7 years ago, I remember stepping out of my "Transport Economics" class (at 9 am in the morning) and hearing fellow students in the hallway urging us to go watch cable TV. Apparently something big had happened in NYC and DC. I spent pretty much the rest of the day glued to the huge TV set the university had put up in the Memorial Union, and called home to assure my folks that I was safe and secure.
Tuesday, Sept 11, 2001. To the victims and survivors:
It is important to commemorate this day not only to pay tribute to those who lost their lives, but also to honor those who continue to live with this tragedy.
Tomorrow marks the 65th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Earlier this year, I was lucky to be able to see close up two of the three Japanese carrier aircraft types that took to the skies above Hawaii to destroy the US Pacific Fleet.
九七式艦上攻撃機 (This is a rebuilt prototype; The front part of the plane, i.e the engine and the cowling, was not the original from Nakajima. No complete example survived the war intact.)
零式艦上戦闘機 (The famous "Zero" fighter. This is probably an earlier model - Model 21. Note one of the two 20mm cannon gun barrels protruding from the left wing.)
For some reason, the third member of the IJNAF's unholy trinity was not available for display.
ニイタカヤマノボレ一二○八 (攀登新高山一二○八)
Technorati: Pearl Harbor, Zero, Kate
On this 3rd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a dead Nazi's statement still disturbingly rings true.
Incidentally, in another six months' time he would be dead for 60 years.
Link dump featuring the end of the battleship era in modern naval warfare.
PBS first aired it in Oct, then I got to know that a Japanese production (「男たちの大和／YAMATO」) on it is set to hit the big screen in Nippon (or has it already?) this month. I wonder when it will be shown here. (I can't find the DVD on Amazon.com)
Ironically, it was the Japanese who showed the world that battleships with no air cover are vulnerable against aerial attacks (at Pearl Harbor and against Prince of Wales and Repulse of the RN's Force Z). 大和 would never have stood a chance against the carrier-based bombers of the US navy.
Found (from flickr) the (almost life-sized) mock-up of the ship used in the movie. Check out the 25mm/60 caliber AA guns...
A 1/10 scale model can be found in the Yamato museum in Kure. This flickr set shows you various angles of the ship.
I am posting this a day late. The significance is all the greater now (as it was then) with more countries wanting to join the nuclear club.
Who can forget that this had happened during the setting days of the Empire of the Sun?
Sun set over Mt Fuji, Mar 2005
