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NBC News
This is my third trip to Pearl Harbor to cover the anniversary of the surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941, and the place always gives me goose bumps. There is the graceful swaybacked architecture of the USS Arizona memorial, lying atop the remains of the sunken battleship. There are the old hangar buildings on Ford Island, still pockmarked by Japanese strafing. But most of all, there are the survivors, their ranks diminished by the passing years, and their compelling stories of living through a pivotal moment in American history.
Most are men in their late 80s or early 90s, but the memories of that "day of infamy" are seared permanently in their minds.
As Mal Middlesworth, who was a young Marine stationed on the USS San Francisco, put it, "I got to be standing there with a front row seat to one of the greatest spectacles of the 20th century."
That day, 2,400 Americans lost their lives, almost half of them aboard the Arizona, hit by a 1,700-pound armor-piercing bomb that exploded the ship's ammunition magazine.
Don Stratton, an Arizona survivor who was badly burned, said, "It was a terrible day. It just engulfed us in flames."
Read more: Covering Pearl Harbor, decade to decade
Of the 84,000 Americans in uniform on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu the day of the attack, between two and 3,000 are alive today, and their numbers dwindle with each passing year. That's the big difference I've noticed this time around. Whereas thousands of survivors made it to past observances, only about 120 made it this time. And most of them concede it will probably be their last hurrah.
"It's sad," said Edward Wentzlaff, an Arizona survivor. "You can't lose all them kind of people, those friendships and not let it bother you."
Two of the survivors who died earlier this year, Lee Soucy and Vernon Olsen, are being reunited with their shipmates, their ashes interred on this 70th anniversary beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor, where so many sailors and Marines went down with their ships.
And now, the last remaining survivors look to future generations to keep the memories alive, making this anniversary one laden with sentiment and sadness.
Leave a Comment:
Its time to avenge all who lost there life to Japanese Imperial slime.
It's great you got the first comment, it really puts the whole day in perspective...dumbass.
I think we already did that Dumbass, It was called VJ Day.
@Scientist1 - well said....now go take your meds and STFU!
That's what the atomic bomb was for...
Not only was the comment by scientist1 idiotic, but it included no less than three spelling errors. Pretty sad.
.
(really wasn't worth commenting on! Sorry.)
Thank you very much for your service. I won't forget.
Thank you brothers, you are still the hero's of my generation. May we forever glow in your sacrifice and bravery.
We will never forget.
While I agree that this still needs to be remembered every year, I don't understand promoting this as a *new* article on the nbcnews.com home page when it say s at the top it was published last year in 2011. Today Dec. 7, 2012, is the 71st anniversary of the attack.
propaganda. They need to get you to be all "ra ra, USA" to get you geared up for another 20 years of war as we invade Syria, then Iran then move onto invading African countries to exploit their natural resources er I mean "free those people" from a banking system that isn't controlled by Western Elites.
Nice world you live in, Anon. Get out from under the foil cap often? A day honoring the survivors of a horrible day, beset by another Empire, has nothing to do with your secret agenda revelations.
Right you are Matty!!
Matty, it's all connected. Why do we fight wars? Who finances the wars? who benefits from the wars?
Matty, it's all connected. Why do we fight wars? Who finances the wars? who benefits from the wars?
Why do we fight wars? Well lets see, we fought WWII because we got surprise attacked by the Japanese and 2,400 Americans were killed. Did you already forget?
Not to mention that Hitler and the Nazis were a bunch of psychos that were hell bent on taking over the world and eradicating all people who didn't fit in with their master race eugenics ideology (not only Jews died in the concentration camps.) That sounds like a pretty good reason to fight a war to me!
Diplomacy only works when BOTH sides are willing to sit down and work out their problems peaceful.
You're kidding right? Judea declared war on Germany a decade before the Nazi's "started" WWII. We knew the Japanese were coming for Pearl Harbor and allowed it so we had an excuse to be in the war... The biggest supporters of Eugenics were AMERICANS who funded the Nazis (Prescott Bush, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller).
Have you ever actually researched any of this? or do you just recite the disinfo spoon-fed to you by the elites, their media and their "education" system? WAKEUP! #Read! #Learn! #THINK!
yes MSNBC is known for its rah rah war calls for imperialism. yeah yep you betcha
just yesterday they were perpetuating the false narrative that Assad had "chemical weapons" loaded and ready to rock... when in reality the chemical weapons were supplied by the west and are under control of the "rebels" in the "FSA and Al Qaeda, the US's two proxies in the region.
