the actual quote is a "date", not "day", but what matters is we never forget. And Eric, I've been fortunate to have performed in a couple ceremonies at the site. It's an eerie and somewhat frightening experience. Being a sailor, it was almost overwhelming to be there. We tried to imagine what they went through. It was impossible.
I was born in that decade, well after the date, but what that meant to our country, how it triggered the shift in its stance to set the stage for the Greatest Generation, is deeply entrenched in my mind, perceptions, and feelings. It's a sign of the passage of time, and the change in our outlook, what we take for granted--thus sad to me--how this date doesn't even register for so many.
Hideki Tojo handed Churchill and England a lifeline.
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
I was lucky enough to live there a few times and went there so much at one point I could have probably given a tour. A lot of the times I went there was a large group of Japanese tourists. On more than one occasions the group was borderline disrespectful.
is a physically overwhelming place. There is an eerily somber/overbearing feeling onboard the Memorial itself. Very hard to describe. Perhaps it is the spirits of the 1177 sailors still entombed, perhaps it is the gravity of the event itself. All I know is that it almost takes your breath away.
The only other place that even comes close to that feeling is the American Cemetery at Normandy. Maybe those that visit the Trade Towers memorial have that feeling....
I was thinking this morning that most service members who joined up/were drafted after Dec. 7, 1941, were 18 or 20-somethings so surviving vets are around 100 or older. Can’t be too many left, which kind of blows my mind because I had some of my first legal beers at age 18 at a VFW in Ohio with a bunch of those guys.
I have the ticket. Giants lost. He said they made a couple announcements asking for officers to report. Nothing about the attack until he left the stadium. Giants v Dodgers - ( New Window )
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Yikes. That's weird. I wonder what was going through their minds.
Japanese and Chinese are like that at every major museum I have been to. No sense of personal space or awareness. And I mean those born and living in Asia. They will cut in front of you if you are looking at an exhibit and they want a picture as if you do not exist. It is just who they are.
I was there in 1990. Felt my skin crawl almost like I could “feel” the dead. An almost overpowering feeling of sadness came over me.
“Some” people who were there didn’t “get it”. They were almost disrespectful.
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
I was lucky enough to live there a few times and went there so much at one point I could have probably given a tour. A lot of the times I went there was a large group of Japanese tourists. On more than one occasions the group was borderline disrespectful.
When I was there there were a lot of US citizens that were borderline disrespectful.
in Normandy and the memorial cemetery overlooking the beaches. The souls who gave there life for this country are still with us.
I'll be doing Normandy in May. Covid shot down my first planned trip there a few years ago.
For all the shit we give the French, they keep that place immaculate. I saw groundskeepers on their knees, hand trimming around the headstones with clippers. IIRC, it is a volunteer grounds crew.
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
This was a car advertisement idea from the early 80's that was obviously never green-lighted (true story and some stand up comics have mentioned it in their routines over the years) . . . it was something like this:
Here we are in beautiful Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the big pick-up truck showdown. It's (Ford/Chevy/Dodge? can't remember the exact model) vs. the Toyota. Watch as the truck zoom by with the Arizona Memorial in the background . . . can the Toyota outdo the
you get the idea
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
RE: My Father was at the Giants vs Dodgers football game
I have the ticket. Giants lost. He said they made a couple announcements asking for officers to report. Nothing about the attack until he left the stadium. Giants v Dodgers - ( New Window )
My Dad was there too. That announcement got his attention real quick.
The picture on the Bing homepage today is about the best I've seen
For those who have visited all sites, was there any one more somber than the others in terms of Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Auschwitz (or another large camp)?
My father was at a local NJ pub after his Sunday morning …
softball game, when the announcement came over the radio that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii. Nobody in the place knew where Hawaii was, let alone Oahu or Pearl Harbor. They found a globe in the owner’s office and located those tiny specks ion the other side of the world.
Within weeks my father enlisted and was at Camp Wheeler in Georgia for orientation and training. My father said that the orientation included a presentation outlining why, and how we would inevitably win the war. The premise was the that we would simply out produce, and innovate superior technical advances in producing the tools of war. Turned out to be spot on.
