Sixty-four years ago the Japanese attacked the US naval base, Pearl Harbor. The attack was made with out reasonable provocation and with out declaration of war. The United States expected some sort of preemptive strike would occur in the form of sabotage, but did not suspect a full scale attack on American soil. Almost 2900 US servicemen died that day attempting to defend us, and much of our Navy was destroyed. The blow was heavy, and the odds were heavily against us. Even so, we fought back for four grueling years and eventually defeated our enemy. Our cause was just, and our servicemen did not turn from it. Never take freedom for granted. It was and continues to be bought with the blood men who do what is right, even in the face of death. Their blood is precious, and we must take care lest we spill is needlessly.

A few days late, but still very true. Thanks to the servicemen and women of these forums, and across the world.

That seems so much like a rehearsed speech, or intro to a movie/docudrama.

This might be famebait, and I'm not wanting to derail this thread like the Lennon one, but frankly I don't give a flying one.

But you give a flying one about a stoner who wrote music? What the **** is wrong with you?

I care more about music than a bunch of people that died in a country I've never even been to, or met someone from that country face to face.

While this incident doesn't hold anything special to me, I respect the people who died in it.

Well put, Obi.

I could say some nasty things about massassi right now, but I'll keep it to myself. it is a pretty grim subject (One that should be expressed more often, and for other countries as well), so I won't say anything.

Can't say I knew anybody who faught in the war, but it's always good to remember those that died fighting.

Fixed.

It's like, the music, maaan. I mean, like, music is way important and stuff...</bong hit>

sushiboys vs. burgerboys lolz

<3 Roach.

My grandfather was the commander of one of the main cannons on the USS California. Luckily, he wasn't on the ship during the attack. But his entire gun crew was killed. I never knew him because he smoked to much and died early.
EDIT:

December 6, 1941 United Kingdom declared war against Finland...

No battles were fought and nobody died. That's the best kind as war.

But the sheer calculated audacity of it! They declared war on us on our independence day (Maybe that would've been thread-worthy too, eh?).

Well, uh, Finnish citizens in British territories were placed under arrest as far as I know, but that's about it. Ah well, at least we haven't made any loud messy and weepy (not to mention crappy) blockbuster love-triangle films about it filled with historical errors :p

That would be hilarious.

December 7, 1983. 22 years ago, my brother was born :p

Tragedies always happen in December. Just kidding! That's cool.

Well don't look now, but Tom Cruse is making an exceedingly crappy movie about an American pilot (played by him of course) that, in the movie, pretty much single handily wins Battle of Britain.

Eloquent, Obi.

You people have never seen "Churchill : The Hollywood Years", have you?

No.

That's cool dude. People die for you to be able to say stupid stuff like that. Go you for at least using what they die for.

Actually the most important part of our navy was not at pearl harbor. Our aircraft carriers, which japan intended to destroy, were out at sea. Japan estimated the United States was able to rebuild it's carriers and fleet in four years, but it took six months for the U.S. to rebuild its navy ready for fulll scale war.

I'm not American.

Other countries have armies too. Other countries fight wars too.

Consider also,

Countries help other countries. Other countries are kept safe by actions of other countries.

Open your eyes.

The Japanese still never attacked Scotland and didn't have a wish to.

Yes. The attack on Pearl Harbor was essentially an attack on the United States. But that attack had great implications on the rest of the world. Many have stated otherwise. It's a great deal to us Americans, yes. But it did have its reprocussions across the globe from 41-45

Boco, you do realise that this is the point at which Japan attacked British and commonwealth forces too, right? Australia entered the war in a big way around this point as did New Zealand. And there were plenty of Brits stationed throughout the British empire and its allies in South-East Asia (in Malaysia, Singapore and Burma to name the few I know off the top of my head). Now I know it's the cool Scottish thing to be so incredibly nationalistic that frankly it wouldn't even matter if it was just the English getting walloped, but there were plenty of Scots too who were killed or captured by the Japanese and those who survived often had American support to thank. Read up about the battles of Midway and Coral Sea, the incredible fights for Okinawa and Iwo Jima and the terrible urban warfare in Manila in the Phillippines. It's a vicious part of World War Two that the UK largely ignores despite those men we had over there. Nothing annoys me more than forgetting or ignoring those who died for a just cause.

Then don't post in the thread. You're being about as tactful as a guy who interrupts a funeral to shout "ha ha I didn't know this guy so I don't care that he's dead!"

Obi's right. That's actually a pretty good analogy for what you're doing.

Except you aren't pissing on the grave of one person, instead you're pissing on the grave of thousands. Was it really necessary to come in here for the sole purpose of saying that you don't care?

Hmm... If Japan hadn't attacked the USA, the US military might have had more troops and resources to throw against Germany. That could have meant Germany would have fallen earlier, which might have allowed the Soviet Union to move more troops against Finland. That could have obliterated the Finnish nation, as the Soviets already had dozens of times more resources than Finland.

So, as big a tragedy as the US - Japan war was, it might have helped Finland a little. Ironically enough, the major democracies of that time were allies of the evil Soviet Union, and thus Finland had to rely on Germany for help (as nasty as it was for a democracy to rely on a nazi dictatorship).

As a random note, after Pearl Harbour Hitler wanted the japanese to attack Soviet Union (from Vladicostok or something) but they didn't. Or something.

I kind of side with Bacon, but yeah, it was pretty unnecessary.

Still, I wouldn't have thought the US would have got involved with WWII if the Japanese hadn't attacked. Then, the war would probably have gone on longer.

They would have eventually got annoyed like "GEE, EUROPEANS, CAN'T YOU SOLVE YOUR CONFLICTS?"

Which happened, though.

Germany didn't actually declare war on the US until just after Pearl Harbour was bombed. They didn't have to under their pact with Japan but did anyway thinking that Japan would help them in other areas if they helped the Japanese attack America.

Ofcourse the Japanese didn't help them and they got their arses squarely kicked, but my point is that the US military wouldn't have had to fling their resources at Germany if they hadn't deceided to declare war.

Technically Germany declaring war affected here more that Pearl Harbour did.

what country do you live in? Odds are that the US helped liberate it in WWII. If you don't live in the US, unless of course you live in Cananda or Britain, where you still should care because Canadians and the British fought alongside the US.

[QUOTE=- Tony -]Still, I wouldn't have thought the US would have got involved with WWII if the Japanese hadn't attacked. Then, the war would probably have gone on longer.[/QUOTE]

Probably not. The Germans shouldn't have had too much resistance with just the Brits on the western front...

The Americans would probably have provoked Germany into declaring war. They were using their destroyers to protect British convoys among other things and Roosevelt was doing everything he could to turn U.S. public opinion and to alter the neutrality laws so that he could help Britain. It was shortly after US ships and German subs were exchanging fire that the attack on Pearl Harbour occured, given only a little more time I'm sure the US would have joined in.
On top of that, if Hitler still had insisted on attacking Russia, I think it would still have failed under the harsh winter conditions, but this is all really falling into alternate histories which you really cannot claim either way.

Actually, that attack happened quite a bit before December 7.

You can argue what was the "true beginning" of it, but in case you didn't know, by December 7, 1941 fierce battles, many of which make Pearl Harbor look like a highway accident, were raging for half a year (or more, depending how you count). Millions were dying.

Don't you forget that.

Having said that, my respect goes to everyone who helped end this war and my condolences to evryone who died in it.