This is first of a 3 part series on the salvage at Pearl Harbor.
Posted by: JCM
vxbush
12/7/2020 5:10:13 AM
1
Oh, I'll have to share that with my husband, but chances are very good he's already seen it. I swear he has seen every video made about WWII, fiction or nonfiction. He found a new set of videos by a naval college professor about the Asian theater and he's been watching those regularly.
lucius septimius
12/7/2020 5:14:52 AM
2
One of my dad's first jobs after being deployed to the Pacific in 1943 was diving on wrecks at Pearl. He said it inspired in him a murderous hatred of the Japanese.
vxbush
12/7/2020 6:11:15 AM
3
In #2 lucius septimius said: One of my dad's first jobs after being deployed to the Pacific in 1943 was diving on wrecks at Pearl. He said it inspired in him a murderous hatred of the Japanese.
I can imagine so. Did he feel that way the rest of his life, if I may ask? It seems possible that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki might have cooled his ardor a bit.
buzzsawmonkey
12/7/2020 6:51:01 AM
4
Saw the first half of a film called "Battleground" last night---a film I'd never heard of before. It follows a company of soldiers who, on the eve of getting leave to Paris, are redeployed to the region of Bastogne as the Battle of the Bulge was breaking out. It stars Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban, and a number of others I can't recall now. It was directed by William Wellman, who also directed the silent film "Wings" about the First World War, the film that won the first best-picture Oscar.
It's a very compelling film; not visibly "dramatic," and not, in the first hour that I've seen, filled with lots of shooting. It does, however, draw you in to the feeling of camraderie among the soldiers, and the effort of a new replacement to feel part of them. I look forward to seeing the rest of the film (it's two hours long, which is why I didn't get through the whole thing last night).
Not quite on point for Pearl Harbor Day, but related. I strongly recommend it.
lucius septimius
12/7/2020 6:53:49 AM
5
In #3 vxbush said: I can imagine so. Did he feel that way the rest of his life, if I may ask? It seems possible that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki might have cooled his ardor a bit.
Well, had it not been for the A-bomb he would almost certainly not have survived the war. He mostly got over it, though he did resent the Japanese takeover of the American economy.
vxbush
12/7/2020 7:12:42 AM
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In #5 lucius septimius said: Well, had it not been for the A-bomb he would almost certainly not have survived the war. He mostly got over it, though he did resent the Japanese takeover of the American economy.
I think I am starting to appreciate how living through history gives you a very different perspective on the current political and economic climate than just learning about it second hand as history or the past. I'm sure he found it very difficult to reconcile Japan's economic prowess in the US markets knowing what they did before the end of WWII.
I'm feeling that way about Iran, for instance. We know what Iran has done in the past, and we recognize how stupid things will be if Biden succeeds in winning the electoral votes and Kerry ends up being that special envoy. The same things for China, especially knowing what Hunter has done to coddle China and get money from them. You see the attempts to fix the mistakes of history, and then you see those same mistakes about to be made again, and you are left shaking your head.
lucius septimius
12/7/2020 8:03:49 AM
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In #6 vxbush said: I'm sure he found it very difficult to reconcile Japan's economic prowess in the US markets knowing what they did before the end of WWII.
What really made him angry was seeing what the Japanese did to prisoners. He was involved in the liberation of concentration camps on Guam and POW camps in the Philippines -- the cruelty the Japanese showed even to civilians was inexcusable in his eyes.
Occasional Reader
12/7/2020 9:23:16 AM
8
Howdy. This Monday is working very, very hard at being really, really MONDAY.
vxbush
12/7/2020 9:25:57 AM
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In #8 Occasional Reader said: Howdy. This Monday is working very, very hard at being really, really MONDAY.
Sounds like you need a Monday Essence Remover (MER). Tagline: Keep the Monday, Lose the Crap.
(Not available in stores.)
Occasional Reader
12/7/2020 9:26:30 AM
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In #4 buzzsawmonkey said: Saw the first half of a film called "Battleground"
I actually finally got around to watching that one a few months back. A good movie, in the way of the genre for that day. It's weird to say, but the movies about WWII made during and right after the actual war - and involving men, in some cases, who actually served - seem less "realistic" than more recent offerings (e.g. Band of Brothers).
lucius septimius
12/7/2020 9:36:59 AM
11
Reply to Occasional Reader in 10:
That is often the case. One exception is Thirty Minutes over Tokyo.
buzzsawmonkey
12/7/2020 9:49:38 AM
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In #10 Occasional Reader said: It's weird to say, but the movies about WWII made during and right after the actual war - and involving men, in some cases, who actually served - seem less "realistic" than more recent offerings (e.g. Band of Brothers).
