Pearl Harbor Day

A song that always pops up in my head on today:

REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR

© 1941

Lyrics: Don Reid, Sammy Kaye,
Music: Don Reid

"History in ev'ry century

Records an act that lives forevermore.

We'll recall, as into line we fall

The thing that happened on Hawaii's shore

Let's remember Pearl Harbor

As we go to meet the foe

Let's remember Pearl Harbor

As we did the Alamo.

We will always remember

how they died for Liberty

Let's remember Pearl Harbor

And go on to victory.

Let's remember Pearl Harbor

As we go to meet the foe

Let's remember Pearl Harbor

As we did the Alamo.

We will always remember

How they died for Liberty

Let's remember Pearl Harbor

And go on to victory."

Have you been on the Memorial atop the Arizona (in Oahu, Hawaii)? I have. Tis something not easily forgotten.

Not only do I remember all the brave boys who died that fateful Sunday morning, but I remember all the veterans who fought in that war that have since died (post war) - including my Grandpa Art (Thelin Jr.). He may not have been drafted till near the end of the war (he was a farmer in South Dakota up till then), but he was a part of the in the Pacific War and then Occupation of Japan (US Army). He has a TON of cool pictures (lots of them are tiny - about 1" x 1" if I recall correctly) and one of these days I really need to scan them so there's a digital copy of them. :)  He even has some pics of when General MacArthur came to visit (he wasn't close to the General, but you could see the crowds in the shot). Unfortunately I can't give you too much more info about my Grandpa's WWII days right now cause most of the information & pictures (including the ones we scanned already) from these days are still with my folks, though I do have a copy of some items (such as his discharge papers) at home. (And if it isn't obvious yet, I'm not at home at the moment - on my lunch break at work - while I type up this blog post :).


In the meantime, here's a few pics of my Grandpa Art from the WWII that I do have scanned (and already online via my Flickr account):








Colorized picture of Art Thelin Jr (probably taken soon after being drafted)







Grandpa Art in Japan with Survey Equipment



Taken inside a Japanese home. (I don't have a date/year) To see the handwritten notes on the back, click here

  



"relaxing" for a pose (pic taken in Japan)





Pic of Grandpa Art using the survey equipment (in Japan)



Another posing for the camera picture :) (Pic taken in Japan)



So for those of you who know my brothers (and my dad), can you see their resemblence to my Grandpa Art? :)

Oh, and in case you wanted more info on Pearl Harbor, here's a link to a previous post (2008) that I did on Pearl Harbor Day (when the day fell on a Sunday, like in '41). http://marcailsdomain.blogspot.com/2008/12/lets-remember-pearl-harbor.html