U.S. Navy Battleships – USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee and US Arizona at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
(From Wikipedia) On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, without warning and without a declaration of war, killing 2,403 American non-combatants, and injuring 1,178 others. The attack sank two U.S. Navy battleships and damaged five others. It also damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer. Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged.
Remembering the events of this day 75 years ago as the United States was attacked and entered World War II. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called this “a day that will live in infamy” and it was truly a moment that changed the course of history and the war. Remembering the veterans who were lost on this day.
This movie by Oliver Stone tells the story of a group of Port Authority Police officers surviving in the rubble of the destroyed World Trade Center on September 11, 20o1. Nicholas Cage puts in a fabulous performance as Sgt. John McLoughlin along with Michael Peña who plays Officer Will Jimeno. This movie is less about the cause of the events but about the people who were doing their jobs that tragic day. Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal show the angst and waiting that many spouses felt that day as they waited for word about the fate of their loved ones.
Today I am remembering the day that changed the course of American and world history. Four planes hijacked by men who sought to do harm and much destruction flew into The World Trade Center in NYC, The Pentagon in Washington DC and a field in Shanksville, PA. This is a day that still lives in the hearts and minds of people who survived this attack. It is amazing and hard to believe that fifteen years has passed since this horrific event took place.
There are kids that were born in 2001 who never knew about this event and are learning about it as a historical event. A thing for text books and conversations about tough topics like politics, religion and civilization.
We in the USA are still healing. Some have moved on while others are still suffering. Today is a new day in America but war is being waged and justice is still being sought. Let’s hope for better days ahead as we remember this day in the years to come.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 90th birthday today. As the longest-serving monarch in British history she has seen a lot in her life and has experienced war and peace and has led her country with strength and grace. Happy Birthday your majesty!
The longer you fight a war in your heart or mind the longer it wears on you and changes you. Eventually you forget what you were even fighting about in the first place. Perhaps the cold war of our souls should end so we can all live anew.
History is a good teacher but it is also something that holds us down from doing something new.
It’s past time for us to stop fighting the Cold War of the past and forge a new future with Cuba. It’s a place with a proud people who in other places in the world are treated better than they are by the old, tired guard of the USA. To create change there you must change here.
On November 22, 1963 Chattanooga had three TV stations, each with only a handful of news reporters. There were about a dozen radio stations, mostly on the AM band, all live and local.
This is a great article on the local perspective of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy back in 1963. David Carroll works for our NBC TV affiliate here in Chattanooga. He is an experienced broadcast professional.
The Tony Burgess Blog 