I'd suggest that the films made right after the war were a little too close to the realities of combat; there is a Mauldin cartoon done shortly after the war---it appears in his book "Back Home"---where Willie, one of Mauldin's two WWII-era dogface characters, is at the box office of a movie theatre showing the famous live-action footage of "The Battle of San Pietro", part of the Italian campaign in which Mauldin himself fought. Willie is mopping his brow and saying to the girl in the box office, "Dern tootin' it's realistic. Gimme my money back!"
buzzsawmonkey
12/7/2020 9:57:50 AM
13
Reply to Occasional Reader in 10:
I think, too, that "Battleground," like "The Best Years of Our Lives," is an attempt to explain/demonstrate to the people who didn't go to war just what the strains and burdens were that were carried by the people who did, with as little sentiment but as much sympathy as possible. They were in aid of both helping the soldiers readjust to civilian life and the civilians to readjust to those they loved and had known, but were both the same and yet not the same.
Likewise, there's the genre of films aimed at saying that even if someone did not come home a war hero, or even go to war, one had an important part to play in the larger scheme. That genre would include "Mr. Roberts," "Stalag 17," and, in the never-went-to-war category, "It's a Wonderful Life."
buzzsawmonkey
12/7/2020 9:58:23 AM
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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 13:
To which latter list above, add Preston Sturges' "Hail the Conquering Hero."
Occasional Reader
12/7/2020 10:30:39 AM
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In #11 lucius septimius said: One exception is Thirty Minutes over Tokyo.
That's the extended dance mix...
("Seconds")
JCM
12/7/2020 11:09:31 AM
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Reply to Occasional Reader in 15:
Probably seemed like 30 minutes to Doolittle and crews.
Occasional Reader
12/7/2020 11:32:04 AM
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In #16 JCM said: seemed like 30 minutes to Doolittle
Oh, he didn't do much.
/SWIDT
Occasional Reader
12/7/2020 11:33:32 AM
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In #12 buzzsawmonkey said: Willie is mopping his brow and saying to the girl in the box office, "Dern tootin' it's realistic. Gimme my money back!"
Reminds me of the stories from when Saving Private Ryan premiered, of D-Day vets in the audience having PTSD episodes during the Omaha Beach invasion scene.
buzzsawmonkey
12/7/2020 12:53:05 PM
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In #18 Occasional Reader said: Omaha Beach
It would be fascinating to have a "Health Insurance D-Day" where the forces of health insurance reform stormed Mutual of Omaha Beach...
lucius septimius
12/7/2020 1:28:47 PM
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In #19 buzzsawmonkey said: the forces of health insurance reform stormed Mutual of Omaha Beach
Unfortunately they'd all get eaten by wild beasts while Marlin Perkin's laughed.
According to retired Israeli general and current professor Haim Eshed, the answer is yes, but this has been kept a secret because "humanity isn't ready."
Speaking in an interview to Yediot Aharonot, Eshed – who served as the head of Israel's space security program for nearly 30 years and is a three-time recipient of the Israel Security Award – explained that Israel and the US have both been dealing with aliens for years.
The 87-year-old former space security chief gave further descriptions about exactly what sort of agreements have been made between the aliens and the US, which ostensibly have been made because they wish to research and understand "the fabric of the universe." This cooperation includes a secret underground base on Mars, where there are American and alien representatives.
If true, this would coincide with US President Donald Trump's creation of the Space Force as the fifth branch of the US armed forces, though it is unclear how long this sort of relationship, if any, has been going on between the US and its reported extraterrestrial allies.
But Eshed insists that Trump is aware of them, and that he was "on the verge" of disclosing their existence. However, the Galactic Federation reportedly stopped him from doing so, saying they wished to prevent mass hysteria since they felt humanity needed to "evolve and reach a stage where we will... understand what space and spaceships are," Yediot Aharonot reported.
Occasional Reader
12/7/2020 3:19:58 PM
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In #24 Kosh's Shadow said: – explained that Israel and the US have both been dealing with aliens for years.
Do you want to insert the obligatory Mel Brooks “Jews in space“ link, or should I?
Comment error 475
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Kosh's Shadow
12/7/2020 3:30:42 PM
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In #25 Occasional Reader said: Do you want to insert the obligatory Mel Brooks “Jews in space“ link, or should I?
lucius septimius
12/7/2020 4:35:27 PM
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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 23:
I wonder if a sukkah counts.
Kosh's Shadow
12/7/2020 4:39:43 PM
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In #28 lucius septimius said: I wonder if a sukkah counts.
I don't know about California, but Cuomo would try to ban them.
JCM
12/6/2020 5:26:25 PM
Kosh's Shadow
12/7/2020 3:11:31 PM