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The Staff of SOH
Pearl Harbor 2012
- Thread starter jmig
- Start date
warchild
Charter Member
Ya know whats really odd? When I look down into that open hatch,i feel nothing.I dont have a way to relate to what happened,nor any way of understanding what those men went through. Then i see that wall,and nowican relate. I still cant understand what they went through but i understand loss all too well.. May they all rest in peace..
Pam
Pam
Great pics John. I visited there in 1982 when the ship we were on, Enterprise (CVN-65) pulled in there. The thing that struck me then, as a twenty year old kid, was how quiet it got when you stepped onto the memorial. And you can't leave there with a dry eye. Not possible.
- Paul
- Paul
Visited that memorial many, many times while stationed in HI for 4 years. I'm probably wrong on my count (memory goes with age) but I believe there were 16 sets of brothers and a father and son aboard Arizona when the ship exploded. They are all among the dead. This incident, and the Juneau with the Sullivan brothers aboard, put a stop to the Navy assigning relatives to the same ship. The sounds can get to you, too. There is a faint set of chimes that plays "Anchor's Aweigh," "The Marines' Hymn," "America," and "My Country 'Tis of Thee," right by that memorial wall.
That photo is of the interior of the mainmast. You can locate it in prewar photos of the ship, it's the upright pole that is holding up the after fire control top. I can look at that photo and think about the people at the New York Naval Shipyard that installed it, how many of them were alive when the ship sank (it was launched in 1916 and commissioned in 1918, so some must have been around when the attack happened and remembered working on it). You also wonder who climbed up and down that ladder, what kind of small talk they engaged in while making that climb, what was the view like from the fighting top located above the fire control station - also about that last hurried climb that morning for the men racing to man their battle station in that fighting top. There was a machine gun post up there, completely exposed to strafers. Some of the photos of the ship taken that morning show the muzzles of two or three water-cooled machine guns poking above that windbreak. You wonder if those men died up there or were blown to who-knows-where when the ship exploded. Lots of food for thought on that memorial.
That photo is of the interior of the mainmast. You can locate it in prewar photos of the ship, it's the upright pole that is holding up the after fire control top. I can look at that photo and think about the people at the New York Naval Shipyard that installed it, how many of them were alive when the ship sank (it was launched in 1916 and commissioned in 1918, so some must have been around when the attack happened and remembered working on it). You also wonder who climbed up and down that ladder, what kind of small talk they engaged in while making that climb, what was the view like from the fighting top located above the fire control station - also about that last hurried climb that morning for the men racing to man their battle station in that fighting top. There was a machine gun post up there, completely exposed to strafers. Some of the photos of the ship taken that morning show the muzzles of two or three water-cooled machine guns poking above that windbreak. You wonder if those men died up there or were blown to who-knows-where when the ship exploded. Lots of food for thought on that memorial.
Now 71yrs later those who participated in that great global War are very few.Of course we can never repay them for their sacrifices...many gave it all...Today many who had their parents,grand parents ,great grand parents lost still remember. They were mostly kids then, they were called the Greatest generation...But of course there were other wars,and other greatest generations.This of course not only in America,but to include most every country in the world!
Today,our Generation is once again being challenged.Those Young people in far away places,still dying,still being wounded,still leaving family's grieving are our Greatest generation.
When I was a young boy,I remember seeing former Vets.of the Civil War. The Vets.of WW1, are all gone now,.Now its the WW2 veterans,every day their numbers grow smaller!..The kids of the Koren war are reaching that age also......Good day to remember them all!
"Only The dead Have Seen The End Of War"....Plato
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Today,our Generation is once again being challenged.Those Young people in far away places,still dying,still being wounded,still leaving family's grieving are our Greatest generation.
When I was a young boy,I remember seeing former Vets.of the Civil War. The Vets.of WW1, are all gone now,.Now its the WW2 veterans,every day their numbers grow smaller!..The kids of the Koren war are reaching that age also......Good day to remember them all!
"Only The dead Have Seen The End Of War"....Plato
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Jagdflieger
Jr. Admin
Day of Infamy
I was just out in Hawaii earlier this year on a TDY assignment. I had time to Visit the PH Memorial. It had been at least 20 years since I visited it the last time and it has really grown and been improved.
Hats off and a salute to our fallen brethren on this Day of Infamy.
Here are a few shots.
I was just out in Hawaii earlier this year on a TDY assignment. I had time to Visit the PH Memorial. It had been at least 20 years since I visited it the last time and it has really grown and been improved.
Hats off and a salute to our fallen brethren on this Day of Infamy.
Here are a few shots.
