Remember Pearl Harbor

At 7:55am 68 years ago today, Pearl Harbor was attacked. 187 Japanese planes began dropping bombs on the ships in the harbor as well as planes in nearby airfields. A second attack came an hour later with another 163 planes continuing the assault. When the attack was complete, of the 96 ships anchored, 21 had been sunk with many others severally damaged. Out of 394 planes at airfields Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows, 188 were destroyed and 159 were damaged. There were 2,403 (including 68 civilians) killed and 1,178 were wounded.


The USS Arizona was struck by a torpedo, within 9 minutes the ship sunk killing 1,177aboard. The USS Oklahoma after being hit rolled over on its side, pinning men inside and underwater. Of the crew of 1,301, 429 died. The USS West Virginia sank after being struck numerous times by both torpedoes and bombs. The USS Nevada was also hit by both torpedoes and bombs. After the first attack, the Nevada headed out to sea through the narrow channel of the harbor. The Nevada almost made it when came the second attack. The planes tried to sink the Nevada with hopes of blocking the channel, but the crew chose to beach the ship instead. There were two other smaller ships, the Shaw and the Oglala, both were badly damaged. (The Oglala capsized.) The Vestal was beached. The Utah, a target ship for the U.S. military, was also sunk.

In a little over two hours, 21 ships had been sunk and over 2,000 Americans had been killed. Japan’s attack had been devastating and destructive.

However the aircraft carriers were not in port. What a blessing. This meant the American left fleet was almost intact. The aircraft carriers later proved to be the main ships used by the Navy.

America had been divided over how much involvement and aid they should give to the Allies. However when President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan the country was united. The US would make Japan pay for the attack and help to rid the world of Nazism and Fascism.

The Admiral who had planned the attack had warned the Japanese Government that in
order for the attack to be a success it must be a crushing blow. The attack was devastating, but it wasn't a crushing blow. Instead it gave the Americans a rallying cry that carried them through to the end of the war: "Remember Pearl Harbor."

This is dedicated to the memory of my grandpa, Ruben D. "Mac" McEwen, who was in the Navy and at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. May we always Remember Pearl Harbor.

Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord,

We come together with gratitude in our hearts on this Thanksgiving Day. We are ever so grateful to share time with family and friends. We are thankful for the food that has been so lovingly prepared, may it give us nourishment and strength.

We ask thee at this time to please bless those who are serving on behalf of others. May they feel your love, your guidance and your protection.

Help us to be mindful of your will, that we may all be an instrument in your hands.

Again we thank thee for the many blessings we enjoy.

Amen
-anonymous

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God Bless America Land That I Love....

One Summer Weekend

Last weekend Corbie and 3 friends went to experience "Wine Country" and taste the fermented fruits of the Napa Valley. (I'm sure the motivation was connected to free booze but what do I know?) Robert was at a tournament in Park City playing the only "Real Sport" any "Real Man" should play, Rugby. (Anything else is just child's play.) Therefore I was blessed with entertaining Cale (11), Morgan (7) and Ryan (3).

We started out at Cale's soccer tournament where his team was victorious taking home the first place trophy. After that we headed to Wheeler Farm to attend the annual "Kids Fest" and ride a few rides. Next was the Coalville County Fair which was definitely the highlight for Ryan. Last and certainly not the highlight of the weekend was staying at a cabin where we roasted marshmallows in an open pit. Not one of them liked roasting or eating those delicious morsels. So as soon as the bugs started dive bombing at us, we called it a night and went inside. My darling citified grand kids were grateful to be inside with their Nintendo DS, computer and their DVDs. However the bugs would have been better than the hell that broke loose inside. Cale, bless his heart, got sick barely making it to the bathroom which may have been the best thing that happened because from that point it was all down hill.

Since the TV was down in the living room we decided we would camp out there and watch a movie. I of course was sound asleep before my head hit the pillow only to be awakened by Cale throwing up on Morgan's sleeping bag. (This was to be the first of several up chucking episodes through out the night.) I immediately jumped out of bed setting my feet upon what felt like frozen ground. It was very cold so I found a small space heater to use and then re-bundled Morgan and Cale with extra blankets. I stayed awake for an hour or more making sure it was warming up (hoping we could all avoid frost bite) and making sure Cale was a sleep.

I finally dosed off but within minutes or so it seemed Cale threw up again, on the blanket on top of his sleeping bag. Again I got up to help him and clean up. The temperature was climbing it was cold but at least we couldn't see our breath.

I found a pan for Cale to use should this happen again. Staying awake for another hour or so I watched my darling little boy fall asleep before the Sandman closed my eyes. As I was closing my eyes and slipping into sleep; again I was brought back to consciousness by Cale throwing up one more time. I thought thank goodness I gave him the pan but much to my dismay when I opened my eyes he had thrown up on his sleeping bag not in the pan. What a blessing it was the last clean up.

About 5:00am the cabin was warm the kids were sound asleep and as I was dosing off I thought, "I'm not good as the entertainment committee".