Score 1/0, but we evened the score.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

My Dad was on the USS Hornet, have just previously departed Pearl Harbor for ops in the western Pacific. The Hornet, Enterprise, Yorktown, and Lexington were the secondary reasons that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. At that time the world thought that the battleships were the critical source of naval power and aircraft carriers were viewed as an effective screen for the ships of the line.

The Japanese effectively destroyed our battleship fleet, all of them either of WWI design or treaty ships. They missed the carrier fleets. Both the Imperial Navy and the United States Navy would learn at Midway, the gravity of that mistake.

Bot

Yamamoto had it right,

Being that my kids are half Japanese, I wish you wouldn't use the racial epithet "Japs".

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

I was talking to the wife last night. How stupid could you be? Japan vs. USA, Nazi Germany vs. Russia? Napoleon vs. Russia?

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

i liked going to the VFW and listening to the WWII vets tell their story.. they like it when i come because they can tell me the dirtiest stories or the most horrific... plus i get community service hours for it...

then i get the vets that come in to my grocery store and i help them out we talk and i tell them thanks for their service in that last world war..

lol....King George had the same reasoning. England vs. the Colonies?

There were quite a few people here who piled on Hatt when he indicated offense at the use of the term '*******'.........

I have not used (and will not in the future) the term "Japs" on this site out of respect for you and a couple of others request not to use it, but I guess I have a hard time thinking about it in any other context than as an abbreviation and this is after spending a lot of time studying WWII, specifically with regard to the US media's use of the term contrasted with the very racist charicatures of the Japanese that appeared during the same time. Not trying to start a tiff here, but I am hard on the "its a Japanese thing, you wouldn't understand" explanation and it is the only one I have ever gotten as to why "Japs" is a racist term.

A variety of info:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=pearl+Harbour+FDR

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A couple of A-Bombs = score even (just another ball game)?

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December 7th, 1941 was my parents' September 11th.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

i'll never forget 12-7-41,it's my dads birthday.he just passed away last august,he served in the army at hickum field in hawaii.he sent my mom (before they were married)a coconut which to this day my mom still has.

i have probably used the term "japs" when talking of ww2. it was a very common term then and in writing about it later.

if i use it in the ww2 context i mean no disrespect to any persons of japanese ancestry now.

ww2 was a mistake foisted on the japanese people by their leaders. (iraq might be a parallel).

japanese people are in my mind deserving of much respect for their strong character, work ethic and many other positive traits associated with their culture.

being of gemanic ancestry i mean no disrespect to my forfathers when i use the term kraut either. if talking about benzes you can be assured it is a term used with affection, even though it was not a complimentary term in ww2.

i think in ww1 they may have called them "huns". i never use that one.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

At today's ceremony, Tom Brokaw had a great closing

"You can hate the war, but you must always honor the warrior."

I do not consider it a racial term, to me it is simply an abbreviation, and was in common use during the war. Hence its use in this thread, which was intentional.

While I am not of Asian decent, my family is from Europe. I love Asian culture, especially Japanese and Chinese culture very much. I would never slam a country that I enjoy learning about, and enjoy the things they produce so much.

If you were offended then I am sorry, but in a historical context it is pertinent.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200