“These are the times that try men’s souls”

“In time of crisis when the future is in the balance, we come to understand, with full recognition and devotion, what this Nation is, and what we owe to it.” 75 Years ago the nation found itself in a very bad state. This is a copy of President Roosevelt’s Address over the radio in celebration […]

August 6, 2016 – Remembering Hiroshima

A special note from the Editor of the Site: Today marks the remembrance of a fateful day in world history – The bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The lives of every person on earth were changed forever by the use of such a horrendous weapon. Even today, the shadow of nuclear weapons still falls over […]

Gunfighters on the Java Sea – May 28 1945

I have been chronicling the actions of the US Forces in the Pacific fleet for a number of months and in doing so have found some really great stories with a lot of detail about how the war was progressing in mid 1945. One of those stories started with a small footnote about a wolf […]

An inglorious end… sinking of the Yamato

Seventy years ago today (April 7 1945) marked the end of the Japanese battleship Yamato and her escorts. By this time in the war, ceaseless American bombing and submarine attacks had decimated the Japanese fleet and support activities. As the battle for Okinawa raged, the Yamato set sail with just enough fuel to make […]

Hakko Ichiu (“Eight corners of the World under one roof.”)

Hakko Ichiu. (“Eight corner of the World under one roof.”) Japanese World War II slogan alluding to the Emperor Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan. In an 8th Century literary collection, his words are recalled that the “eight corners of the world be united under one roof” creating a brotherhood of races. In AD […]

The Day after Pearl Harbor

The day after Pearl Harbor was still a chaotic day for most in the Hawaiian Islands. Rumors of an invading Japanese force were widespread and panic was probably just below the surface. The brilliant and gleaming fleet was awash in black residue and blood. Shipwrights and common sailors frantically were trying to rescue men […]