On 12/8/10 1:23 PM, MMC wrote:


"Tim" wrote in message
...

While bypassing the bickering, I thought I'd post a reminder of one of
the most solemn days in U.S History, via the attack on Pearl harbor
and the sinking of the crippling of the Pacific fleet.

Remembering the day.

-------

My wife's grandfather was on the Arizona when it went down. He was
topside and survived the attack. We always tip a glass to the old sailor
and his shipmates on 7 December.



It's good to remember the people, especially relatives and friends, who
were involved in the great events of their day. I lost two uncles during
WW II that I never met. My parents (each lost a brother) and
grandparents talked some about their war dead and there were a few old
photos, but that's all there was.

I presume your wife got to know her grandfather after the war.

My father and his older brother, both of whom had been working for their
uncle during the Depression, started up a part-time small machine shop
in New Haven just before the war, and were subcontractors to several
Waterbury-based brass companies during the war, which kept both of them
out of it. I think they worked the shop on the weekends. I don't have
real details, but my father and uncle were involved in the relatively
low-tech production aspects of "experimental" shell casings for the
Watervliet Arsenal up near Albany, NY. They apparently were pretty good
at it, since they received numerous awards for their work.
Not bad for a couple of liberal arts graduates of a Pennsylvania college!

After the war, my dad went into the boat, motorcycle and motor scooter
business. The uncle opened an appliance store in Massachusetts, but sold
it after a decade to go into the manufacture and sale of outdoor
sporting and camping gear and clothing.

These were the opportunities of first-generation Americans.