Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
...The Irish and Germans, as Steve said, joined the Army in large numbers -- the Scotch Irish did not; fighting was fun, not work and people telling you what to do reminded them of the British and those snooty Anglicans -- but oh, by the way, give a War -- they'd appear.
My mother tells the story from her memory of her father - a World War ONE battlefield vet, coming home one day in December '41 and telling his sons "you'd better oil up your guns, boys." The four who were old enough did.

Grandpa McDowell once told a too-young-to-appreciate-it (or write it down) me tales of his grandfather who fought (for Ohio) in the Civil War. (But these were not two-fisted tales of glory, in fact they were rather dull to my 12-year old ears.)

He was, however, a Deacon in the local church and one of the quietest men I've ever known. I wouldn't be surprised if those seven words above were all he had to say regarding Pearl Harbor.