Comments on: My Link to Pearl Harbor

By: Adam Greenwood

Adam Greenwood — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks for your post, Gordon. You reminded me of my grandfather, who fought at Okinawa and kept his mouth shut about it. He had deep flaws but also great character.

Good-bye, good men.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I was raised in a military family and was lucky enough to be able to move to each of my father’s duty posts but once. I graduated from a high school sponsored by the Department of Defense and a large number of those who graduated with me went on to military careers; a number are now generals. But almost none of the people I knew in the armed forces were stereotypically patriotic, my father included. He didn’t believe in “my country, right or wrong.” But he did believe in doing his duty and keeping his word, a trait common to those he worked with. He was adamant about the importance of the Constitution and of civilian control of the military, even though–as I think is at this time more than obvious–one can usually trust the judgment of the military more than you can trust the judgment of politicians. “Usually” is the reason he felt strongly about civilian control. Anyway, I think that much of my own thinking about the United States, its constitution, and patriotism come straight from my father. It isn’t what sometimes passes for patriotism, but it is something quite valuable that many my father’s age were justifiably proud of and something we should emulate.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

My grandfather was on a ship on his way to invade Japan when they surrendered. Like Adam’s grandfather, he too was a deeply flawed man, but a great man nontheless. He hated talking about the war other than to say how grateful he was to Truman for dropping the bomb and ending the war. When the Korean war hit, he left my dad and his wife and went to war again. This time however, he played basketball for two years. Up until the day he died he prayed at every meal for the soldiers and their families. This was significant to me because he was not active in the church and not religious at all. I have no problem calling his generation “the greatest generation.”