if properly directed, will enable expansion vertically rather than horizontally. If the talents of the race are turned into constructive channels, the county can lift itself from its present deplorable state into a position of dignity.

To the Pacific basin has come the vista of a new emancipated world. Today, freedom is on the offensive, democracy is on the march. Today, in Asia as well as in Europe, unshackled peoples are tasting the full sweetness of liberty, the relief from fear.

In the Philippines, America has evolved a model for this new free world of Asia. In the Philippines, America has demonstrated that peoples of the East and peoples of the West may walk side by side in mutual respect and with mutual benefit. The history of our sovereignty there has now the full confidence of the East.

And so, my fellow countrymen, today I report to you that your sons and daughters have served you well and faithfully with the calm, deliberated determined fighting spirit of the American soldier, based upon a tradition of historical truth as against the fanaticism of an enemy supported only by mythological fiction. Their spiritual strength and power has brought us through to victory. They are homeward bound -- take care of them."

[snippy_about_it]

They are homeward bound -- take care of them.

That's a tearjerker.

Thanks Sam for posting both these speeches.

[snippy_about_it]