We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today. Most of the officers who
served in WWII as young men in their mid-20's or 30's are gone, as are probably
all the senior officers and commanders. My father in law was a freshly coined
Navy Lt. He's still among us at 87, but sadly enough most of his lifelong
friends have passed on.

In yesterday's paper, there was in item that speculated there are probably no
more than a few dozen WWI veterans still living, and all are presumbly over
100.

Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the last
military engagement where the United States declared war. I guess that's a
formality nobody (at all) bothers to engage in these days. Sort of like an act
of chivalry. "Be warned! We're coming to get you!" rather than "Be surprised!
We're here!"

"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old
enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today. Most of the officers
who
served in WWII as young men in their mid-20's or 30's are gone, as are
probably
all the senior officers and commanders. My father in law was a freshly
coined
Navy Lt. He's still among us at 87, but sadly enough most of his lifelong
friends have passed on.

In yesterday's paper, there was in item that speculated there are probably
no
more than a few dozen WWI veterans still living, and all are presumbly
over
100.

Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the last
military engagement where the United States declared war. I guess that's a
formality nobody (at all) bothers to engage in these days. Sort of like an
act
of chivalry. "Be warned! We're coming to get you!" rather than "Be
surprised!
We're here!"

I dunno....GWB sort of waved his dick around like a drunk in a bar for a
year beforehand. Does that fall somewhere in between the two styles you
mention? :-)

(Gould 0738) wrote in message ...
We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today. Most of the officers who
served in WWII as young men in their mid-20's or 30's are gone, as are probably
all the senior officers and commanders. My father in law was a freshly coined
Navy Lt. He's still among us at 87, but sadly enough most of his lifelong
friends have passed on.

My wife and I attended a Pearl Harbor cermony last night at the summit
of Mt. Diablo (Northern CA). There were 100 or so people there. One
of the speakers mentioned that the membership in the local chapter of
the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (I don't recall if that is the
actual name of the organization) was less than half what it was when
they started holding the cermony about 40 years ago. And judging by
the appearance of the survivors that were introduced, I'd say that we
are very close to losing all the living links we have to that event.
(These are military people... I am sure there are those among us that
were even younger civilians that witnessed the attack).

The ceremony was for the annual beacon lighting.

The bright white, rotating beacon was placed on Mt. Diablo in 1928 as
an aid to naviagtion for aircraft. It was turned off, with numerous
other beacons on the west coast, after Pearl Harbor for fear that it
could be used by the enemy. It remained dark for years and was
eventually turned back on. But then it was soon turned off again for
lack of funding to maintain it (it wasn't really needed with arrival
of radar and radio navigation) and keep it running all the time.

I think some local organization(s) fund it now. But it is only
lighted on December 7th, for one night.

It was cold and windy at the summit last night. In the 30s and the
wind was blowing the fog at about 20 mph. But a lot of people came up
anyway to be a part of it... Seniors, veterans of other wars, kids...
my pregnant wife


In yesterday's paper, there was in item that speculated there are probably no
more than a few dozen WWI veterans still living, and all are presumbly over
100.

Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the last
military engagement where the United States declared war. I guess that's a
formality nobody (at all) bothers to engage in these days. Sort of like an act
of chivalry. "Be warned! We're coming to get you!" rather than "Be surprised!
We're here!"

(Curtis CCR) wrote in message . com...
(Gould 0738) wrote in message ...
We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today. Most of the officers who
served in WWII as young men in their mid-20's or 30's are gone, as are probably
all the senior officers and commanders. My father in law was a freshly coined
Navy Lt. He's still among us at 87, but sadly enough most of his lifelong
friends have passed on.

My wife and I attended a Pearl Harbor cermony last night at the summit
of Mt. Diablo (Northern CA). There were 100 or so people there. One
of the speakers mentioned that the membership in the local chapter of
the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (I don't recall if that is the
actual name of the organization) was less than half what it was when
they started holding the cermony about 40 years ago. And judging by
the appearance of the survivors that were introduced, I'd say that we
are very close to losing all the living links we have to that event.
(These are military people... I am sure there are those among us that
were even younger civilians that witnessed the attack).