As a Vietnam veteran, this recent Thanksgiving holiday. My uncle, a WW II veteran of the Battle of Bulge passed away. He lost a leg in that battle and yet his unit 99th Infantry Division went on to liberate the subcamps at Dachu concentration camp complex.
He like so many other Americans who died in that conflict because of this event and more than the 33 million who perished. Was because of the Axis powers who wanted to change how all people would live. Let's try and remember how our country was changed forever. I was fortunate 3 years ago to meet a Pearl Harbor survivor and thanked him on Veterans Day, in Hayward, Calif. While his son watched as I shaked his hand and saluted him, his buddies that were lost that day and there after.
War is horrific by all those directly and indirectly because of lost of life. As it changed my life at age - 20 .
I am also a "Nam era vet." I grew up idolizing these men for their bravery and the back to back victories won by their sacrifice.
They are my heroes and my three son's have now joined me in our tribute to the "Greatest Generation."
Full battery salute! That's 24 guns charge 7!
That's some fierce power friend.
It's amazing to me that we sacrificed so many American men in the name of Zionism and corporate profits. Pearl Harbor was expected and invited so we had an excuse to go to war.
wha ? You into that legal weed already ?
#Read, #Learn, #Research. Reality happened. Look it up!
Toiling along in a post-Depression funk was not a good alternative. So, yes Pearl Harbor MAY have been known. But the expansionism in the Empire days, by all countries (not just the US), made full scale war nearly unavoidable, no matter what a pure pacifist says. Anon, can come up with theories of the path not taken, but that will ignore the reality.
The war was scripted on all sides... Who funded the Axis? Who funded the Allies? What? the same banking families funded both sides of the war? fascinating... WAKE UP!
So what you are saying then anon is that WWII wasn't really about Germany invading their neighbors, rounding up their citizens, annexing territory and sending people to death camps in the name of Eugenics and pseudo science. Hitler was really in it for the banks...
We didn't go to war because we were sneak attacked by the Japanese or to help liberate Europe from a brutal fascist dictator, it was all because the evil bankers were having a bad quarter.
And all the mountains of evidence brought to the attention of the world at Nuremberg was all manufactured to make the Allies look like justified saviors of the world so that no one would dig to deep and uncover the master conspiracy!
wow I feel so... well enlightened certainly isn't the word.
Red, Isn't that exactly what the US did in claiming North America?
We KNEW The Japanese were going to attack. This is all verifiable. Look it up.
What evidence are you talking about? Rounding up people who declared war on Germany years before Germany went to war? https://www.google.com/search?q=judea+declares+war+on+germany&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=u&rlz=1C1CHMO_enUS482US482&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=BoPCUODpAYa_ygGllYGgCg&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1280&bih=699
in modern times we would call those people "terrorists"...
Yeah the Jews really had it planned out well.. Worked out great for 6 million of them. Look out Anon the drone is overhead.
lulz. Just like when any nation goes to war, it's not about the nation or its people, it's about the elites of that nation. they care not how many "useless eaters" die. It's about power and control for those with high social-economic standing.
Anon Dude, Next time you read, learn, and think, stay away from fox news and their conspiracy theory nut jobs. There are many books about the attack on Pearl Harbor, some support what you say, but most don't. The same with your paranoid positions. As everyone knows, your perceptions are your reality, but in the end, they are only your perceptions, if that reality floats your boat, good on ya'.
I'm not a RWer, Barlow. I cam from a left-center background. but I studied. I implore you to do the same. Look into who owns what. look at the web of corporations, their boards and their political affiliations. Look at the central-banking system. Look into the UN, NATO & their structure/organization. Study WWI, WWII and read accounts from non-US sources alongside the official version. If there are 2 sides to every story and the truth lies somewhere in-between, then there's a big gap between what we're told and what really happened.
If your studies are guided by leftists you end up like Anon. If your studies are guided by rightests you end up like his opposite. If you study everything, ask your family, learn a little about human nature and use the brain God gave you then you begin to learn about the things going on around you that affect your life. But Anon is a corrupt individual for not realizing this forum is about those surviving guys. Not about Anon.
