On 75th anniversary, U.S. veterans recall Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
By Dana Feldman and Hugh GentryDecember 7, 2016
View photos
Jerry Yellin, a former captain and World War Two Army Air Force P-51 pilot, embraces Hiroya Sugano, director general of the Zero Fighter Admirers Club, during the 6th annual Blackened Canteen ceremony at the USS Arizona Memorial, during the 75th Commemoration of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S. December 6, 2016. US Navy/Petty Officer 2nd Class Somers Steelman/Handout via REUTERS
By Dana Feldman and Hugh Gentry
LOS ANGELES/HONOLULU (Reuters) - It has been 75 years but U.S. Navy veteran James Leavelle can still recall watching with horror as Japanese warplanes rained bombs on his fellow sailors in the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor that plunged the United States into World War Two.
Bullets bounced off the steel deck of his own ship, the Whitney, anchored just outside Honolulu harbor, but a worse fate befell those aboard the Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah and other U.S. ships that sank or capsized in the attack that killed 2,400 people.
"The way the Japanese planes were coming in, when they dropped bombs, they'd drop them and then circle back," said Leavelle, a 21-year-old Navy Storekeeper Second Class at the time of the attack.
Leavelle, now 96, was among 30 Pearl Harbor survivors honored at a reception in Los Angeles before heading to Honolulu to mark Wednesday's 75th anniversary of the attack.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor took place at 7:55 a.m. Honolulu time on Dec. 7, 1941, famously dubbed "a date which will live in infamy" by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fewer than 200 survivors of the attacks there and on other military bases in Hawaii are alive.
Wednesday's commemoration at a pier overlooking the memorial to the sunken Arizona began with a moment of silence at precisely that time.
The battleship Arizona sank with 1,177 officers and crew on board and lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.
Wearing leis of fresh Hawaiian flowers around their necks, about 350 U.S. veterans of World War Two and their families received blessings and prayers for peace.
A performance by the Navy's Pacific Fleet Band was made bittersweet by the knowledge that every member of the USS Arizona band, one of the Navy's best, died that day.
Two families were to participate in a private ceremony in which the ashes of crew members who survived the attack and died later were to be interred in a turret of the Arizona.
Across the United States on Wednesday, Americans remembered those who died at Pearl Harbor and the long, difficult war that followed.
WAR BEGINS
The shock of the Pearl Harbor attack is vividly illustrated in an exhibit at Massachusetts' Museum of World War II, which features relics including a West Point cadet's letter to his father, then-Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower, on preparing himself for war. [L1N1E01KC]
On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan. Three days later, Germany declared war on the United States.
Will Lehner, 95, was among those who had a chance to fight back in the Pearl Harbor attack. The 2nd class naval fireman was in the boiler room of the USS Ward, which was patrolling the entrance to the harbor, when crew members spotted a Japanese submarine.
"That submarine was on the surface and our skipper didn't know if it was ours or not," Lehner, 20 at the time, said at the Los Angeles event. "He said, 'Load your guns.'"
"The first shot went right over the top, the next shot right after it hit that submarine and punched a hole in it."
After the war, a historical discrepancy nagged at Lehner. The Japanese submarine had not been recovered and many historians doubted that it existed. That changed in 2002 when the submarine was found.
"For 62 years," Lehner said, "nobody believed us."
For his part, Leavelle would be touched twice by the hand of history. After the war, he became a policeman in Texas. On Nov. 24, 1963, he was the Dallas officer handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald when the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy was shot to death by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/75th-anniversary-u-veterans-recall-japanese-attack-pearl-140616228.html
By Dana Feldman and Hugh GentryDecember 7, 2016
View photos
Jerry Yellin, a former captain and World War Two Army Air Force P-51 pilot, embraces Hiroya Sugano, director general of the Zero Fighter Admirers Club, during the 6th annual Blackened Canteen ceremony at the USS Arizona Memorial, during the 75th Commemoration of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S. December 6, 2016. US Navy/Petty Officer 2nd Class Somers Steelman/Handout via REUTERS
By Dana Feldman and Hugh Gentry
LOS ANGELES/HONOLULU (Reuters) - It has been 75 years but U.S. Navy veteran James Leavelle can still recall watching with horror as Japanese warplanes rained bombs on his fellow sailors in the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor that plunged the United States into World War Two.
