12/7/41

[Yankee1]

Yes I remember. I was 8 years old and walking home from the store, a lady came out on her front porch and shouted the japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor. At the time I had to ask where Pearl Harbor was. Everyone was walking around with very solemn
faces for quite a while. Serious business needed to be attended to.
Chuck

[Wirecutter]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Your Old Dog:

On Sept 11th some fools in planes attacked our civilians and according to many in this country, we are trying to figure out what we should do. </font>

I think our military knows what to do, and is doing it. This from the very occasional reports from people who have been in Afghanistan and Iraq and come back to tell the tactical story. It just doesn't make a nice exciting news story. Well, yeah, I wouldn't mind if Pakistan let us in to get Bin Ladin. That would be exciting.

It's boring to hear that such-and-such a town has elected a council, or that the water is back on somewhere, or that the sewage is being treated, or that electricity is on for 50% more of the time somewhere. But slowly, things are improving, and it pisses off the insurgents to no end.

Car bombs, now there's a story. So we hear about one or two every day.

Perhaps our government (and media, of course) have done a poor job keeping the general public informed of what's going on. If we "succeed" in our goals in both countries (not to mention our own), it's going to be a tedious, slow process, and of course, not without danger. And probably not nearly as exciting a story.

It's not going to be a thorough drubbing like the one we gave Iraq in '91, and not as exciting. I hope it doesn't turn into the proverbial quagmire (Vietnam), or the turn-and-run of Somalia. I for one can't wait for the day we can turn over the security and stability of Iraq and Afghanistan to Iraq and Afghanistan and bring our [edit]people[/edit] home.

And no, if we had been informed of what the war(s) were really going to be like, and how long they were going to last, I don't think the American people would have gone for it. It's a mess that makes my stomach churn, but I have the greatest repect for those that do the dirty, dangerous work, or die trying. I just hope it can be done with as soon as possible, and that the nation will respect and be grateful for the sacrifices they're making.

Ok, sorry. Off of the soapbox now.

-M

[This message has been edited by Wirecutter (edited 12-09-2005).]

[wierdscience]

It's funny how small a world we live in.I have two nieghbors/friends who both had experiences at Pearl Harbor.

Both were civilians working for the Navy,one was a welder at Pearl and the other was a carpenter buidling and maintaining barracks.

The one who was the welder told me about the task of trying to rescue as many men that were trapped in the ships as they could before being pulled off to start salvaging the fleet.He said after about a week the tapping on the hulls stopped.

My other nieghbor inlisted in the Navy,went through training and became a Machinists mate on the USS Hornet.He served throughout the whole conflict on three different ships and was injured in a fire aboard ship after a kamakazie hit the transport he was on.

I had the honor of meeting them many years later,it is truly awe inspiring to see what ordinary people did to serve the cause of freedom.