The ceremony was for the annual beacon lighting.

The bright white, rotating beacon was placed on Mt. Diablo in 1928 as
an aid to naviagtion for aircraft. It was turned off, with numerous
other beacons on the west coast, after Pearl Harbor for fear that it
could be used by the enemy. It remained dark for years and was
eventually turned back on. But then it was soon turned off again for
lack of funding to maintain it (it wasn't really needed with arrival
of radar and radio navigation) and keep it running all the time.

I think some local organization(s) fund it now. But it is only
lighted on December 7th, for one night.

It was cold and windy at the summit last night. In the 30s and the
wind was blowing the fog at about 20 mph. But a lot of people came up
anyway to be a part of it... Seniors, veterans of other wars, kids...
my pregnant wife

We took a couple of pictures with the digital camera while we were
there. It got so foggy that the flash made a mess of things. There
are a couple of web sites around with daytime photos of the beacon -
you can google on something like "mount diablo beacon" to see them.
This is photo my wife took of the light running in the fog... best we
could get for the cold, wet conditions.

I had heard the light was originally a beacon for guiding ships into the
bay. They could see it out many miles. 300 or so sticks in my mind.
Looked out, but with the weather, did not see it from my house in
Pleasanton.
Bill

"Curtis CCR" wrote in message
om...
(Curtis CCR) wrote in message
. com...
(Gould 0738) wrote in message
...
We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old
enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today. Most of the
officers who
served in WWII as young men in their mid-20's or 30's are gone, as are
probably
all the senior officers and commanders. My father in law was a freshly
coined
Navy Lt. He's still among us at 87, but sadly enough most of his
lifelong
friends have passed on.

My wife and I attended a Pearl Harbor cermony last night at the summit
of Mt. Diablo (Northern CA). There were 100 or so people there. One
of the speakers mentioned that the membership in the local chapter of
the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (I don't recall if that is the
actual name of the organization) was less than half what it was when
they started holding the cermony about 40 years ago. And judging by
the appearance of the survivors that were introduced, I'd say that we
are very close to losing all the living links we have to that event.
(These are military people... I am sure there are those among us that
were even younger civilians that witnessed the attack).

The ceremony was for the annual beacon lighting.

The bright white, rotating beacon was placed on Mt. Diablo in 1928 as
an aid to naviagtion for aircraft. It was turned off, with numerous
other beacons on the west coast, after Pearl Harbor for fear that it
could be used by the enemy. It remained dark for years and was
eventually turned back on. But then it was soon turned off again for
lack of funding to maintain it (it wasn't really needed with arrival
of radar and radio navigation) and keep it running all the time.

I think some local organization(s) fund it now. But it is only
lighted on December 7th, for one night.

It was cold and windy at the summit last night. In the 30s and the
wind was blowing the fog at about 20 mph. But a lot of people came up
anyway to be a part of it... Seniors, veterans of other wars, kids...
my pregnant wife

We took a couple of pictures with the digital camera while we were
there. It got so foggy that the flash made a mess of things. There
are a couple of web sites around with daytime photos of the beacon -
you can google on something like "mount diablo beacon" to see them.
This is photo my wife took of the light running in the fog... best we
could get for the cold, wet conditions.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message link.net...
I had heard the light was originally a beacon for guiding ships into the
bay. They could see it out many miles. 300 or so sticks in my mind.
Looked out, but with the weather, did not see it from my house in
Pleasanton.
Bill

It was one of hundreds of beacons all over the country used by
aircraft. I think there were 20 or more just in CA. This one was
installed by Standard Oil in 1928. I don't think they were importing
oil into the bay by ship in 1928, but they were using airplanes. If I
recall some of what I have read correctly, Charles Lindburgh threw the
switch to turn it on when it was first commissioned.

