On This Day In History The Imperial Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor

As History.com notes, on this day in 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link: 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pearl-harbor-bombed 

Note: It was on December 7, 1976, that my late father, Edward M. Davis, died. 

He was a proud veteran who enlisted in the U.S. Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor and fought in the Pacific as a Navy chief and UDT frogman. (He is seen in the center of his UDT 5 team in the above photo). 

Influenced greatly by my father, I too joined the Navy when I was 17 and served on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War. 

Above is a photo of my old ship, circa 1970, as she passes the USS Arizona Memorial at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii.

Happy Veterans Day To All Of America's Veterans

 

Happy Veterans Day to all of America's veterans.

I'm a proud U.S. Navy veteran, having served on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War, but on this and every Veteran's Day, I think of my late father.

My father, Edward M. Davis (seen in the center of the above photo), was a Navy chief and UDT frogman who fought in the Pacific during WWII.

Armed with only a knife and a satchel of explosives, he hit the beaches of Saipan, Tinian, Leyte and other Japanese-held islands just prior to the Marine landings.

He was a hell of a man.

My older brother is also a veteran, having served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

Honoring And Remembering America's Military Veterans Today On Veteran's Day

Today is a day to honor and remember America's military veterans.

My late father is the Navy chief petty officer in the center of the old, cracked photo above. Chief Edward M. Davis, USNR, was a member of Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) 5. He was one of the Navy's first frogmen in World War II and he saw action in the South Pacific.

Today's Navy SEALs evolved from the UDT frogmen and other elite special operations groups in World War II.

My brother is also a veteran, having served in the U.S. Army in South Vietnam in 1968 and 1969.

I too am a veteran, having served on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War.

I later served two years on the USS Saugus, a Navy harbor tugboat at the nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland.

Many, many more proud and brave Americans answered the call and served with valor during America's wars throughout her history.

Today is the day that all Americans should honor and remember the military veterans,

Looking Back On Father's Day

On this Father's Day, I once again think back to my late father, Edward M. Davis.

He was an electrician, a lineman and a good father.

A member of what has been called "the Greatest Generation," my father stepped up and joined the U.S. Navy during World War II and became an Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogman.

I'm very proud of my father's World War II service.

I wrote briefly about my father in a magazine piece on the UDT frogmen and how they influenced today's modern SEALs.

You can read the piece via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg

Hell In The Pacific: Rare WWII Photographs Of American Soldiers and Marines During The Brutal Battle of Saipan

Lydia Warren at the British newspaper the Daily Mail offers a good story on the furious fighting on Saipan in the South Pacific in World War II. 

It is the little-known battle that claimed the lives of thousands of Americans during World War II.

But now black-and-white photographs, captured by Life magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith, show the everyday horrors for the U.S. soldiers fighting against Japanese forces on the Mariana Island of Saipan between June 15 and July 9, 1944.
Faces etched with the pain of their experiences, war-weary men are captured transporting their wounded comrades or forcing Japanese civilians from their hiding places.

You can read the rest of the peice and view the great photos via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087023/World-War-II-photographs-American-soldiers-fight-survival-brutal-Battle-Saipan.html

You can also learn more about the Battle of Saipan by reading a good piece by Francis A. O'Brie at Historynet.com via the below link:

http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-saipan.htm

The Battle of Saipan interests me as my late father was a UDT frogman who hit the Saipan beach on June 14, 1944, a full day before the American troops landed.

I wrote about my my father and the WWII Navy frogmen for Counterterrorism magazine. You can read the piece via the below links:   

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg

A Salute To A World War II Veteran On Pearl Harbor Day

On this day in 1976, my father, Edward Miller Davis, died of cancer.

My older brother and I noted that my father would have liked the idea of his passing away on December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day, as he was most proud of having served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

My father (seen in his Navy uniform in the above photo) was a chief petty officer and an Underwater Demolition Team (UDT 5) frogman and he fought against the Japanese in the Pacific War Theater.

He was wounded in the war but he survived and came home to my mother (Claire) and their two children. My older brother and I were post-World War II additions to the family.

On this Pearl Harbor Day I salute my father and the many other men who went on after December 7th, 1941 to fight and defeat the Imperial Japanese and the Nazi Germans in World War II.

I wrote about my father briefly in a piece on the influence of the WWII frogmen on today's Navy SEALs in Counterterrorism magazine. You can read the piece via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg

Veteran's Day Is A Davis Family Affair

On this Veteran's Day my thoughts focus on my late father, Edward Miller Davis, who was a Chief Petty Officer and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogman who fought in the Pacific during World War II.

My father (seen in the middle of his team in the above photo) was briefly mentioned in Francis Douglas Fane's The Naked Warriors and I briefly mentioned my father in a piece on the WWII frogmen and how they influenced today's Navy SEALs.

You can read the Counterterrorism magazine piece via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg

My older brother, Edward R. Davis, is also a veteran. He served in the U.S. Army in 1968-69 in Chu Lai, South Vietnam.

I'm a veteran as well, having served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War.

You can read an earlier post on my service to the country via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/05/look-back-at-aircraft-carrier-uss-kitty.html

I'd like to salute all veterans and their families today.

92-Year-Old WWII Frogman Gets Grand Honor During Visit To National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum

TCPalm.com reports that Norval Nelson, a 92-year-old World War II veteran, was recently honored at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Nelson appears in the center of the above photo by Eric Hasert

Nelson was being honored as one the graduates of the Underwater Demolition Team School at the U.S. Naval Amphibious Training Station at Fort Pierce during World War II. He arrived under the auspices of Charity Stripe, an Illinois not-for-profit group that tries to fulfill final wishes, similar to the Make a Wish Foundation.

You can read more about Nelson's visit to the UDT-SEAL Museum via the below link:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/apr/05/wwii-frogman-gets-grand-honor-during-visit-to-in/

My late father, Edward M. Davis, was also a graduate of the Underwater Demolition Team School during WWII and he went on to fight in the Pacific as a Chief in UDT 5. He passed away in 1976.

I wrote an article for Counterterrorism magazine about the WWII UDT frogmen and how the combat swimmers were the forerunners of today's Navy SEALs.

You can read the article via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg

You can also visit the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum's web site via the below link:

http://www.navysealmuseum.com/

Sea Hunt: Remembering Lloyd Bridges' Mike Nelson, a TV Hero in the Early 1960s

The International Legends of Diving web site offers a fond look back at the character of Mike Nelson.

Nelson, portrayed by Lloyd Bridges in the TV program Sea Hunt in the early 1960s, was a hero to many kids of that era.

You can read the piece about Mike Nelson via the link below:

http://www.internationallegendsofdiving.com/featuredlegends/Mike_Nelson_bio.htm

Note: Mike Nelson was an early hero of mine, as I was fascinated by the sea and scuba diving. Sea Hunt was one of several influences that inspired me to dream about one day becoming a sailor and a scuba diver.

When I was a kid I dreamed about sailing around the world and diving in exotic, tropical oceans, and thankfully I was able to do so as an adult.

I also liked the TV character because my father had been, like the fictional Mike Nelson, a U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition (UDT) frogman in World War II. (My late father was Chief Edward Miller Davis, UDT 5).

Not too long ago I watched an episode of Sea Hunt on http://www.hulu.com/ and I thought the old show held up pretty well over the years.