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Today marks the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many of you know that my dad was a Pearl Harbor survivor, Battleship USS Oklahoma. I read in the news today that another USS Oklahoma survivor is attending the ceremony today at the USS Arizona memorial...he's 101 years old. My mother's only brother served under Patton's 3rd army and was killed in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. While reading topics in the "other forum" I find out that Ronnie's dad also served under Patton's 3rd and was in Belgium. Let us not forget those who served our country in time of war.

My father served in Patton's army as a gunner in the 377th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. His discharge papers show him participating in several major campaigns in many countries throughout Europe. At a family reunion one of my older cousins interviewed Dad when I was a kid and asked him about his time in WWII. Below is what he wrote about Dad's time in the military. I'm glad he talked to Dad about the war because Dad talked to me very little about the war as he got older. Maybe his memory was failing or maybe he was just tired of talking about it. "Arnold was inducted into the United States Army on August 14, 1942 at Fort Ogelthorpe, Georgia. He was a Private First Class in Battery C of the 377th Coast Artillery Battalion. He served his first thirteen months of military service in the United States, training in Georgia, Florida, and finally Tennessee. His unit traveled by freight train to New York City where they boarded a ship for England. Upon his arrival in England he entered World War II which took him across England, France, Austria, Belgium and Germany. Arnold entered France at Normandy but not on D-Day. What he remembers about the beach at Normandy was it was covered with backpacks and other items the infantrymen had thrown off so they could maneuver better or were left there by the people retrieving the bodies of the dead. Arnold told me about seeing the concrete pillboxes the Germans had used to shoot at the Allied forces as they hit the beaches. When he saw them the pillboxes had been destroyed by explosives so they could not be used again. Arnold talked about being in the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge. He said it was so cold there that his wet boots would freeze to the floor of the truck he was sleeping in at night. Arnold said at the end of the war he was assigned to guarding German soldiers and taking them out to work in the fields because the German people were starving. He said the German soldiers gave no trouble at all. The were happy the war was over and wanted to move on with their lives. After serving twenty five months overseas in combat Arnold was discharged on November 11, 1945 at Camp Atterbury Indiana." I'm so proud of my Dad for what he did to help keep our country free. Many thanks to all who served. We should all remember that what happened at Pearl Harbor 80 years ago could easily happen again... This is a photo of Dad and his water cooled machine gun. I believe this photo was taken in Belgium.

My father was in New Guinea very early in WWII. A farm boy joined the National Guard to help pay for college, but of course when Pearl Harbor happened, they were the first to go. The 32nd Division was scheduled to go to Europe and actually travelled to the east coast before reversing course for hurried training in Louisiana and then on to the west coast to board commandeered Matson liners to travel to Australia. At the time the largest single move of an entire division intact. Those battles in New Guinea didn't get the same press as the Marine landing at Guadalcanal which was happening at the same time. He never talked about it much, except the silly and stupid things they did to keep from going crazy. He talked fondly about Australia and the exceptional treatment Americans received. Several years after he passed in 2005, I found his battlefield diary. I can only read bits and pieces of it at a time, it is so intense.

Thanks, guys. As much as I like my Reatta, hitting one roadblock after another gets frustrating but your help is always appreciated.