While some of the 'histories' of the one on Mt. Diablo mention that
it was for aircraft and ships, I don't think it was a primary nav aid
for ships. At least that isn't why it was put there. Ships could
probably use it make sure that were headed in the right general
direction. But it's what 30+ miles inland from the Golden Gate, and
several miles from any navigable water?

When we got home Sunday, we couldn't see it from our house in Concord
either. The overcast was still shrouding the summit. A couple of
years ago the overcast was just barely above the summit, and the
bright beam lit up the bottom of the cloud cover for probably a half
mile or so. The beam moving around along the bottom of clouds looked
really cool.

"Curtis CCR" wrote in message
om...
(Curtis CCR) wrote in message
. com...
snip
My wife and I attended a Pearl Harbor cermony last night at the summit
of Mt. Diablo (Northern CA). There were 100 or so people there. One
of the speakers mentioned that the membership in the local chapter of
the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (I don't recall if that is the
actual name of the organization) was less than half what it was when
they started holding the cermony about 40 years ago. And judging by
the appearance of the survivors that were introduced, I'd say that we
are very close to losing all the living links we have to that event.
(These are military people... I am sure there are those among us that
were even younger civilians that witnessed the attack).

The ceremony was for the annual beacon lighting.

The bright white, rotating beacon was placed on Mt. Diablo in 1928 as
an aid to naviagtion for aircraft. It was turned off, with numerous
other beacons on the west coast, after Pearl Harbor for fear that it
could be used by the enemy. It remained dark for years and was
eventually turned back on. But then it was soon turned off again for
lack of funding to maintain it (it wasn't really needed with arrival
of radar and radio navigation) and keep it running all the time.

I think some local organization(s) fund it now. But it is only
lighted on December 7th, for one night.

It was cold and windy at the summit last night. In the 30s and the
wind was blowing the fog at about 20 mph. But a lot of people came up
anyway to be a part of it... Seniors, veterans of other wars, kids...
my pregnant wife

We took a couple of pictures with the digital camera while we were
there. It got so foggy that the flash made a mess of things. There
are a couple of web sites around with daytime photos of the beacon -
you can google on something like "mount diablo beacon" to see them.
This is photo my wife took of the light running in the fog... best we
could get for the cold, wet conditions.

I understand that you can see more square miles of land from Diablo than
from any other point on earth except for Kilimanjaro. Nothing taller to the
West.
Bill

"Curtis CCR" wrote in message
om...
"Calif Bill" wrote in message
link.net...
I had heard the light was originally a beacon for guiding ships into the
bay. They could see it out many miles. 300 or so sticks in my mind.
Looked out, but with the weather, did not see it from my house in
Pleasanton.
Bill

It was one of hundreds of beacons all over the country used by
aircraft. I think there were 20 or more just in CA. This one was
installed by Standard Oil in 1928. I don't think they were importing
oil into the bay by ship in 1928, but they were using airplanes. If I
recall some of what I have read correctly, Charles Lindburgh threw the
switch to turn it on when it was first commissioned.

While some of the 'histories' of the one on Mt. Diablo mention that
it was for aircraft and ships, I don't think it was a primary nav aid
for ships. At least that isn't why it was put there. Ships could
probably use it make sure that were headed in the right general
direction. But it's what 30+ miles inland from the Golden Gate, and
several miles from any navigable water?

When we got home Sunday, we couldn't see it from our house in Concord
either. The overcast was still shrouding the summit. A couple of
years ago the overcast was just barely above the summit, and the
bright beam lit up the bottom of the cloud cover for probably a half
mile or so. The beam moving around along the bottom of clouds looked
really cool.