Tom, if I don't do this, you'll go through the rest of your life believing the lies and my kids will have to deal with the same criminal overlords you serve. I can't live with that, so if I have to offend a few people to wake them up to the reality that criminal banksters have taken over our nation and use our military to increase their personal fortunes then so be it.
I'm sorry reality is so offensive to you. I wish you luck in your remaining days of serfdom.
The dead were victims of incompetent local US leadership as much as Japanese bombs and bullets.
COMPLICIT leadership, not incompetent.
I have a fence post in my backyard that is probably smarter than you are, dude.
Excellent. Consult with your fence-post and ask it about the Australian and British reports (released to the public under FOIA) delivered to US Intelligence in November about the impending attack as well as the communications codes used by the Japanese fleet.
All of the information is available. You just have to THINK instead of just believing what you're told.
All right, all right Anon. I need to ask you to stop now. You are getting to close to the truth. I am afraid I am going to have to log your IP address and forward your personal information to the proper authorities.
Don't bother trying to run, we know who you are. We implanted a microphone and camera in your favorite teddy bear and we have replaced all the tin foil in your house with a special metal that actually improves our mind control abilities. Oh and there is an IR camera inside your smoke detector so we can actually see you pacing back and forth right now. And even if you do get away, there was a tracking chip secretly placed inside your cheerios this morning. Nifty devices, they run on bio-electricity and body heat (just like the machines in the Matrix... which is also real!!!)
Don't mess with us! I work for the top secret Pentagon Banking division! We are the same guys who planned 9\11 AND the attack on Pearl Harbor! If we can feed fake intel to the president and remote control 747's to fly into buildings we can get to you too!
I understand your normalcy bias. the truth can be very uncomfortable. You've been conditioned your whole life to view any information that is inconguent with your programming with skepticism.
I encourage you to #Read, #Learn and #Think.
Don't believe me, believe yourself... just do the research.
Just a question....I'm not familiar with that publishing. I see certain terms such as "shillings" and such, so I'm assuming it's British or European, and it seems to be some sort of newspaper. So, was it a standard, reputable source of information at the time? Furthermore, what was the reason for the declaration of war on Germany by Judea?
Regardless of what went on behind the scenes, the reasons for the war, etc etc, we should still show respect to those who have lost their lives.
look back to WWI and to the Balfour Declaration. Look at the standing of Jews in early 20th century Europe. Look at the most powerful banking families of the time. Look at the most powerful social groups of the time. It never had anything to do with Judaism. It had to do with power. all of the vaious "isms" are tools.
I agree with respecting those who gave their lives. I believe the best way to honor them is to expose those who are responsible for their deaths. Those who funded the war and coaxed the US into the war. Who benefited?
I don't want to supply answers. You have to find those yourself... Seek #Truth.
Thank you for your service.
[As an unrelated note to site editors, you might want to edit this sentence "Of the 84,000 Americans in uniform on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu the day of the attack, between two and 3,000 are alive today, and their numbers dwindle with each passing year." Should read "2,000 - 3,000." The way it currently reads suggests there are between two people and 3,000 people.]
English is alongside History here...dead!
You would think on a somber day such as this,as we remember those who gave their lives in the now 2nd deadliest attack on American soil ( 9/11 was the worst), you would think the winguts here who really have nothing to say would just thank these men for their service and leave it at that....but NO!!! So thank you to all of you here who respect these men and women who dies and served enough to just thank them for their service. The rest of you, I am glad they served and gfought to give you the freedom to be idiots!
and the criminals responsible for both of these tragedies are honored as heroes in America... if you really had respect for those who died, you'd want to find those responsible and hold them accountable, not perpetuate a false-narrative.
God Bless those who served! Its hard to believe this day isn't headline news... But I understand that life goes on and people forget and priorities change with new generations.
This should be "a day that will live in infamy".
God rest their souls. Be thankful!!
God bless those who served and continue to serve! Thank you for your service!
Truly the Greatest Generation----Thank You all!!!!!
TCM showed the movie "Tora-Tora-Tora"and showed just how bad the attack on Pearl Harbor was. War is Hell, and brave men die for their country. Thanks to all veterans for your service.