Bullets bounced off the steel deck of his own ship, the Whitney, anchored just outside Honolulu harbor, but a worse fate befell those aboard the Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah and other U.S. ships that sank or capsized in the attack that killed 2,400 people.
"The way the Japanese planes were coming in, when they dropped bombs, they'd drop them and then circle back," said Leavelle, a 21-year-old Navy Storekeeper Second Class at the time of the attack.
Leavelle, now 96, was among 30 Pearl Harbor survivors honored at a reception in Los Angeles before heading to Honolulu to mark Wednesday's 75th anniversary of the attack.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor took place at 7:55 a.m. Honolulu time on Dec. 7, 1941, famously dubbed "a date which will live in infamy" by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fewer than 200 survivors of the attacks there and on other military bases in Hawaii are alive.
Wednesday's commemoration at a pier overlooking the memorial to the sunken Arizona began with a moment of silence at precisely that time.
The battleship Arizona sank with 1,177 officers and crew on board and lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.
Wearing leis of fresh Hawaiian flowers around their necks, about 350 U.S. veterans of World War Two and their families received blessings and prayers for peace.
A performance by the Navy's Pacific Fleet Band was made bittersweet by the knowledge that every member of the USS Arizona band, one of the Navy's best, died that day.
Two families were to participate in a private ceremony in which the ashes of crew members who survived the attack and died later were to be interred in a turret of the Arizona.
Across the United States on Wednesday, Americans remembered those who died at Pearl Harbor and the long, difficult war that followed.
WAR BEGINS
The shock of the Pearl Harbor attack is vividly illustrated in an exhibit at Massachusetts' Museum of World War II, which features relics including a West Point cadet's letter to his father, then-Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower, on preparing himself for war. [L1N1E01KC]
On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan. Three days later, Germany declared war on the United States.
Will Lehner, 95, was among those who had a chance to fight back in the Pearl Harbor attack. The 2nd class naval fireman was in the boiler room of the USS Ward, which was patrolling the entrance to the harbor, when crew members spotted a Japanese submarine.
"That submarine was on the surface and our skipper didn't know if it was ours or not," Lehner, 20 at the time, said at the Los Angeles event. "He said, 'Load your guns.'"
"The first shot went right over the top, the next shot right after it hit that submarine and punched a hole in it."
After the war, a historical discrepancy nagged at Lehner. The Japanese submarine had not been recovered and many historians doubted that it existed. That changed in 2002 when the submarine was found.
"For 62 years," Lehner said, "nobody believed us."
For his part, Leavelle would be touched twice by the hand of history. After the war, he became a policeman in Texas. On Nov. 24, 1963, he was the Dallas officer handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald when the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy was shot to death by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/75th-anniversary-u-veterans-recall-japanese-attack-pearl-140616228.html
Today at 5:15 am by Rocky
» Al-Alaq describes the parallel dollar as “abnormal”: There is great stability in prices
Today at 5:14 am by Rocky
» utube 11/8/24 MM&C MM&C -Iraq Dinar-International Stability-Financial System-IMF-Art
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» utube 11/5/24 MM&C MM&C News Report-ICC-Investors-RIYADA BANK-Port of Faw-3 Presidents Seated-Removi
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Foreign Ministry: Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council to convene in Baghdad next month
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Travelers demand cancellation of electronic reservations by government banks in selling them dollars
Today at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani directs to increase bank branches to expand financial services and modernize buildings in
Today at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Census Without Nationalities: An Attempt to Write a New Narrative of Iraq’s Unity
Today at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Diplomatic Embrace or the Specter of Sanctions: Iraq Sways in Positions towards Trump
Today at 4:58 am by Rocky
» The National: The British Army Returns to Iraq Under New Pretext
Today at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Zidane and Al-Mandlawi discuss the issue of approving laws related to the work of the judiciary
Today at 4:55 am by Rocky
» MP: The ministerial change is not linked to a specific component or party
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» For these reasons, Al-Mashhadani came to power as Speaker of Parliament.
