James F. Anderson II

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

USAF Retired Wounded Warrior, Actor, Military Advisor, Historian, Museum Curator

[James F. Anderson II @AndersonCC11083]

@Meteorologist1 That's an extremely thoughtful proposition. This one really caught my attention!

[Allison @Meteorologist1]

Wow so beautiful 💖

[Allison @Meteorologist1]

Telescope photo of the moon tonight🔭

[James F. Anderson II @AndersonCC11083]

@Meteorologist1 It's amazing, isn't it?! Great shot!

[Allison @Meteorologist1]

Currently at a Partial Eclipse! 🌓

[KUNOICHI 🇯🇵🌸_可愛くノ一 @hokkori_buzz]

🇯🇵 Dear American friends, I will never forget this for as long as I live. 😭

March 11, 2011. 2:46 PM.

The Great East Japan Earthquake struck.

Magnitude 9.0.

The largest earthquake ever recorded in Japanese history violently shook the Tohoku region. 🌏

Then, dozens of minutes later, a tsunami beyond imagination swallowed the coastline. 🌊🌊

Around the world, many governments advised their citizens to leave Japan.

Some embassies reduced their staff or temporarily relocated their operations.

Sendai Airport filled with people desperately trying to leave Japan. ✈️

March 11.
The earthquake.
The tsunami.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant lost all electrical power.

The cooling systems failed, and the reactors began to melt down. ⚠️

March 12.
Unit 1 exploded. 💥

The reactor building was torn apart, and the images spread across the world.

Fear of radiation spread across the globe, and many people tried to keep their distance from Japan.

But then…

🇺🇸 America came closer.

Within hours of the earthquake, the decision was made. On March 12, Operation Tomodachi began. 🤝

24,000 service members.
189 aircraft. ✈️
24 ships. ⚓

They headed toward the disaster area.

Even with the fear of explosions still lingering, they carefully managed the risks of radiation while delivering food, water, and medical supplies, and continued their relief operations. 🚢📦💧

It wasn’t only the U.S. military stationed in Japan.

From the American mainland, from across the Pacific, and from Americans living in Japan, an overwhelming desire arose

「We want to help Japan.」 😭

They helped restore Sendai Airport. ✈️
They delivered emergency supplies. 📦
They searched for and rescued survivors alongside the Japan Self-Defense Forces. 🛟

And they stayed by Japan’s side for as long as they were needed. 🤝

The name of the mission was…
Operation Tomodachi.

「Tomodachi.」 🥹

Perhaps that name was chosen carefully.

Or perhaps there simply wasn’t any other word that fit.

A kunoichi trains for years never to show emotion while on a mission.
To observe.
To report.
To act without being ruled by emotion.

And yet, every time I remember those ships sailing toward Tohoku, I cannot count how many times I have cried. 😭

Even today, I cannot find words in any language to express what I felt back then. 💙😭

When so many people were trying to leave Japan,
you came. 😭

When fear and uncertainty covered our nation,
you stayed by our side. 😭

You rescued survivors, delivered hope, and stood with us when we needed friends the most. 😭

A kunoichi remembers everything.

Even now, more than fifteen years later. 🕊️

Happy 250th Birthday, America. 🎉

Japan will never forget the friendship you showed us on those days. 🇯🇵🤝🇺🇸

Never.

Forever… 🥹❤️

#A250inJapan

[Anthony Brian Logan (ABL) 🇺🇸 @ANTHONYBLOGAN]

The Las Vegas Sphere did an amazing job with this highlight reel of 250 years of American history!

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

The US Navy operates a 50,000 acre forest in Indiana whose entire job is keeping one wooden ship from 1797 afloat.

The ship is USS Constitution, still a commissioned warship with an active-duty crew. Cannonballs bounced off her in 1812 because the hull sandwiches a wall of live oak ribs between two layers of white oak planking, nearly 2 feet of solid wood so dense it barely floats. British 18-pounders hit it and dropped into the sea. A sailor yelled "her sides are made of iron" and the nickname stuck.

Here's the problem with owning a 229-year-old wooden ship: you can't buy the parts. Hull planks run up to 40 feet long and 7 inches thick, cut from single white oak trunks. A white oak takes over a century to grow that big. No lumberyard on earth stocks it.

So the Navy grows its own. Constitution Grove at Naval Support Activity Crane holds trees over 100 years old, reserved exclusively for this ship. Foresters there are managing oaks today that will become hull planking in the 2100s. The maintenance plan literally runs on tree time.

Every 20 years or so she enters dry dock and shipwrights swap out rotted timber. After two centuries of this, estimates put original 1797 wood at maybe 10 to 15 percent of the ship. The Navy keeps replacing her plank by plank because Congress mandated her preservation and because she's the only active US warship that has sunk an enemy vessel.

Every other asset in the Navy has a decommission date. This one has a tree farm.

[Armand Klein @ArmandKleinX]

🇺🇸✝️U.S.Marine Corps War Memorial✝️🇺🇸
🇺🇸✝️Arlington Virginia✝️🇺🇸
#America250 @USMC

[Capt Kyle @CaptKylePatriot]

These flyovers are insane
POTUS' new Air Force One just performed a fast low-altitude flyby next to a US Aircraft carrier, followed by a pair of B-21 Raiders. ✈️

[Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 @ScooterCasterNY]

WATCH: Eiffel Tower Blazes "USA 250" as Paris Kicks Off America's Semiquincentennial

Tonight the Eiffel Tower is lighting up with a "USA 250" display beginning Friday, July 3rd at 11:00 PM local time, marking the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.

The illumination shows "USA 250" in red, white, and blue lettering across the tower's first-level facade.

The lighting is part of a wider summer program organized by the City of Paris celebrating the historic friendship between France and the United States

Video by @CLPRESSFR | Licensing @FreedomNTV [email protected]

[Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives @dom_lucre]

🔥🚨LATEST: The Washington Monument illuminated with the spirit of George Washington and the 250 years of American history.

[il Donaldo Trumpo @PapiTrumpo]

TEXAS ROCKS!!!🔥🇺🇸🥳🥳🥳

[Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman]

Good Bless America!

Happy 250 years of FREEDOM! 🇺🇸

[Allison @Meteorologist1]

Emerging Liberty Dimes made for 250 year anniversary of The United States Of America. 🇺🇸
Lady liberty on the front.
Eagle on the back.

[James F. Anderson II @AndersonCC11083]

@Meteorologist1 Those are so awesome!!!

[Allison @Meteorologist1]

Come join my Fortnite stream ^_^ https://t.co/4I5fMCHk0b

[James F. Anderson II @AndersonCC11083]

@Meteorologist1 The work you put in helping make this a reality was invaluable! We couldn't have done it without the countless hours you dedicated supporting this project.