RE: The picture on the Bing homepage today is about the best I've seen
For those who have visited all sites, was there any one more somber than the others in terms of Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Auschwitz (or another large camp)?
I won't touch the first question, but I'll answer the second.
I've been to two of the three spots mentioned, Pearl Harbor and Normandy. I can't compare the two because when I went, it was during the 60th Anniversary and there were a lot of events and people around. I will say the actual beach felt that way.
For those who have visited all sites, was there any one more somber than the others in terms of Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Auschwitz (or another large camp)?
Been to Pearl and Normandy. Not the camps.
If there is anything more powerful than taps at the Normandy American Cemetery, I haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.
in Normandy and the memorial cemetery overlooking the beaches. The souls who gave there life for this country are still with us.
I'll be doing Normandy in May. Covid shot down my first planned trip there a few years ago.
For all the shit we give the French, they keep that place immaculate. I saw groundskeepers on their knees, hand trimming around the headstones with clippers. IIRC, it is a volunteer grounds crew.
It's not all the French. Go to Holtzwihr and see the Audie Murphy memorial. Talk to the villagers about him and the Americans. They revere him as well as the rest of the soldiers that were there. You won't be able to buy yourself a dinner or a drink. I was in several towns near there where they literally celebrate anyone from Pennsylvania who visits due to the 28th Infantry Division "Bloody Bucket Division" or "Keystone Division" because of their actions during the Normandy invasion and occupation. Most French outside Paris love the US.
For those who have visited all sites, was there any one more somber than the others in terms of Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Auschwitz (or another large camp)?
Been to Pearl and Normandy. Not the camps.
If there is anything more powerful than taps at the Normandy American Cemetery, I haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.
Bill, how did you do Normandy? I'm beginning to plan for a trip in 2025
in Normandy and the memorial cemetery overlooking the beaches. The souls who gave there life for this country are still with us.
I'll be doing Normandy in May. Covid shot down my first planned trip there a few years ago.
For all the shit we give the French, they keep that place immaculate. I saw groundskeepers on their knees, hand trimming around the headstones with clippers. IIRC, it is a volunteer grounds crew.
It's not all the French. Go to Holtzwihr and see the Audie Murphy memorial. Talk to the villagers about him and the Americans. They revere him as well as the rest of the soldiers that were there. You won't be able to buy yourself a dinner or a drink. I was in several towns near there where they literally celebrate anyone from Pennsylvania who visits due to the 28th Infantry Division "Bloody Bucket Division" or "Keystone Division" because of their actions during the Normandy invasion and occupation. Most French outside Paris love the US.
If interested, read up on the Colmar Pocket.
RE: RE: Just curious - what constituted disrespectful behavior on the part
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Self-loathing? Nope. I have no problem with how the war ended. My post was to point out that people go to these sites because it's history. I highly doubt there are very many Japanese tourists who go to Pearl Harbor to gloat, just like very few Americans go to Hiroshima to gloat. They go to experience the history and the emotion. As a thick-skinned former journalist, the memorial left me with a feeling I never expected.
There was also a group of Asian tourists (I'm not expert enough to know if they were from Japan, though I would bet they were) at the memorial when we were there. It was easy to see it was affecting them, too. They were being more respectful than the Americans who were laughing and letting their kids run around screaming while the rangers (and other Americans) intervened several times to make them stop. To insinuate Japanese tourists were being disrespectful at the memorial for nationalistic reasons is over the top.
RE: RE: RE: Just curious - what constituted disrespectful behavior on the part
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Self-loathing? Nope. I have no problem with how the war ended. My post was to point out that people go to these sites because it's history. I highly doubt there are very many Japanese tourists who go to Pearl Harbor to gloat, just like very few Americans go to Hiroshima to gloat. They go to experience the history and the emotion. As a thick-skinned former journalist, the memorial left me with a feeling I never expected.
