h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have 2 stories to tell from an American perspective.:

The first, is from an elderly gentleman I know from Church. He was a member of the US Army stationed in the Philippines before the US entered the war. He was captured along with the rest of General Wainright's men on Corregidor and was on the Bataan Death March. He lost most of his compatriots and nearly died of dysentary himself. He was also beaten by the guards to the extent that he lost his hearing and suffers crippling headaches to this day.

The second story is from a former co-worker. He was in the Army also, based in Alabama at the start of the war. He and his platoon were on maneuvers when Pearl Harbor happened. He tells me that soldiers were considered to be the scum of the earth and treated as such by the townspeople. But suddenly, as they came back from maneuvers, people were telling them "God Bless You, Soldier!" It wasn't until they got back to camp that they heard the news about Pearl Harbor. He participated in the invasion of Italy and was wounded near Rome.

Read the poem "Tommy" by Kipling. Soldiers are always the scum of the earth till tragedy strikes.

An old family friend, a merchant seaman, was in Pearl Harbour, in the hospital when the attack happened. He watched the whole thing unfold. He never told us very much, just that he saw the planes come in and go after the ships.

Did you know the Japanese fired on the coast of British Columbia, too? From what I gather, they just blew up some real estate, no harm done. Somehow they missed our Navy at Esquimalt on Vancouver Island.