This is a day that greatly affected me personally-- because my father was a World War II vet and those events affected him so deeply there was no way it wasnt going to rub off on his offspring. The youngsters today would probably be surprised to realize how much their world has been altered by the events of that time- not so long ago. What a terrible time- and to think how much more terrible it might have been. And here the world is- still on the brink of annihilating each other. Have we learned anything at all?
The families who started and funded both sides of that war are still in power... that's why we're still trying to kill each other... so they can profit from our deaths.
Anonymous, is it absolutely necessary for you to pipe up with your opinion to every one of these people who lost loved ones at Pearl Harbor or whose family members served? Does it amuse you to think you have inside information? What makes you think your "sources" are credible? In the meantime some stranger on the internet took a moment to post a thoughtful comment and you find pleasure in tainting their memories. Let people be, for cryin' out loud.
vera, it IS necessary. You'll never be aware of reality if people like me don't take these steps. The media, the banks, the whole game is owned by a handful of people who want to make sure you never learn the truth.
I understand you're content to be a serf for the rest of your life but some of us want to live free. I thought most US servicemen wanted to fight for freedom so this would be an appropriate place to discuss it.
All I want is for the criminal overlords to "let people be" but you perpetuate their control by burying your head in the sand. I know my sources are credible. You choose to ignore reality in favor of media/political talking points. The problem is yours, not mine.
First time I saw the Arizona was from the deck of a destroyer( USS Turner Joy DD951) in 1960. At that time all that you could see was the turret and an oil film. Been back several times since.
i guarantee you,,,,,,,,Anonymous Economist never spent a second in the military, serving his country. The Country that gives him the right to say what he wants, when he wants. Live somewhere else, clown, and say some of the things that you have commented on and see how long your live..................not long, say, in Iran.
wonder how'd they'd feel if they could even grasp the reality that Roosevelt knew the Japanese were on their way and did nothing to stop it. So many wasted lives. Something the government is good at.
Reading some of these comments makes me realize that we were once a proud nation, under God, today we are no longer that how sad for future generations. God Bless the men and women who give there lives each day for us. Freedom isen't free and we are being slowly deprived of it and the young don't realize that or at least not yet they don't but they will. God Help Us! God Bless America!!
Reading this column, I find it very sadening that the remembrance of thousands of lives lost is reduced to a page for a pseudo-historian's rant. It wasn't bankers that sent Hitler into Poland in 1939 from whence this whole tragedy was spawned.
Askmiikee. I chose not to fight for corporate profits. If you really love the bankers enough to die for them, good for you.
You know nothing of Iran except for manufactured talking points perpetuated by bankster-owned media. Check out Press.tv and learn about Iran. then try your little rant again.
JP, you're obviously awake. Keep spreading the word.
Thomas, it WAS in fact bankers who got Hitler to invade Poland... READ HISTORY. (not a US propaganda version, compare 10-12 different nations' versions and see the truth)
Having read these comments, the feeling I am left with is, it is appalling how little respect a few people have for the generation that sacrificed so much for the following generations. Some will use any excuse to leap onto their soapbox, so they can spew out their rhettoric and blind belief, for their favorite conspiracy theorem. My parent's generation grew up during the Great Depression and WWII, it was my grandparent's generation that survived and fought for everyone else, two terrible events that happened back to back. My generation and the ones following mine, owe everything we have, to that Greatest generation. I for one, fervently thank every single member of that generation, for the sacrifice's they had to pay.
You should be appalled by the fact that criminal elites intentionally kill off soldiers for profit... and you should be angry at that generation which allowed the banksters to gain even more control over our nation. by the time people like you wake-up, you'll already be dying in a FEMA camp.
Thank you, the generation that has done the most, from the following generations that just whine and moan about how bad we have it now. Seriously, I doubt if some of these generations could have survived the Great Depression, let alone fight possibly the worst conflict of the previous century or even the last millenium.
that's a whole lot of speculation there, Gabby. Most of us younger folks you view as "whiners and Moaners" are actually well on our way to self-sufficiency. I have a feeling you'll rely on people like me to support you in the coming years because we live debt free, grow our own vegetables, tend our own herds and secure our own energy without purchasing it from your corrupt owners.
When the next great depression is in full swing, how will you feed yourself when the grocery store's empty and the paper in your wallet has no value?