Well the community has been raving about the decorations and lights for Christmas on main street and the parade was well attended after the “Lighting of the Tree” last Saturday evening. We have a great community with a few quirky types that actually make it more interesting. So we continue to the blessed day together. The Hut had a great showing in the parade with the young men of the SAL carrying the lead banner and colors! The Sons of American Legion (youth) ave been studying up on our local hero, Kenneth Taylor to have a better understanding of Hominy’s place in history. Most know that Brig. Gen. Taylor shot down the 1st and subsequent Japanese Zero’s at Pearl Harbor on the Day of Infamy. I was doing a little research on the connections between Hitler and the Japanese cooperation and found a few interesting facts.
Today, Wednesday in 1941, Adolf Hitler declared war on the United States, bringing America, which had been neutral, into the European conflict. Here is the twist. The bombing of Pearl Harbor surprised even Germany. Although Hitler had made an oral agreement with his Axis partner Japan that Germany would join a war against the United States, he was uncertain as to how the war would be engaged. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor answered that question.
On December 8, Japanese Ambassador Oshima went to German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop to nail the Germans down on a formal declaration of war against America. Von Ribbentrop stalled for time; he knew that Germany was under no obligation to do this under the terms of the Tripartite Pact, which promised help if Japan was attacked, but not if Japan was the aggressor. Von Ribbentrop feared that the addition of another antagonist, the United States, would overwhelm the German war effort. But Hitler thought otherwise.
He was convinced that the United States would soon beat him to the punch and declare war on Germany. The U.S. Navy was already attacking German U-boats, and Hitler despised Roosevelt for his repeated verbal attacks against his Nazi ideology. He also believed that Japan was much stronger than it was, that once it had defeated the United States, it would turn and help Germany defeat Russia. So at 3:30 p.m. (Berlin time) on December 11, the German charge d’affaires in Washington handed American Secretary of State Cordell Hull a copy of the declaration of war. That very same day, Hitler addressed the Reichstag to defend the declaration. The failure of the New Deal, argued Hitler, was the real cause of the war, as President Roosevelt, supported by plutocrats and Jews, attempted to cover up for the collapse of his economic agenda. I have a saying “thank God for stupid enemies”. The rest is history. (Thanks to This day in Military History)
The Sons of American Legion and parents or family member will be invited to the Legion/Auxiliary Christmas Dinner. This event will be The Annual Auxiliary/Legion Christmas Dinner and will be on December 12th at 6:00 PM with a short meeting at 7:00 PM for any announcements from the Auxiliary/Legion. These are our last few months to sell tickets on the 10-Gun Raffle. The Post gets half of the proceeds. All of the Oklahoma 100th Anniversary coins have been sold out at State HQ. There are no more. We have some and they are only $5.00 for Post members and $10.00 for non-members. I’ll be buying a few for good friends and posterity!
Monday morning Koffee Klatch meetings in December are still scheduled for biscuits and gravy or doughnuts and always a cup of Joe (coffee to the civilians). Just watch the weather, it is the only factor that my change that. We cancelled the last one due to below freezing conditions. If you are a veteran come on by. If you have a good story it may end up in print. Also keep up with us at website “americanlegion142.org”.
Blackwell-Frazier American Legion Post #142 Hominy, Oklahoma 