I have probably seen more pictures of Pearl Harbor than 99.9 percent of most people alive. I know every building, every ship, every airfield. Yet nothing prepares you for the feeling you have standing there in front of all the names. Consider myself privileged to have met so many Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona survivors. I try to remember each and everyone one of them.
warchild
Charter Member
For me, its the videos and the survivors. I see the look in their eyes which tells a story deeper than words could ever express and i do feel their pain, and it hurts so deep.. I dont think i could survive a trip to Pearl.
Since I run a peer center, i talk with a lot of returning vets from the middle east. its the same thing. The same expression, the same lost sense of life before the war.. Kids that have already died once and are just waiting for the second time around..
I cant differentiate between the pain in the old vets eyes or the loss in the young vets lives. To me, its all the same.. Its all horrible, and there's no way to reclaim the past..
I couldnt survive a visit to pearl.. no way in hell..
Pam
Since I run a peer center, i talk with a lot of returning vets from the middle east. its the same thing. The same expression, the same lost sense of life before the war.. Kids that have already died once and are just waiting for the second time around..
I cant differentiate between the pain in the old vets eyes or the loss in the young vets lives. To me, its all the same.. Its all horrible, and there's no way to reclaim the past..
I couldnt survive a visit to pearl.. no way in hell..
Pam
I can provide you with some info on the occupant of that gun position on the morning of December 7th. It was nicknamed "the birdbath" and it was the General Quarters station for Harvey Milhorn, a Pearl Harbor Survivor who lived here in Norfolk until he passed away some years ago. Harvey was a Gunner's Mate 3rd Class (GM3) at the time and the Arizona was his first duty station. When General Quarters sounded Harvey climbed the mast and commenced breaking out the machine guns. There was supposed to be a second man up there but according to Harvey he didn't show up. I don't remember if he had yet gone down to the lower level of the mast to get ammo before the ship exploded. He did comment that the torpedo planes drew blood early and the Oklahoma was already listing to port before Arizona took the fatal hit. When the ship exploded Harvey was thrown hard against the side of the gun tub and received some burns from the blast of heat that accompanied the explosion. He was stranded up there until later in the day when the fires below subsided and he was finally able to climb down and abandon ship. By that time the ship had settled into the mud to where Harvey just stepped over the side and swam to Ford Island. Harvey stayed in the Navy, reached the rank of Lt. Commander, and retired about 1971. Somewhere in my stuff I have a three-page biography he wrote, if I ever find it I'll post it here. :USA-flag:
Did anyone see tonight's show on the Military channel, “Pearl Harbor Declassified”? I've been watching these “all new, never before seen!!” shows for decades now, and I wasn't prepared to see anything new tonight. I was wrong.
Remember those photos of the Arizona's fore mast pitched forward 45 degrees? We've known about the film taken by the doctor from the USS Solace which shows the exact moment of the fatal explosion on BB-39, but I've never seen it like this before tonight. Apparently they digitized and enhanced the film, as well as stabilized it frame by frame. The result is chilling. You can clearly see, before the forward half of the ship becomes engulfed in smoke, the entire tripod fore mast structure lift upwards about 40 feet, and lurch to port before falling back down into it's now familiar pitched over position. It's unbelievable. You can also see the shock wave blast away smoke from the burning repair ship Vestal. You can also see a small tsunami wash ashore onto Ford Island from the explosion. Incredible.
- Paul
Remember those photos of the Arizona's fore mast pitched forward 45 degrees? We've known about the film taken by the doctor from the USS Solace which shows the exact moment of the fatal explosion on BB-39, but I've never seen it like this before tonight. Apparently they digitized and enhanced the film, as well as stabilized it frame by frame. The result is chilling. You can clearly see, before the forward half of the ship becomes engulfed in smoke, the entire tripod fore mast structure lift upwards about 40 feet, and lurch to port before falling back down into it's now familiar pitched over position. It's unbelievable. You can also see the shock wave blast away smoke from the burning repair ship Vestal. You can also see a small tsunami wash ashore onto Ford Island from the explosion. Incredible.
- Paul
I went back to some of the video available on YouTube of the explosion, and in fact you can see the same thing on those as well, even though they haven't been "enhanced." I just never "saw" it before like they showed in this program, slowed down and enhanced, plus it happens so fast, especially since the footage, typical of film shot during the time, appears to be going faster than "real life". It's also worth noting that the original film shot from the Solace, was shot in color. The original film is lost to history, except for a couple of still frames, which you can find on the Internet. Those aren't "colorized", they're original. Either way, a tragic and sobering sight every time.
- Paul
- Paul
Panther_99FS
Retired SOH Administrator
jmig,
Excellent & moving shots - thanks for posting!
My favorite is #3 - the smoke stack look-down shot!
Excellent & moving shots - thanks for posting!
My favorite is #3 - the smoke stack look-down shot!