There was also a group of Asian tourists (I'm not expert enough to know if they were from Japan, though I would bet they were) at the memorial when we were there. It was easy to see it was affecting them, too. They were being more respectful than the Americans who were laughing and letting their kids run around screaming while the rangers (and other Americans) intervened several times to make them stop. To insinuate Japanese tourists were being disrespectful at the memorial for nationalistic reasons is over the top.
Unless you were there the same exact day and time as Eric, who the hell are you to say what the environment was like? I don’t recall him saying that every Japanese person that has ever visited was disrespectful. He mentioned his visit and what the vibe was like. That’s it.
You are such an enormously insufferable blow hard. On every thread you show up on. Always lecturing everyone like you think you’re the smartest guy in the room. Which is freakin hysterical. Work on your self awareness. Because you are completely lost.
RE: RE: RE: RE: If you ever get a chance to visit, go
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Yikes. That's weird. I wonder what was going through their minds.
Japanese and Chinese are like that at every major museum I have been to. No sense of personal space or awareness. And I mean those born and living in Asia. They will cut in front of you if you are looking at an exhibit and they want a picture as if you do not exist. It is just who they are.
That's some first-class stereotyping there. That sure sounds like an awful lot of American tourists I've encountered at home and overseas. U.S. tourists don't exactly have a great reputation overseas, or at home. I can't count how many times when visiting another country that I have apologized to locals for the way another American just treated them. And I see it every day in daily encounters at stores, restaurants, bars, hotels, sporting events, etc., right here at home. Even native Hawaiians are trying to limit tourists from the mainland because of how they act.
There are rude and ugly people everywhere. Shoot, have you ever talked to people from around the country who visit NYC. I constantly try to defend NYC by explaining to them there are more rude people in NYC simply because there are more people in NYC, not because all New Yorkers are that way. But like you with your comments on visitors from Japan and China, they prefer to espouse a stereotype of New York and its residents.
RE: RE: RE: RE: Just curious - what constituted disrespectful behavior on the part
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Self-loathing? Nope. I have no problem with how the war ended. My post was to point out that people go to these sites because it's history. I highly doubt there are very many Japanese tourists who go to Pearl Harbor to gloat, just like very few Americans go to Hiroshima to gloat. They go to experience the history and the emotion. As a thick-skinned former journalist, the memorial left me with a feeling I never expected.
There was also a group of Asian tourists (I'm not expert enough to know if they were from Japan, though I would bet they were) at the memorial when we were there. It was easy to see it was affecting them, too. They were being more respectful than the Americans who were laughing and letting their kids run around screaming while the rangers (and other Americans) intervened several times to make them stop. To insinuate Japanese tourists were being disrespectful at the memorial for nationalistic reasons is over the top.
Unless you were there the same exact day and time as Eric, who the hell are you to say what the environment was like? I don’t recall him saying that every Japanese person that has ever visited was disrespectful. He mentioned his visit and what the vibe was like. That’s it.
You are such an enormously insufferable blow hard. On every thread you show up on. Always lecturing everyone like you think you’re the smartest guy in the room. Which is freakin hysterical. Work on your self awareness. Because you are completely lost.
Where did I say what Eric saw did not happen? I shared what happened when I was there. What I shared was what I saw. And I was referring to his comment that there was self-loathing in some of these comments because they mentioned Hiroshima.
But in my opinion, which I think I'm allowed to have, if anyone sees a handful of Japanese tourists being disrespectful and implies it is because of Pearl Harbor, well, that is over the top.
What is hysterical is you reading into my post something I did not say or even imply.
Is this really the thread we need to have this food fight on?
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Where's self loathing? I didn't defend or condone the behavior. I recall a few years back there was a commemoration at one of both of the Japanese sites and the question came up whether or not US tourists should visit. I haven't seen, via media outlets, the same question posed toward Japanese visitors at the Arizona. So, yes, I am curious if, in reality and in general, there is a marked similarity or difference in the 2 situations.
For those who have visited all sites, was there any one more somber than the others in terms of Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Auschwitz (or another large camp)?
Been to Pearl and Normandy. Not the camps.
If there is anything more powerful than taps at the Normandy American Cemetery, I haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.
