WORLD WAR II

 

PEARL HARBOR DAY -- December 7, 1941


 
Separately, between November 10 -18, under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, a Japanese Naval Fleet consisting of six aircraft carriers with 360 planes and 25 support vessels, left Kure Naval Base in Japan to assemble near the Kurile Islands on November 22, 1941, as a military striking force.
 
On November 26, the Strike Force moved out to position themselves, arriving some 275 miles northwest of Hawaii on December 6.  This was a major strategic military movement on their part, as it was from there that they launched their surprise aerial attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
 
Hawaii Operation, Operation Z, as it was called by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, launched its first strike December 7, 1941, at 0600 hours (6 AM in the morning - local time, Hawaii) resulting in the appearance of the first dive bomber over Pearl Harbor at 7:55 AM.  49 bombers, 40 torpedo planes, 51 dive bombers, and 43 fighter planes made the first wave of attacking aircraft ~ with 54 bombers, 78 dive bombers, and 36 fighter planes to follow in the second wave. 
 
The deadly attack continued from 7:55 AM until 9:45 AM, destroying much of the American Pacific Fleet, knocking out most Hawaii based combat planes, claiming over 2,400 lives, and leaving behind over 1,300 wounded.  (Please note that exact casualty/wounded figures and specifics on damaged/destroyed equipment will be found with minor variations dependant upon the official source from which they are taken.)  Most sources state that the Japanese sank or destroyed nineteen ships, including all eight of our battleships (four sank, four damaged), three light cruisers, three destroyers, and several support vessels.  Estimates of aircraft loss are given at 164 destroyed and 128 damaged.  Horrifically, sources state 2,334 soldiers, sailors, and Marines killed along with 68 civilians; and 1,382 wounded.  (US: Army KIA 222, WIA 360 ~ Navy KIA 2004, WIA 912 ~ Marines KIA 108, WIA 75 ~ CIVILIANS: KIA 68, WIA 35).
 
The first attack wave was commanded by Captain Mitsuo Fuchida; the second by Lieutenant Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki; a third, intended to destroy fuel storage tanks (containing 4.5 million gallons of fuel oil), torpedo storage areas, and most repair and maintenance facilities on the island was not launched, as the Japanese Force headed homeward fearing a counter attack to be immanent.  Sources state that the Japanese lost to be 65 men and 29 planes.
 
Our American commanding officers on Oahu at the time of the attack were:  Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, and our US Army Commander for Hawaii, Lieutenant General Walter Short.
 
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was to deam the date of this attack the "date which will live in infamy", as he addressed a joint session of Congress (and our nation via radio) at 12:30 PM on December 8, to request a Declaration of War against Japan.  By 4:00 PM both the Senate and House had given vote, the Senate responding with a unanimous vote in support of the war ~ the House with only one desending vote by pacifist Jeanette Rankin from Montana.  President Roosevelt then signed the declaration, bringing the United States into World War II.  You can see Roosevelt's original document (there is also audio) at:    

 http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/ODDECWAR.HTML

The Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor was meant to destroy any possible threat the United States Navy's battleship force stationed in the Pacific might pose to the Japanese Empire's expansion program (expansion and conquest).  It resulted in shocking Americans, unifying our country, and ending all isolationist-interventionist debates and positions people held in relation to the War (which had actually been started by Germany in March of 1938 when it began occupation of Austria and then Czechoslovakia.)
 
Because of treaties signed between the nations known as the Axis powers (Japan being one), the attack against Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II, joining with the Allied powers.
 
Military volunteers came by the thousands, the draft which was established by the Selective Service Act of 1940 was implemented, items on the home front became rationed (gasoline, sugar, butter, rubber, nylon, coffee, tea, etc.) so the war effort would have all that was needed, the auto industry stopped making cars and started making vehicles and planes for the war effort, women took men's places in the workforce that had gone to fight.  America was united and the 'war cry' of our people was, "Remember Pearl Harbor"!  
 
The 2009 Presidential Proclamation for Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day can be found here: 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-national-pearl-harbor-remembrance-day
 

~ Rev. Lin

 

 

