December 6, 2012

From the desk of Elizabeth P. McIntosh, 97, a retired intelligence operative now living in a Virginia retirement community

washingtonpoststyle:

On Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, I was working as a reporter for the Hono­lulu Star-Bulletin. After a week of war, I wrote a story directed at Hawaii’s women; I thought it would be useful for them to know what I had seen. It might help prepare them for what lay ahead. But my editors thought the graphic content would be too upsetting for readers and decided not to run my article. It appears here for the first time:

For seven ghastly, confused days, we have been at war. To the women of Hawaii, it has meant a total disruption of home life, a sudden acclimation to blackout nights, terrifying rumors, fear of the unknown as planes drone overhead and lorries shriek through the streets.

The seven days may stretch to seven years, and the women of Hawaii will have to accept a new routine of living. It is time, now, after the initial confusion and terror have subsided, to sum up the events of the past week, to make plans for the future.

It would be well, perhaps, to review the events of the past seven days and not minimize the horror, to better prepare for what may come again.

I have a story to tell, as a reporter, that I think the women of Hawaii should hear. I tell it because I think it may help other women in the struggle, so they will not take the past events lightly. Continue reading…



Tagged: Pearl Harbor / anniversaries /

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April 15, 2012

Titanic Survivors: A Breakdown by Class

shortformblog:

thepoliticalnotebook:

  • First Class Passengers: 63% survived (200 out of 319 lived).
  • Second Class Passengers: 43% survived (117 out of 269 lived).
  • Third Class Passengers: 25% survived (172 out of 699 lived).

Any death, regardless of class, is a horrible and tragic thing, but on the anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking it’s important to remember one of the things that night symbolizes: that, even in moments of terrible crisis and great collective peril, we remain divided and valued by the ticket we can afford. 

[Data via John Henderson of Ithaca College]

A great lesson told through numbers.



Tagged: titanic / anniversaries / titanic anniversary / titanic survivors /

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March 19, 2012

March 19, 2003

Today is the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq…  I always remember it because it was the day my sister chose to have my niece…. and, after waiting for a few hours at West Houston Medical Center, our family met one of the best things in our world, while our country was entering one of its darkest dramas.  The juxtaposition of that date has never and will never leave me… and her birthday is always a reminder that we lost far too many, both on the field, and those that we have not taken care of in the years since we reversed all previous military history and discourse of our country and wrongfully invaded a country.



Tagged: Anniversaries / Birthdays / March 19 / Iraq /

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