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White House: ‘embittered’ World War II veterans should get over Pearl Harbor
BPR ^ | 6 Dec 2016 | Blake Neff

Posted on 12/06/2016 6:12:30 AM PST by mandaladon

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during a press conference Monday it was natural for World War II veterans to be “embittered” about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Pearl Harbor, but they should get over it for the sake of America.

It was announced Monday that Abe will be the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor since it was hit by a surprise attack that killed 2,403 Americans and brought the U.S. into World War II. The visit reciprocates President Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima earlier this year for the anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on the city.

Abe said in a short statement he would pray for those who died in the war, but gave no indication he would express regret for Japan’s surprise attack.

During a White House press briefing Monday, Earnest was asked whether veterans may be offended by Abe’s visit if he expressed no regret over the attack.

Earnest responded by saying veterans may very well feel “embittered,” especially if they personally fought in World War II.

“If I were a World War II veteran who was drafted by the United States military to go and fight for our country overseas in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, I might feel quite embittered, and I think it would be a perfectly natural and understandable human reaction to not be particularly satisfied with the words of the Japanese Prime Minister,” Earnest said.

(Excerpt) Read more at bizpacreview.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Japan; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Hawaii
KEYWORDS: anniversary; bho44; donaldtrump; fakenews; japan; pearlharbor; shinzoabe; trump; worldwar2; worldwarii; ww2; wwii
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To: PhiloBedo

If I remember correctly the U.S. Army stopped taking enlistments in 1943. They relied solely on the draft for their man power requirements. That way they could control the numbers men taken into the army at any one time. This prevented big back logs of enlistees waiting for training.


121 posted on 12/06/2016 7:58:18 AM PST by Bull Snipe
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To: SandRat
I have a nephew who is the same age. If it was him who was there, he'd ask his father why he couldn't hold his breath for 50 years like those sailors could. Maybe the Navy enlisted women would laugh about it for years.

These are children who have no concept of life and death.

122 posted on 12/06/2016 7:59:01 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("Yo, bartender -- Jobu needs a refill!")
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To: Alberta's Child

” ... Hawaii wasn’t even a U.S. state at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor.”

True, but Congress conferred citizenship on Hawaiians in 1900 when it became a U.S. territory. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, about 90% of all residents of Hawaii were U. S. Citizens.


123 posted on 12/06/2016 8:03:05 AM PST by riverdawg
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To: horsappl

Oh man..... coffee all over my desk. I’m still laughing!


124 posted on 12/06/2016 8:08:30 AM PST by Capt_Hank (btu's...kcal's...to kJ's, but my activation energy is still high.)
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To: Alberta's Child

Now he’s a married man, a college grad with a maters in arospace/aviation engineering and two young sons (age 2 ad 5) of his own.


125 posted on 12/06/2016 8:09:10 AM PST by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else need s said?)
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To: mandaladon
Over? Did he say "over"?


126 posted on 12/06/2016 8:10:38 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: lacrew

IIRC that soldier was an Aussie.


127 posted on 12/06/2016 8:11:40 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: mandaladon

The Japs are lucky we didn’t drop the bomb on Tokyo.


128 posted on 12/06/2016 8:12:42 AM PST by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 billion dollars.)
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To: dfwgator

As soon as I posted it, I thought...wait that uniform doesn’t look US issue...but it was too late :(


129 posted on 12/06/2016 8:20:21 AM PST by lacrew
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To: lodi90
I wonder what percentage of WWII veterans were drafted and what percentage waited in lines to voluntarily enlist.

I remember one of the interviews for "Band of Brothers", where he mentioned somebody from his town committed suicide because they wouldn't allow him to enlist. It was a different time.

130 posted on 12/06/2016 8:24:43 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: mandaladon

My parents are the WWII generation. Father died at just 69 in 1996, mother about to turn 92.

I will remain bitter for them. I KNOW my dad never got over it. He was seriously wounded on Okinawa after 45 days of combat.