World War II TImeline

  • 1917 - Founding of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) = Stalin, Lenin, Bolsheviks - coup in Russia
  • 1922 - Mussolini and Facists come into power in Italy
  • September 18, 1931 - Empire of Japan invades Manchuria, China
  • March 1933 - Hitler and Nazis come into power in Germany (forming the Third Reich)
  • 1935 - Italy invades Ethiopia
  • 1936 - German troops cross  Rhine River (against Treaty of Versailles)
  • May 1936 - Italy conquers Ethiopia
  • July 7, 1937 - Japan launches assault on China
  • November 1, 1937 - Rome-Berlin Axis formed by Italy and Germany
  • March 12, 1938 - German troops annex Austria
  • 1938 - Czechoslovakia is sacrificed to Hitler through Munich Agreement
  • 1939 - Germany invades Czechoslovakia
  • March 1939 - Czechoslovakia falls to Third Reich
  • August 23, 1939 - Soviet / German Nonaggression Pact signed
  • September 1, 1939 - German forces invade Poland
  • September 3, 1939 - BEGINNING OF WW II -- UK and France declare war on Germany
  • September 10, 1939 - Canada declares war on Germany
  • September 1939 - Soviet Union (with Hitler agreement) invades Poland
  • September 27, 1939 - Poland falls
  • November 30, 1939 - USSR invades Finland
  • April 9, 1940 - Germany invades Norway and Denmark
  • April 1940 - Denmark falls (sinks their own navy in Copenhagen Harbor)
  • May 1940 - Norway falls
  • May 10, 1940 - Germany invades Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium
  • May 11, 1940 - Luxembourg falls
  • May 14, 1940 - Netherlands falls
  • May 28, 1940 - Belgium surrenders
  • 1940 - British and French forces are trapped in Belgium
  • 1940 - USSR conquers Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
  • June 4, 1940 - British and French troops evacuated at Dunkerque, France to Great Britain
  • June 10, 1940 - Italy declares war on France and UK
  • June 14, 1940 - Paris falls to Nazis
  • June 22, 1940 - France  forms Vichy government under Marshal Henri Petain
  • August 1940 - British RAF Air Bases bombed by German Luftwaffe
  • August 1940 - Italian forces in Ethiopia conquer British Somaliland
  • September 1940 - British Cities (includin London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Glasgow) bombed by the Nazis
  • September 1940 - Italian forces in Libya attack the British in Egypt
  • September 22, 1940 - Japanese attack French Indochina
  • 1940 - Japan joins the Axis
  • October 28, 1940 - Italy invades Greece
  • November 20, 1940 - Hungary joins the Axis
  • November 23, 1940 - Romania joins the Axis
  • December 8, 1940 - British attack the Italian forces in Egypt
  • 1940 - German U-Boats sink United States and Canadian convoys to Britain
  • January 15, 1941 - British forces invade Ethiopia
  • 1941 - Greek troops push Italian forces into Albania
  • March 1, 1941 - Bulgaria joins the Axis
  • April 6, 1941 - German forces invade Yugoslavia and Greece
  • April 13, 1941 - Japan signs nonaggression pact with the USSR
  • April 1941 - Greece now completely occupied by the Axis
  • May 1941 - Geman battleship Bismark destroyed by Britain's Royal Navy 
  • June 22, 1941 - Germany invades the USSR
  • July 7,1941 - United States troops in Iceland
  • August 14, 1941 - Atlantic Charter announced 
  • September 1941 - Kiev, USSR, captured by German forces
  • December 1941 - Soviet troops repulse German advance on Moscow
  • December 7, 1941 - US PACIFIC FLEET IN PEARL HARBOR BOMBED BY JAPANESE IMPERIAL FLEET
  • December 8, 1941 - The United States of America declares war on the Empire of Japan
  • December 9, 1941 - China declares war on the Axis
  • December 10, 1941 - Japan captures Guam
  • December 11, 1941 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States
  • December 11, 1941 - UNITED STATES DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY AND ITALY
  • December 23, 1941 - Wake Island falls to Japanese
  • December 25, 1941 - Japanese capture Hong Kong
  • January 2, 1942 - Manila, Philippines, falls to the Japanese
  • January 11, 1942 - Japanese land in The Netherlands Indies
  • February 1, 1942 - United States ships raid Marshal and Gilbert Islands
  • February 15, 1942 - Singapore surrenders to Japanese
  • February 27, 1942 - Allies lose Battle of the Java Sea to Japan
  • March 7, 1942 - Netherlands Indies occupied by Japanese
  • April 9, 1942 - Bataan surrendered to the Japanese
  • April 18, 1942 - United States carrier aircraft bombTokyo
  • May 4-8, 1942 - Allies win the Battle of the Coral Sea
  • May 6, 1942 - Japanese occupy Corregidor
  • June 4-6, 1942 - Battle of Midway ends Japanese eastward expansion
  • June 21, 1942 - German troops seize Tobruk, North Africa
  • July 2, 1942 - British defeat Germans at El Alamein
  • August 7, 1942 - United States Marines land on Guadalcanal
  • November 7, 1942 - 500,000 Allied troops massed against Axis in Africa
  • November 11, 1942 - Vichy French resistance in Africa ended
  • November 12, 1942 - British troops recapture Tobruk
  • November 19, 1942 - Soviets counterattack at Stalingrad
  • November 27, 1942 - French scuttle their fleet at Toulon, France
  • January 31, 1943 - German Field Marshall Von Paulus surrenders to the Soviets
  • February 2, 1943 - German troops at Stalingrad surrender after 3 months of extremely intense fighting
  • March 2-5, 1943 - Allies win Battle of the Bismark Sea
  • March 13, 1943 - Japanese troops retreat across Yangtze River
  • May 7, 1943 - Tunis and Bizerte fall to the Allies
  • May 12, 1943 - Organized Axis resistance in Africa ends
  • May 30, 1943 - Organized Japanese resistance in Attu ends
  • July 10, 1943 - Allies invade Sicily
  • September 3, 1943 - Allies land on Italian mainland
  • September 3, 1943 - Italy signs secret armistice with Allies
  • October 2, 1943 - Allies capture Finschhafen
  • October 13, 1943 - Italy declares war on Germany
  • November 1, 1943 - US troops land on Bougainville Island
  • November 6, 1943 - Soviets retake Kiev
  • November 20, 1943 - United States Marines invade Tarawa and Makin
  • November 22, 1943 - Allied Leaders confer in Cairo, Egypt
  • 1943 - Allies march into Rome, Italy
  • January 27, 1944 - Soviets break the siege of Leningrad
  • January 31, 1944 - United States troops attack Kwajalein atoll
  • February 17, 1944 - United States forces raid Truk Island
  • TO BE CONTINUED............

