I wanted to provide you with a few more photos from the Jasper Air Show.
For those of you whose parents were at early adulthood in 1941 (my parents married on February 1, 1941), you likely heard from them at some point how they were affected when hearing about the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor. It may be similar to how you remember so vividly the events around the assassination of John F. Kennedy although you may not have understood it all at that time. At any rate, I am mentioning this as there is an airshow staple simply called "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (meaning Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!). Here is the link to the history of the reenactment. It is worth the time to read and I urge you to do so at some point.
While the Jasper Air Show was not large enough to support the full-blown, pyrotechnic reenactment, the Commemorative Air Force did provide a modified, smaller show that still brings folks to a halt as they hear the warning sirens, the sounds of bombing and machine gun fire, and the recorded statement of President Franklin D. Roosevelt declaring war on the Japanese on December 8, 1941. The Jasper Air Show had six T-6 aircraft, four painted as the Japanese "Zero", a Mitsubishi plane that was fast and maneuverable and two painted up as U.S. fighters, only a few of which actually made it into the skies after the surprise attack began. Here they are:
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| The "Japanese Zero" fleet with the Rising Sun flag waving. |
The planes took off and set up for the show. These pilots practice the choreography constantly. The planes weave in and out and around, separating and coming back together with much flying in between. The first two shots below are the "U.S." planes with the last two shots the "Japanese" planes roaring past.
This concludes the Jasper Air Show posts. The moment I am taking now is my soapbox. If my soapboxes have annoyed you in the past, feel free to click "close" for your browser or "delete" for this email now. :)
While you have likely heard variations of the quote, George Santayana wrote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" in his book, Reason in Common Sense. Many of our parents had Pearl Harbor as a defining moment in their lives. Many of us have September 11, 2001 as the most chilling moment of our lives thus far. Over 2300 souls were lost on December 7, 1941, with nearly 3000 gone on September 11th. Both events took less than two hours to actually occur. While both took place for apparently very different reasons, remember that we should never feel "safe" from those who would do us harm. Both attacks were well-planned surprises with the intent of killing Americans and bringing us to our knees. With some sense of pride, I say we only were on our knees briefly, mostly to pray, before rising up and fighting back long and hard. But don't think something similar can't happen in the future. Make sure your children and your grandchildren know about both of these events. You do them no favor by "shielding" them from something difficult to remember. Forewarned is forearmed.
Thank you for sticking with me if you have made it this far. I try to simply inform and entertain... but there are certain times I feel compelled to provide you with a little more.
Happy Spring!!! Enjoy!!
Until next post...
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