Greetings!

Devilsadvocate · #1 (**permalink**) May 7th, 2008, 01:48 AM

Looks like I'm the latest FNG around here, so I guess I better introduce myself. I've been interested in WW II, and especially the Pacific war, since I was old enough to read. For me, it's a bit of a family affair. My father enlisted in the US Navy in 1939 and became a naval aviator. During the war he flew SBD's, then did a stint as a pilot instructor (which he claimed was just as dangerous as combat) and finally went back to the fleet and flew Hellcats for the last year and a half of the war. My mother enlisted in the WAVE's in 1942 and served most of the war as a parachute rigger at Moffet Field. My folks met in the Navy and married after the war.

My wife is of Chinese ethnicity. On December 7, 1941, her parents and three older siblings were residents of Miri on the island of Borneo, where her father worked as a production engineer in the oil fields. Her father helped blow up the oil field infrastructure when the Japanese invaded, and spent the next year hiding in the jungle until Australian commandos were able to evacuate him. His wife and kids spent the war under Japanese occupation which was not at all pleasant, and they were reunited after the war.

My entire life I've heard of first hand experiences of the Pacific war and spent decades reading accounts of the battles and campaigns that took place. I'm here to discuss that information and get different perspectives and opinions about their signifigance.