"Curtis CCR" wrote in message
om...
(Curtis CCR) wrote in message
. com...
snip
My wife and I attended a Pearl Harbor cermony last night at the
summit
of Mt. Diablo (Northern CA). There were 100 or so people there.
One
of the speakers mentioned that the membership in the local chapter
of
the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (I don't recall if that is
the
actual name of the organization) was less than half what it was when
they started holding the cermony about 40 years ago. And judging by
the appearance of the survivors that were introduced, I'd say that
we
are very close to losing all the living links we have to that event.
(These are military people... I am sure there are those among us
that
were even younger civilians that witnessed the attack).

The ceremony was for the annual beacon lighting.

The bright white, rotating beacon was placed on Mt. Diablo in 1928
as
an aid to naviagtion for aircraft. It was turned off, with numerous
other beacons on the west coast, after Pearl Harbor for fear that it
could be used by the enemy. It remained dark for years and was
eventually turned back on. But then it was soon turned off again
for
lack of funding to maintain it (it wasn't really needed with arrival
of radar and radio navigation) and keep it running all the time.

I think some local organization(s) fund it now. But it is only
lighted on December 7th, for one night.

It was cold and windy at the summit last night. In the 30s and the
wind was blowing the fog at about 20 mph. But a lot of people came
up
anyway to be a part of it... Seniors, veterans of other wars,
kids...
my pregnant wife

We took a couple of pictures with the digital camera while we were
there. It got so foggy that the flash made a mess of things. There
are a couple of web sites around with daytime photos of the beacon -
you can google on something like "mount diablo beacon" to see them.
This is photo my wife took of the light running in the fog... best we
could get for the cold, wet conditions.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message link.net...
I understand that you can see more square miles of land from Diablo than
from any other point on earth except for Kilimanjaro. Nothing taller to the
West.
Bill

There are LOTS of mountains taller than Diablo to the west. It just
depends on how far you go. If you are talking about the mainland U.S.,
then that is true, seeing how it's only 30 or so miles to the coast. I
have done a lot of hiking on Mt. Diablo, and it IS a very nice place.
One of the few places in the bay area you can go to get to hell away
from all of the people. You could see Diablo from our townhouse deck
in Martinez, even saw snow about half way up once.

Gould 0738 wrote:

We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today. Most of the officers who
served in WWII as young men in their mid-20's or 30's are gone, as are probably
all the senior officers and commanders. My father in law was a freshly coined
Navy Lt. He's still among us at 87, but sadly enough most of his lifelong
friends have passed on.

In yesterday's paper, there was in item that speculated there are probably no
more than a few dozen WWI veterans still living, and all are presumbly over
100.

Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the last
military engagement where the United States declared war. I guess that's a
formality nobody (at all) bothers to engage in these days. Sort of like an act
of chivalry. "Be warned! We're coming to get you!" rather than "Be surprised!
We're here!"



Thanks for the story Chuck:

I spent two trips to my home town of St.Louis this summer. One to lay my
father (Paw) to rest as cancer claimed him. (there were other trips to
help out of course with his care) And the other to go to my Grandmaw's
100 birthday party, who recalls WWI and WWII very well.

Who knows how many VETS are still around, But there are those who
remember, and remember it well WWI and WWII. Grandmaw is as sharp as a tack.

My father-in-law (I never met him) Worked on B17 on the Eastern theater,
we are thankfull to have several item of his as from his service well.

My old hunting buddy in Missouri father server in subs. He has passed on
as well.

All we can do is remember why they served and what they did to try to
ensure that we have the rights and freedoms we now should cherish.

Pearl Harbor was one of our darkest days, but that day and those that
followed were some of our greatest..

Capt Jack R..

On 08 Dec 2003 17:07:32 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today.

A long time customer of mine is a Pearl Harbor survivor. He was just
in a couple of days ago recounting some tales of that day. He was on
the DE 365 Cummings during the attack (my dad served his time on the
DE 239 Sturdevant mostly in the north Atlantic). He was recounting
how all the ships did their best to get underway during the attack.
His little DE steamed out of the harbour and headed north looking for
the Jap fleet. He bought in an old photo of his ship that I was able
to scan. I never get tired of listening to those old geezers recound
their part of history.

bb