Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Military

Pearl Harbor Attack 81st Anniversary

USS Arizona BB 39 Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii

This event occurred about a year and a half before I was born, but the War in the Pacific was still ongoing until I was about three. I can’t remember specifically the hardships on the American People, especially those of us on the West Coast, but I do remember the times when the Japanese Navy threat to the mainland had us doing “blackouts” where our community would turn off all the lights in our household. Mom would turn off all the lights in the house save for the inside hallway where she closed the doors and read to my brother and me as we sat on the floor. The entire area was blacked out for fear that Japanese Aircraft or Vessels might bomb or fire upon signs of population. Fortunately, that never took place in Long Beach, CA, where we lived at the time.

FDR’s famous “Day that will live in Infamy” speech to Congress asked that war be declared:

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

…

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

Nice words, but, ironically, FDRs own party, eighty-one years later, is conducting a similar “form of treachery” against the American People and our Nation. And they are doing so by collaborating with our enemies both foreign and domestic.

Pray for our Republic.

07 Dec 2022 by Military Never Forget

Veterans Day 2022

11/11 at 11:00 — ARMISTICE! The end of hostilities in 1918 is still celebrated today as Veterans Day. So, here’s to all who served before, during and after that date. May we remember those who have fallen with reverence and dignity. May we honor those still serving with high regard and our deepest thankfulness for what they do.

My Dad served in the Navy in WW2. Damsel’s Dad served in Naval Aviation during the post WW2 era at the beginning of the Cold War. My older brother served as a Naval Officer from the 1960s until about 1980. My younger brother was in Naval Aviation, as was I during the 1960s. I am proud of the Naval Service tradition in our family.

As for my service, it was during a mostly peaceful time even though the cold war was underway. Toward the end of my active duty, The Vietnam War had started to flare up, but I mustered out of active duty and began a career in aerospace, still serving, but in the capacity of support to the armed services through supplying the DOD with tools to get the job done. I have no regrets about that.

So Happy Veterans Day to all who served, are serving and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

As an aside, we will be attending the annual Bluegrass Festival up at the Rodeo Grounds today. We may post about that event later this weekend.

11 Nov 2022 by Military Patriotism

Army and Flag Day 2022

From The Patriot Post:

June 14 is Army and Flag Day, celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the United States Army on June 14, 1775, and the adoption of our flag by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

Our flag is a beacon of Liberty, a symbol of hope for all people who “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed — that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…”

We American Patriots honor the history of our national flag and display it with pride. We believe those who denigrate our flag — and by extension our nation — deeply offend the honorable service of all who have defended our nation under its banner, and their families.

The (clickable) image above is our flagpole flying Old Glory and the Arizona State Banner above our little home in the desert. We proudly fly the colors most of the time and especially on the patriotic days like today, Memorial Day, Independence Day and the like. Our American Flag is made in the U.S.A. by Grace Alley and our Arizona Banner is by Annin Flags, also made in America.

The American flag is manufactured with actual embroidered stars and the stripes are sewn together; the binding is double-thickness and has brass grommets. The Arizona flag is made according to the specifications set by the state. We always have spare flags on hand to replace the old tattered ones (the desert sun and winds take their toll). We recycle the US flags with the American Legion who ceremoniously will burn them.

Congratulations to the U.S. Army on their 247th anniversary. Happy Flag and Army Day!

14 Jun 2022 by Military Patriotism

D-Day – Remembering The Boys at Pointe du Hoc

“Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.”
– Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

From American Thinker

What moved the brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy and scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc was the firm resolve and spirit that liberty and virtue, freedom and duty, God and justice, were bound together and it is only in this unity that true freedom and progress be enjoyed. The relativism preached today is contrary to the American Founding and the American resolve and spirit that confronted the great darkness of Nazism and totalitarian ideologies in the twentieth century.

The article goes on to compare those brave young men of 1944 with some of the hoodlums today burning buildings and wreaking havoc. God save our country.

Image stolen from Ace‘s Art Thread. Click to enlarge.

06 Jun 2022 by Everyday Heroes Military

Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour

I would have posted about Veterans Day earlier but – you know – the thing. Let’s Go Brandon.

Seriously, Damsel and I grocery shop on Thursdays and that sort of thing has to take precedence.

We do honor to our Vets today for their service to the country and her citizens. We cannot thank them enough for their sacrifices. We also thank their friends, families and loved ones for supporting them as they go off to wherever and whatever. We support and pray for the bereaved when their service person does not return

I can say that I am proud that I am a veteran of the US NAVAL RESERVE and did my three years of active duty in Millington, TN at the Naval Aviation Electronics School and after school served as an Aviation Electronics Tech at the US Naval Missile Center at Point Mugu, CA. I was a line troubleshooter, shop repair tech and (the best part) an aircrew member flying on those rickety old air assets we had in support of the USNMC’s mission. This was all it the same time the conflict was escalating in Vietnam. Fortunately, I mustered out of active duty prior to being shipped over to that mess.

All in all, My Naval service was more of an adventure than a chore. But, I accept that many of the missions over the Pacific Missile Range were a bit risky, given the age of the equipment (P2V Neptune Patrol Aircraft, H34 Helicopters with Wright Cyclone Radial Engines, R4D a.k.a. DC-4 Transports, etc.). Hours of boredom punctuated with moments of sheer terror.

The last thing I will say about Veterans is that I, both brothers, our Dad and one Grandfather and Damsel’s Dad were all Navy men. According to my Ancestry Family Tree, our lineage shows many Veterans having fought in wars, e.g. WW1, The Spanish American War, Indian Wars, The Civil War (both sides) and the Revolutionary War.

Between Veterans Day and Memorial Day, we celebrate and honor those that served in the past, those presently serving and those who will serve in the future.

11 Nov 2021 by Military Notions Patriotism

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