 

DUNKIRK

 

 

TARAWA

 

 

BATTLE FOR NORWAY

 

 PEARL HARBOR

 

 

BATTLE FOR BRITAIN

 

 

GUADALCANAL

 

 IWO JIMA

 

 

MIDWAY

 

 

D-DAY

 
 
 
 
 

 

Daughters of D-Day   http://daughtersofd-day.com/
 
 

 

EDITH SHAIN

Getty Images

Nurse Kissed in Times Square Photo on V-J Day Dies on June 20, 2010 at Age 91

Edith Shain, the young 27 year old nurse who raced to Times Square to celebrate with others upon hearing of the end of WWII, passed away at her home in California from liver cancer on June 20, 2010 at the age of 91.  She leaves behind her three sons: Michael Shain, Robert Shain, and Justin Decker; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Born in Tarrytown, NY on July 29, 1918, Edith Shain was working as a nurse at New York's Doctor's Hospital when the V-J Day (Victory over Japan) announcement came on August 14, 1945.  Taking the subway with a friend to Times Square, Edith found herself grabbed exuberantly by a joyous sailor who bent her backward for the kiss that was to mark the celebration of the end of the war.

Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt said: "I was walking through the crowds on V-J Day, looking for pictures. I noticed a sailor coming my way. He was grabbing every female he could find and kissing them all — young girls and old ladies alike. Then I noticed the nurse, standing in that enormous crowd. I focused on her, and just as I'd hoped, the sailor came along, grabbed the nurse, and bent down to kiss her."

Edith herself later stated about the picture: "As for the picture, it says so many things -- hope, love, peace and tomorrow. The end of the war was a wonderful experience, and that photo represents all those feelings."

The picture which was taken just south of 45th Street, facing  north from where Seventh Avenue and Broadway converge, was printed in Life Magazine a week later.  No names were given for the sailor or nurse, as the photographer had not gotten the opportunity to ask their names.  It wasn't until the 1970s that Edith wrote to Mr. Eisenstaedt stating that she was the nurse in the picture.

Edith was active throughout her life teaching about the war; she was adamant that none forget what had been given by those who served.  Once it was realize that she was the nurse in the picture, she was invited for parades, speaking engagements, wreath layings, and other memorial events to honor those who had served in the war.

~ Rev. Lin

 

I Received This Email ~ And Really Liked It
WORLD WAR II POSTERS FOUND
I know some of you are too young to recall these  posters and WWII,
but they were a part of life for some who are now "older than  dirt".
These are great.
Pass them  along, especially to your younger e-mail  friends and families. They need to learn this history!

  
       
I  wonder whatever happened to this kind of  thinking.

I got a lump in my throat when I read  this. I "grew up" thinking: patriotism, it is the AMERICAN  way!
I am glad to see that somebody saved them. The statement at the end says it all!  Please read it all!











































~  These were our parents  ~

What in God's name have we let  happen ?


I guess we are the last generation to see, or even remember anything like these!

Whatever happened?
It's called...............................
Political  correctness (or "re-education") happened,
Lack of God's name happened,
Lack of personal responsibility happened,
Lack of personal integrity and honesty happened,
Lack of respect and loyalty to our country happened,
Lack of  being an American happened.


Did  all of these things die along with common  sense ?!?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I for one am still proud to be an
American!

If  you are too..... Pass this along, So others can show their pride..and others can learn it!

In English please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Please visit me on my other websites:

Women of Ministry / Women of Faith  www.WomenofMinistryWomenofFaith.com

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Patriot Guard Riders    www.PatriotGuard.org

Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders   www.ctpatriotguard.org 

Missing In America Project  www.MIAP.us

 VA Voluntary Service  http://www.volunteer.va.gov/

Military Ministry  http://www.militaryministry.org/

Christian Military Fellowship  http://cmf.com/ 

VFW National Home For Children  http://www.vfwnationalhome.org/

Post #296 VFW Ladies Auxiliary   www.vfwpost296ladiesaux.com

Marine Corps League Auxiliary  http://mcldeptct.org/pages/mcl_ct_auxiliary.html

American Soldier Memorial Project http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmericanSoldierMemorial

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