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Al-Kroui to Al-Maalouma: 4 oil and gas fields on the table of the upcoming licensing rounds
Today at 4:51 am by Rocky
» Raouf: The region needs more time to form the new government
Today at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani issues 6 directives to increase financial inclusion and raise its indicators in all govern
Today at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Men's Union Diagnoses Danger Threatening Society's "Collapse" and Proposes Polygamy
Today at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Anbar explains details of the Western Desert irrigation project and sets its opening date
Today at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Large ships at the five berths of Al-Faw Port
Today at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Al-Marsoumi: Faw Port and Development Road will generate revenues worth 6 trillion dinars in 2038
Today at 4:43 am by Rocky
» Nearly half of Iraq's factories are "stopped"... moves to rescue them
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Gulf central banks follow the Federal Reserve and cut interest rates
Today at 4:41 am by Rocky
» Iraqis are the most likely to buy real estate in Jordan in 2024
Today at 4:39 am by Rocky
» Iranian-Sudanese agreement to expand economic and trade cooperation
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Completion of 670 schools in all Iraqi governorates
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani's advisor: We have put in place a mechanism to provide loans to these groups
Today at 4:37 am by Rocky
» A set of recommendations from Al-Sudani to reform the financial and banking system in Iraq
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» A dialogue seminar in Basra discusses the anti-torture file and fair trial mechanisms
Today at 4:33 am by Rocky
» The conclusion of the Ninth International Scientific Conference of the College of Veterinary Medicin
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Minister of Interior from Amman: The government has launched a major campaign to improve the service
Today at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Al-Bujari: The Grand Faw Port Project is an opportunity to do justice to graduates of maritime speci
Today at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani announces a package of new banking directives to enhance financial inclusion in the govern
Today at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Iraqi oil returns to gains as Iran-Israel tensions escalate
Today at 4:25 am by Rocky
» Next week... Parliament is close to resolving the controversial laws
Today at 4:22 am by Rocky
» Zidane discusses with Mandalawi and Maliki cooperation between the judicial and legislative authorit
Today at 4:21 am by Rocky
» Al-Atwani to Al-Maliki: We have embarked on a new philosophy for managing the financial sector based
Today at 4:20 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani issues a set of recommendations to reform the financial and banking system in Iraq
Today at 4:18 am by Rocky
» Iraq's Maritime Future.. Everything You Need to Know About Faw Port and Completion Rates (Video)
Today at 4:17 am by Rocky
» Trump poses a threat to Iraq's budget
Today at 4:16 am by Rocky
» A detailed explanation of the implications of Trump’s victory on Iraqi oil policy
Today at 4:14 am by Rocky
» Minister of Interior inaugurates the unified card system at the Iraqi Consulate in Jordan
Today at 4:13 am by Rocky
» Iraqi Parliament extends its legislative term until the ninth of next month
Today at 4:11 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Services: We will hold accountable those responsible for the failure in the sewage dep
Today at 4:09 am by Rocky
» Urgent demands to withdraw US forces and warning against Washington's procrastination
Today at 4:08 am by Rocky
» Why did Qatar enter the Total project: A report criticizes China’s “colonial entry” into Iraq
Today at 4:06 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary movement to pass 5 “important” laws
Today at 4:05 am by Rocky
» Iraqi congratulations and divided positions.. What after Trump's victory?
Today at 4:04 am by Rocky
» Parliament Presidency decides to extend legislative session for 30 days
Today at 4:01 am by Rocky
» Government Media Announces Completion of 670 Model Schools in All Governorates
Today at 4:00 am by Rocky
» More than 10 billion dinars.. Sulaymaniyah and Halabja imports in a week
Today at 3:59 am by Rocky
» Parliamentarian reveals reasons behind the phenomenon of "loose weapons" and details of the state ad
Today at 3:56 am by Rocky
» "Everything Above Ground"... What does the population census include?
Today at 3:53 am by Rocky
» Increasing complaints and slow processing of transactions.. Demands for the necessity of replacing t
Today at 3:52 am by Rocky
» Can Iraq prosecute Trump using old arrest warrant?