131 posted on 12/06/2016 8:30:08 AM PST by truth_seeker
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To: Sacajaweau

My dad was stationed in Japan after the war and was visiting Hiroshima when a Japanese man walked up behind him. Dad says he spoke better English than he did. My dad asked him why Japan did not follow through to the west coast and invade the US. The reply was two fold. First they were concerned about getting over the Rockies but figured that out. The second reason and the one that stopped them was that Americans are allowed to own firearms and they did not feel they could fight the US army and the armed citizen.


132 posted on 12/06/2016 8:30:15 AM PST by Oilfield (My job is to manage and negotiate chaos)
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To: catman67

I entered the Cub Scout and Boy Scout program in 1954. When I went into Scouts we had a Scoutmaster, who I knew into my adulthood, and other leaders including my father who were overseas vets from WWII or Korea.

They were very serious about the knowledge they imparted, the importance of preparation and discipline.

As I grew older I heard one share his experience surviving a ship sinking in shark infested waters and then I learned about our Scoutmaster. He had been shot down, put in a bamboo cage, paraded through the streets of Japan and survived as a prisoner of war. He self-published an account in the late 70s but I can’t find it now.

They understood the importance of the organization as founded by Baden-Powell. I was privileged thirty five years later to see that old scout troop at the area summer camp, H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation. They still wore the Ross plaid neckerchiefs, but the history of that Ross name (the Scoutmaster) was lost. So I got to sit down around the camp fire with 25 boys and 6 adults and tell them the history and about the bravery of the men that founded that Scout Troop, Troop 282.


133 posted on 12/06/2016 8:31:35 AM PST by KC Burke (Consider all of my posts as first drafts. (Apologies to L. Niven))
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To: mandaladon
Should embittered African Americans get over slavery and "white privilege" and drop this "Safety Pin Box" and reparations nonsense? Link
134 posted on 12/06/2016 8:33:51 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: dfwgator

” ... somebody from his town committed suicide because they wouldn’t allow him to enlist. It was a different time.”

In 1940, the Selective Service system was created to keep *out* of the military persons in occupations and industries that were critical to the defense build up. It wasn’t until late 1943/early 1944 that the supply of new volunteers was insufficient to meet manpower requirements.

My father was a tool & die maker. There was no way he was going to be allowed to volunteer in the early days of the war mobilization. He begged and pleaded his draft board to let him enlist. In 1944 he was finally allowed to join the Navy Reserves. There was a stigma during and after the war attached to those who didn’t serve. The recurring question asked of every adult male in the late 40s was “what did you do during the war?”


135 posted on 12/06/2016 8:34:45 AM PST by riverdawg
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To: mandaladon

And the Jews should get over the Holocaust?


136 posted on 12/06/2016 8:35:38 AM PST by mom.mom
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To: mandaladon

How ‘bout BO’Bs getting over his hatred of America, first; Then we’ll talk


137 posted on 12/06/2016 8:38:01 AM PST by V K Lee (DJ TRUMP=My Strongest Advocate MAGA; DJT=The Swamp Drainer)
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To: silverleaf
Like Nanching/China, Singapore, Korea and the Philippines

My brother in law, God rest him, survived the Bataan Death March, never uttered one word of it to me. I knew he served, but knew nothing of his service until after he died.

138 posted on 12/06/2016 8:40:16 AM PST by itsahoot (Three words I don't want to hear, Comprehensive Immigration Reform.)
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To: mandaladon

http://www.pacificwar.org.au/JapWarCrimes/Cross-section_JapWarCrimes.html


139 posted on 12/06/2016 8:42:29 AM PST by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: Quality_Not_Quantity

My father-in-law went to enlist as soon as he heard about Pearl Harbor. He went to the nearest city to enlist and the line was so long down the street he decided to go back the next day; the next day he said it was the same. He finally got to enlist on day three. I heard many stories like this over the years.


140 posted on 12/06/2016 8:45:33 AM PST by Tammy8 (Please be a regular supporter of Free Republic !)
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