Bill, how did you do Normandy? I'm beginning to plan for a trip in 2025
We had a travel agency that set us up with a guide for Normandy. All day trip. He drove. The beaches, the cemetery, Point du Hoc. Great guide and had personally met many of the vets who had returned over the years. There is more to see than one days worth if you are going to see the numerous museums and other beaches so there is that decision as well. Felt our day, focused on Normandy, was great.
been to Buchenwald, both the camp and the nearby quarry. Everyone was completely respectful.
Did those visits elicit the same type of emotion? I have not been myself and for many years said I would never. But, I've spoken to many people who have, including my wife, and almost unanimously they say not just how somber it is, but it is a "loud" silence. They describe feeling the souls and what happened, the way you and others have described the Arizona and Normandy.
I have yet to be to any of the 3, but would like to.
Hideki Tojo handed Churchill and England a lifeline.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
WOW.
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
I was lucky enough to live there a few times and went there so much at one point I could have probably given a tour. A lot of the times I went there was a large group of Japanese tourists. On more than one occasions the group was borderline disrespectful.
The only other place that even comes close to that feeling is the American Cemetery at Normandy. Maybe those that visit the Trade Towers memorial have that feeling....
That quote may or may not have actually been spoken by Yamamoto. But the gist of it was most certainly true.
They didn’t seem that old to me then…
Was there as a teen and gave me chills.
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Everyone on the planet was impacted. So much bad and so much heroism.
Giants v Dodgers - ( New Window )
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Quote:
In comment 16315584 JOrthman said:
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Yikes. That's weird. I wonder what was going through their minds.
Japanese and Chinese are like that at every major museum I have been to. No sense of personal space or awareness. And I mean those born and living in Asia. They will cut in front of you if you are looking at an exhibit and they want a picture as if you do not exist. It is just who they are.
“Some” people who were there didn’t “get it”. They were almost disrespectful.
I'll be doing Normandy in May. Covid shot down my first planned trip there a few years ago.
Quote:
In comment 16315584 JOrthman said:
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
I was lucky enough to live there a few times and went there so much at one point I could have probably given a tour. A lot of the times I went there was a large group of Japanese tourists. On more than one occasions the group was borderline disrespectful.
When I was there there were a lot of US citizens that were borderline disrespectful.
Quote:
In comment 16315584 JOrthman said:
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Yikes. That's weird. I wonder what was going through their minds.
Probably the same thing that goes through the minds of US citizens who visit Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Quote:
in Normandy and the memorial cemetery overlooking the beaches. The souls who gave there life for this country are still with us.
I'll be doing Normandy in May. Covid shot down my first planned trip there a few years ago.
For all the shit we give the French, they keep that place immaculate. I saw groundskeepers on their knees, hand trimming around the headstones with clippers. IIRC, it is a volunteer grounds crew.
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
This was a car advertisement idea from the early 80's that was obviously never green-lighted (true story and some stand up comics have mentioned it in their routines over the years) . . . it was something like this:
Here we are in beautiful Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the big pick-up truck showdown. It's (Ford/Chevy/Dodge? can't remember the exact model) vs. the Toyota. Watch as the truck zoom by with the Arizona Memorial in the background . . . can the Toyota outdo the
you get the idea
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
My Dad was there too. That announcement got his attention real quick.
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Within weeks my father enlisted and was at Camp Wheeler in Georgia for orientation and training. My father said that the orientation included a presentation outlining why, and how we would inevitably win the war. The premise was the that we would simply out produce, and innovate superior technical advances in producing the tools of war. Turned out to be spot on.
You can see the fuel leaking in that picture too.
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
I won't touch the first question, but I'll answer the second.
I've been to two of the three spots mentioned, Pearl Harbor and Normandy. I can't compare the two because when I went, it was during the 60th Anniversary and there were a lot of events and people around. I will say the actual beach felt that way.
Been to Pearl and Normandy. Not the camps.
If there is anything more powerful than taps at the Normandy American Cemetery, I haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.