Today at 3:50 am by Rocky
» Calls to revive 35,000 idle factories
Yesterday at 7:35 am by Bama Diva
» utube 11/2/24 MM&C Report-Iraq 3 Presidents-National-Constitutional Entitlements-Open Market Operati
Yesterday at 6:51 am by Rocky
» With the document.. Cancellation of the suspension of the agricultural plan in the Iraqi "breadbaske
Yesterday at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Economist criticizes government's neglect of tourism, agriculture and dependence on oil
Yesterday at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The development path will be an artery linking most countries in the region
Yesterday at 5:11 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary bloc: Popular Mobilization Forces retirement law ready for voting
Yesterday at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Al-Kadhimi: Financial costs and government insistence will force Americans to withdraw militarily
Yesterday at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Committee Rejects Inclusion of Public Money Thieves in Amnesty Decision
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani directs to resolve differences over draft laws before submitting them to Parliament
Yesterday at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Emaar: Launching the housing loan application form in early 2025
Yesterday at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Health: The environment needs 2.6 billion dinars to operate air purification stations
Yesterday at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: We faced major challenges in implementing the “Greater Iraq” project
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Iraqi Ports reveals in numbers the percentage of completion in the Grand Faw Port projects
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» More than $300 million.. Central Bank sales increase in today's auction
Yesterday at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Faw Port prepares to receive the first commercial ship
Yesterday at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Service Effort of {Sabah}: Completing all projects with high implementation rates before the end of
Yesterday at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Government agency for digital transformation
Yesterday at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Committee: Final version of the National Day Law
Yesterday at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Al-Imar to {Sabah}: Launching the housing loan application form at the beginning of 2025
Yesterday at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Iraq looks forward to a new phase after Trump's victory
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Training workshops to help the unemployed in Kirkuk
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» Nineveh to open oncology hospital in early 2025
Yesterday at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Service Effort: Completion of all projects that exceeded 80% completion rates.
Yesterday at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Health: The environment needs 2.6 billion dinars to operate air purification stations
Yesterday at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Transportation: 20 public transport lines to be launched this month
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Al-Emaar to {Al-Sabah}: Launching the housing loan application form in early 2025
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» The most prominent achievements of Al-Sudani's government in the youth care and sports sector files
Yesterday at 4:45 am by Rocky
» Planning: The percentage of women in the workforce does not exceed 13 percent
Yesterday at 4:43 am by Rocky
» Baghdad is the capital of Arab tourism
Yesterday at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The Grand Faw Port is Iraq's largest project
Yesterday at 4:39 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee to NINA: This is what is delaying the selection of the list
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary lawsuit to challenge the contract with the International Finance Corporation
Yesterday at 4:37 am by Rocky
» Minister of Justice issues directive regarding foreign lawsuits file
Yesterday at 4:35 am by Rocky
» How will Trump's victory affect Iraq?
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» State Administration Coalition holds meeting with Al-Sudani and Al-Mashhadani in attendance
Yesterday at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Formation of the regional government.. How much influence does the new US administration have on the
Yesterday at 4:30 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani announces the receipt of the five berths that represent the backbone of Al-Faw Port
Yesterday at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Despite its global rise... Iraqi oil returns to the red zone
Yesterday at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Iraq Counts on the Grand Faw Port, and an Expert Says: It Will Change the Economy - Urgent
Yesterday at 4:25 am by Rocky
» Rafidain Bank expands comprehensive banking system to include 48 branches
Yesterday at 4:23 am by Rocky
» "The reference" indicates the seriousness of the situation... and the political forces "shuffle the
Yesterday at 4:22 am by Rocky
» Criminal wanted by Iraqi judiciary.. Rashid and Al-Sudani’s congratulations to Trump spark widesprea
Yesterday at 4:21 am by Rocky
» State Administration Coalition holds meeting with Al-Sudani and Al-Mashhadani in attendance
Yesterday at 4:19 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Security and Defense: There are “fake” security companies run by “suspicious” figures
Yesterday at 4:18 am by Rocky
» Fares Issa meets the Czech Ambassador to Iraq
Yesterday at 4:17 am by Rocky