The Islands of the Fraternal Order of Moai

A little late in the day to post this, but it has been in my mind and heart all day.

This photo sums it up nicely, with a lovey display of Hawaiian-style Aloha for those who gave so much, so many years ago.

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A toast to my friend Roger.

everyone eats pork™

Lousy Japs!

Tried to explain Pearl Harbor Day to my son yesterday. He's 4 going on 5. He asked me if the Japanese attack Hawaii every December 7th.

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That was the first song I played on my IPod when I got into my car yesterday morning.

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From the mouths of babes. Yes, they do, but their attacks are friendly and their artillery is money...lots of money!!!

I remember when the Pearl Harbor Survivors held their convention here in Little Rock back in 1991 (or 1992). I was working for the Little Rock Convention Bureau and I was showing clients around the Excelsior Hotel. At that same moment, the organizer of the Pearl Harbor Survivors reunion just learned that the hotel was Japanese owned. It was NOT good! He was marching through the large atrium of this hotel screaming for the general manager to show herself. God bless these men!!!

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Brilliant minds think alike. Apparently you and I do as well!

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remember pearl harbor!

70 years ago today!!!

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A toast to my friend Roger.

everyone eats pork™

I ran a Mazda off the road today. She had it coming.

Did you yell "Remember Pearl Harbor!" out the window as you sped past?

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i believe the zeroes were made by mitsubishi, but i get your point.

Let's check back here later in the year for when to run benzes, audis, VW's, porsches, maseratis, and lamborghinis off the road

and fiats for good measure.

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A toast to my friend Roger.

everyone eats pork™

The which lives in infamy that changed America and the world forever. Salute to all the remaining Pearl Harbor survivors out there!

Just saw on the news this morning that some original Navy film footage from that day was recently discovered in a trove of momentos from a WW II Navy photographer who shot it.

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Dad doesn't care for BMWs after seeing the slave labor camps and ovens with their rondel during the war.

How can you run a Fiat off the road?

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Set a course for the Foc's'le Lounge!

Excrementus Cadaemus

My Pops is an 86 year old WWII vet. He lied about his age to join after Pearl Harbor.

It's been 70 year, will the US ever make this day a National Day of Remembrance?

No disrespect to MLK, but his Birthday is a National Holiday. He was never a President, but a day where 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 were wounded, and caused the US to enter a war where over 418,000 Americans were killed is not recognized as anything more than a once a year story on the nightly news.

Maybe I spend too much time with Pops down to the VFW listening to the few WWII guys that are left down there......

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Bob

remember not to forget Pearl Harbor!!!!

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A toast to my friend Roger.

everyone eats pork™

Thank you for the reminder but I never forget.

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To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

I shall post this late in the day on December 7th.

75 Years ago was the attack on Pearl Harbor by 343 Japanese aircraft. Over 2400 Americans lost their lives that day. Many more Americans, Japanese and Germans in the years to come.

This day, like September 11, 2001, I shall never forget.

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To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

Probably not. I think it is good that our national tradition is to honor all war dead on Memorial Day and all who served on Veterans Day regardless of when or where they served. Trying to decide which battles and wars rate special recognition demeans them all.

My father was 16 when the attack happened. By the time he was 17 he was in a US Navy V-12 program and then he headed out to the Pacific.

The war in the Pacific was some of the most vicious brutal warfare the world has ever seen. Both sides saw the other as racially inferior and the result was unimaginable carnage. I think only the Russians and Germans managed to surpass it.

And despite that my father and the other veterans I knew growing up did not hate the Japanese after the war ended. They were able to separate the people from the Imperial system that drove Japan into war.

In the 1970s he visited Hawaii and went to Pearl Harbor. As he rode the boat to the Arizona memorial he noticed a group of Japanese aboard. They all looked like the stereotypical Japanese "salaryman" in suits with large cameras around their necks.

At the memorial they all bowed and prayed and he realized they were veterans who had come to pay respects to a former enemy. They respectfully greeted the American veterans present and that was reciprocated. Honor and dignity overcame the history of the war.

Japan and the United States were adversaries for a single generation. We were allies before that and we have been allies for three generations since the end of the war.

We should not forget Pearl Harbor but we should remember the rest as well.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!

Going to stop for a memorial visit on my way to Hilo in May.

Once again, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is upon us.



THREE DOTS & A DASH (Morse code for V, as in Victory)
1 1⁄2 oz. AOC Martinique rhum agricole vieux
1⁄2 oz Blended aged rum
1⁄4 oz falernum
1⁄4 oz allspice dram
1⁄2 oz Fresh lime juice
1⁄2 oz Fresh orange juice
1⁄2 oz Honey syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters

3 maraschino cherries on a cocktail pick and 1 pineapple frond
(representing Morse Code—three cherries as the three dots and the frond as the dash),
for garnish.

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with crushed ice.
Shake until frosty, then pour, unstrained, into a double Rocks (or Pilsner) glass,
add garnish and serve.

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To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

Greatest Events of World War Two in Colour on Netflix -
Pearl Harbor Episode

First 5 seconds of the show and I'm steamed up. OK, WII buffs--What's wrong with this picture??

Pictures not great but those look like Dauntless Dive bombers painted in Japanese colors. The Val had fixed gear and was more streamlined.

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To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

Once again it is Pearl Harbor Day. There won’t be a large gathering at the Arizona Memorial so keep all the Veterans in mind. There are only a handful of WWII vets left alive and one, Major Wooten, age 104, survived a bout with COVID.


US Marines raise a second flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945. (Image: National Archives and Records Administration, WC 1221.)

HELL IN THE PACIFIC
¾ oz fresh lime juice
½ oz maraschino liqueur
¼ oz grenadine
1½ oz 151-proof demerara rum

Shake well with plenty of crushed ice. Pour unstrained into a pilsner glass. Garnish with American and Japanese flags stuck to a lime wedge.

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To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.