Quote:
In comment 16315673 Dave on the UWS said:
Quote:
in Normandy and the memorial cemetery overlooking the beaches. The souls who gave there life for this country are still with us.
I'll be doing Normandy in May. Covid shot down my first planned trip there a few years ago.
For all the shit we give the French, they keep that place immaculate. I saw groundskeepers on their knees, hand trimming around the headstones with clippers. IIRC, it is a volunteer grounds crew.
It's not all the French. Go to Holtzwihr and see the Audie Murphy memorial. Talk to the villagers about him and the Americans. They revere him as well as the rest of the soldiers that were there. You won't be able to buy yourself a dinner or a drink. I was in several towns near there where they literally celebrate anyone from Pennsylvania who visits due to the 28th Infantry Division "Bloody Bucket Division" or "Keystone Division" because of their actions during the Normandy invasion and occupation. Most French outside Paris love the US.
Quote:
For those who have visited all sites, was there any one more somber than the others in terms of Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Auschwitz (or another large camp)?
Been to Pearl and Normandy. Not the camps.
If there is anything more powerful than taps at the Normandy American Cemetery, I haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.
Bill, how did you do Normandy? I'm beginning to plan for a trip in 2025
Quote:
In comment 16315684 MOOPS said:
Quote:
In comment 16315673 Dave on the UWS said:
Quote:
in Normandy and the memorial cemetery overlooking the beaches. The souls who gave there life for this country are still with us.
I'll be doing Normandy in May. Covid shot down my first planned trip there a few years ago.
For all the shit we give the French, they keep that place immaculate. I saw groundskeepers on their knees, hand trimming around the headstones with clippers. IIRC, it is a volunteer grounds crew.
It's not all the French. Go to Holtzwihr and see the Audie Murphy memorial. Talk to the villagers about him and the Americans. They revere him as well as the rest of the soldiers that were there. You won't be able to buy yourself a dinner or a drink. I was in several towns near there where they literally celebrate anyone from Pennsylvania who visits due to the 28th Infantry Division "Bloody Bucket Division" or "Keystone Division" because of their actions during the Normandy invasion and occupation. Most French outside Paris love the US.
If interested, read up on the Colmar Pocket.
Quote:
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Self-loathing? Nope. I have no problem with how the war ended. My post was to point out that people go to these sites because it's history. I highly doubt there are very many Japanese tourists who go to Pearl Harbor to gloat, just like very few Americans go to Hiroshima to gloat. They go to experience the history and the emotion. As a thick-skinned former journalist, the memorial left me with a feeling I never expected.
There was also a group of Asian tourists (I'm not expert enough to know if they were from Japan, though I would bet they were) at the memorial when we were there. It was easy to see it was affecting them, too. They were being more respectful than the Americans who were laughing and letting their kids run around screaming while the rangers (and other Americans) intervened several times to make them stop. To insinuate Japanese tourists were being disrespectful at the memorial for nationalistic reasons is over the top.
Quote:
In comment 16315740 Matt M. said:
Quote:
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Self-loathing? Nope. I have no problem with how the war ended. My post was to point out that people go to these sites because it's history. I highly doubt there are very many Japanese tourists who go to Pearl Harbor to gloat, just like very few Americans go to Hiroshima to gloat. They go to experience the history and the emotion. As a thick-skinned former journalist, the memorial left me with a feeling I never expected.
There was also a group of Asian tourists (I'm not expert enough to know if they were from Japan, though I would bet they were) at the memorial when we were there. It was easy to see it was affecting them, too. They were being more respectful than the Americans who were laughing and letting their kids run around screaming while the rangers (and other Americans) intervened several times to make them stop. To insinuate Japanese tourists were being disrespectful at the memorial for nationalistic reasons is over the top.
Unless you were there the same exact day and time as Eric, who the hell are you to say what the environment was like? I don’t recall him saying that every Japanese person that has ever visited was disrespectful. He mentioned his visit and what the vibe was like. That’s it.
You are such an enormously insufferable blow hard. On every thread you show up on. Always lecturing everyone like you think you’re the smartest guy in the room. Which is freakin hysterical. Work on your self awareness. Because you are completely lost.
