Today marks 77th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack
Dec 7, 2018 07:56:55 #
Dec 7, 2018 10:01:13 #
Dec 7, 2018 10:02:47 #
Dec 7, 2018 10:35:34 #
My Dad was there. He was assigned to the base supply system. It was a Sunday morning and he was among the many that were on "Liberty". He was having breakfast with friends of my grandparents near Diamond Head when the attack started. After the attack he was assigned to a damaged battleship. They sailed to Bremerton for repairs and then eventually to Normandy for the invasion.
He kept a journal before and during Normandy. I've transcribed it into a .pdf that I enjoy sharing with anyone interested in a sailor's experience.
He kept a journal before and during Normandy. I've transcribed it into a .pdf that I enjoy sharing with anyone interested in a sailor's experience.
Dec 7, 2018 11:57:33 #
bpulv
Loc: Buena Park, CA
bsprague wrote:
My Dad was there. He was assigned to the base sup... (show quote)
I just read your father's diary and I urge everyone to do the same. It is a fantastic first-hand account of Pearl Harbor, D-Day and the war in Africa and the Mediterranean. As a student of WWII history who has traveled to many of the places described in your father's diary, it made the history come alive for me. I thank you and your family for sharing this with us and for the excellent job of editing and presenting your father's eloquent piece of literature and living history to us on this important day in world history.
Dec 7, 2018 12:38:53 #
Thank you for your service and for sharing your father's diary - It is not often we have the privilege of reading a first hand account of the horrors of war. His observation of what was happening and sharing his feelings is not something often shared. Your father was extraordinary.
My father was a B-24 squadron leader out of Sicily and flew 51 missions. Since he was the squadron leader, he got copies of the photo's taken on the bomb runs - looking at the flak over the Polesti oil fields, I'm surprised any of them made it back... He didn't keep a journal nor would he talk about the war much. I was aircrew in the Navy and his one question to me was "did you ever think about not making it back?" In talking with other WWII vets at his squadron reunions, this seems to be the foremost thought of the flyers whenever they suited up to launch...
My father was a B-24 squadron leader out of Sicily and flew 51 missions. Since he was the squadron leader, he got copies of the photo's taken on the bomb runs - looking at the flak over the Polesti oil fields, I'm surprised any of them made it back... He didn't keep a journal nor would he talk about the war much. I was aircrew in the Navy and his one question to me was "did you ever think about not making it back?" In talking with other WWII vets at his squadron reunions, this seems to be the foremost thought of the flyers whenever they suited up to launch...
Taken from the cockpit of my fathers plane
Dec 7, 2018 17:45:47 #
bpulv wrote:
I just read your father's diary and I urge everyon... (show quote)
Thank you for reading my dad's story. I'll never know why he kept the journal or who he thought might read it.
Dec 7, 2018 17:51:36 #
Shellback wrote:
Thank you for your service and for sharing your fa... (show quote)
You are very welcome!
Although I get to call myself a Naval Aviator, it does not compare to what so many others did. My primary job was to sink Soviet submarines but only if they were misbehaving. None ever did. We patrolled the oceans around Vietnam and was paid for being in the war zone. Never once did I see any vessel or aircraft that was threatening.
51 missions in WWII is beyond my imagination.
Dec 7, 2018 18:10:43 #
alby
Loc: very eastern pa.
..thanks ...i will keep it and read it when i have time... and give it to my granddaughter, she is fascinated on WW2
Dec 7, 2018 18:57:08 #
bsprague wrote:
You are very welcome!
Although I get to call myself a Naval Aviator, it does not compare to what so many others did. My primary job was to sink Soviet submarines but only if they were misbehaving. None ever did. We patrolled the oceans around Vietnam and was paid for being in the war zone. Never once did I see any vessel or aircraft that was threatening.
51 missions in WWII is beyond my imagination.
Although I get to call myself a Naval Aviator, it does not compare to what so many others did. My primary job was to sink Soviet submarines but only if they were misbehaving. None ever did. We patrolled the oceans around Vietnam and was paid for being in the war zone. Never once did I see any vessel or aircraft that was threatening.
51 missions in WWII is beyond my imagination.
What squadron we're you in?
I retired after 21 years - VP10, USS Saratoga, VP48 and USS Kitty Hawk - AWC, acoustic, non-acoustic... yeah, we never got to sink one either... Did have a couple of migs jump us but TAC from the Kennedy chased them off... Had a lot of fun and saw the world
Dec 8, 2018 02:25:03 #
bpulv
Loc: Buena Park, CA
bsprague wrote:
Thank you for reading my dad's story. I'll never know why he kept the journal or who he thought might read it.
Your father wrote something for himself, but with the passage of time, it provides a unique look at the war and can be an important work for scholars and more than just your family. In my opinion, everyone should read it. Furthermore, you should take this material and work it into an article that is suitable for formal publication. In the right hands, it could even be expanded into a book. It most certainly would be suitable for submission to a publication such as Reader's Digest or, with a little tweaking, the Navy's equivalent of Stars and Stripes. There are not many records in general circulation where the main character participated in so many important events in WWII history as your father did; (Pearl Harbor), The Atlantic War, the build up in the British Isles for D-Day, D-Day and the following days, the wartime passage through the "Pillars of Hercules", and the war in the Mediterranean and Africa; almost like Forrest Gump. I urge you to take this to the next step.
Dec 8, 2018 06:42:50 #
Dec 8, 2018 07:25:51 #
bsprague wrote:
You are very welcome!
Although I get to call myself a Naval Aviator, it does not compare to what so many others did. My primary job was to sink Soviet submarines but only if they were misbehaving. None ever did. We patrolled the oceans around Vietnam and was paid for being in the war zone. Never once did I see any vessel or aircraft that was threatening.
51 missions in WWII is beyond my imagination.
Although I get to call myself a Naval Aviator, it does not compare to what so many others did. My primary job was to sink Soviet submarines but only if they were misbehaving. None ever did. We patrolled the oceans around Vietnam and was paid for being in the war zone. Never once did I see any vessel or aircraft that was threatening.
51 missions in WWII is beyond my imagination.
I did the same (westpac) deployments as you did! Only threats were the weather.
Dec 8, 2018 07:43:50 #
bsprague wrote:
He kept a journal before and during Normandy. I've transcribed it into a .pdf that I enjoy sharing with anyone interested in a sailor's experience.
He kept a journal before and during Normandy. I've transcribed it into a .pdf that I enjoy sharing with anyone interested in a sailor's experience.
Priceless! Thank you for sharing!
Dec 8, 2018 08:09:54 #
alby wrote:
..thanks ...i will keep it and read it when i have time... and give it to my granddaughter, she is fascinated on WW2
I would suggest she read; The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, by William Shirer.
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