Quote:
In comment 16315590 Eric from BBI said:
Quote:
In comment 16315584 JOrthman said:
Quote:
It's a very somber and ironically peaceful location.
The day I went there was a bunch of Japanese tourists there. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Yikes. That's weird. I wonder what was going through their minds.
Japanese and Chinese are like that at every major museum I have been to. No sense of personal space or awareness. And I mean those born and living in Asia. They will cut in front of you if you are looking at an exhibit and they want a picture as if you do not exist. It is just who they are.
That's some first-class stereotyping there. That sure sounds like an awful lot of American tourists I've encountered at home and overseas. U.S. tourists don't exactly have a great reputation overseas, or at home. I can't count how many times when visiting another country that I have apologized to locals for the way another American just treated them. And I see it every day in daily encounters at stores, restaurants, bars, hotels, sporting events, etc., right here at home. Even native Hawaiians are trying to limit tourists from the mainland because of how they act.
There are rude and ugly people everywhere. Shoot, have you ever talked to people from around the country who visit NYC. I constantly try to defend NYC by explaining to them there are more rude people in NYC simply because there are more people in NYC, not because all New Yorkers are that way. But like you with your comments on visitors from Japan and China, they prefer to espouse a stereotype of New York and its residents.
Quote:
In comment 16315763 Eric from BBI said:
Quote:
In comment 16315740 Matt M. said:
Quote:
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Self-loathing? Nope. I have no problem with how the war ended. My post was to point out that people go to these sites because it's history. I highly doubt there are very many Japanese tourists who go to Pearl Harbor to gloat, just like very few Americans go to Hiroshima to gloat. They go to experience the history and the emotion. As a thick-skinned former journalist, the memorial left me with a feeling I never expected.
There was also a group of Asian tourists (I'm not expert enough to know if they were from Japan, though I would bet they were) at the memorial when we were there. It was easy to see it was affecting them, too. They were being more respectful than the Americans who were laughing and letting their kids run around screaming while the rangers (and other Americans) intervened several times to make them stop. To insinuate Japanese tourists were being disrespectful at the memorial for nationalistic reasons is over the top.
Unless you were there the same exact day and time as Eric, who the hell are you to say what the environment was like? I don’t recall him saying that every Japanese person that has ever visited was disrespectful. He mentioned his visit and what the vibe was like. That’s it.
You are such an enormously insufferable blow hard. On every thread you show up on. Always lecturing everyone like you think you’re the smartest guy in the room. Which is freakin hysterical. Work on your self awareness. Because you are completely lost.
Where did I say what Eric saw did not happen? I shared what happened when I was there. What I shared was what I saw. And I was referring to his comment that there was self-loathing in some of these comments because they mentioned Hiroshima.
But in my opinion, which I think I'm allowed to have, if anyone sees a handful of Japanese tourists being disrespectful and implies it is because of Pearl Harbor, well, that is over the top.
What is hysterical is you reading into my post something I did not say or even imply.
Quote:
of Japanese tourists? Was it laughing, not reading the solemn mood of most other visitors, something else?
As a couple here, I wondered if US citizens visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki are much different.
Stunning how the self-loathing seeps through even in a couple of posts here.
We didn't start the war. But we finished it.
Perhaps you'd be happier if the Axis had won?
Quote:
In comment 16315743 Matt M. said:
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For those who have visited all sites, was there any one more somber than the others in terms of Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Auschwitz (or another large camp)?
Been to Pearl and Normandy. Not the camps.
If there is anything more powerful than taps at the Normandy American Cemetery, I haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.
Bill, how did you do Normandy? I'm beginning to plan for a trip in 2025
We had a travel agency that set us up with a guide for Normandy. All day trip. He drove. The beaches, the cemetery, Point du Hoc. Great guide and had personally met many of the vets who had returned over the years. There is more to see than one days worth if you are going to see the numerous museums and other beaches so there is that decision as well. Felt our day, focused on Normandy, was great.
I have yet to be to any of the 3, but would like to.