Posted on 12/07/2009 7:13:09 AM PST by Federalist Patriot
Today is the 68th anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack on Pear Harbor, December 7, 1941. The attack drew the United States into World War II. The United States suffered 2,402 killed, and 1,282 wounded. Until September 11, 2001, Pearl Harbor was the single worst enemy attack on U.S. soil in American History (not including Civil War battles). Here are some videos on the events of that day . . . (VIDEOS)
(Excerpt) Read more at freedomslighthouse.com ...
For anyone who is interested, Turner Classic Movies is showing a series of programs in the “Why We Fight” series directed by Frank Capra. The first episode starts at 10:30 a.m. (eastern) with “Prelude to War.” It runs all day with the final chapter “War Comes to America” which ends at 6:30 p.m. (eastern). There is also a program titled “Tunisian Victory,” which runs from 6:30 p.m. (eastern) through 8 p.m. They are all listed as NEW programs to this channel.
Yes NEVER FORGET to what lenghts a Dem will go.
Memorialized in McCollum’s secret memo dated October 7, 1940, and recently obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the ONI proposal called for eight provocations aimed at Japan. Its centerpiece was keeping the might of the U.S. Fleet based in the Territory of Hawaii as a lure for a Japanese attack.
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President Roosevelt acted swiftly. The very next day, October 8, 1940, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Fleet, Admiral James O. Richardson, was summoned to the Oval Office and told of the provocative plan by the President. In a heated argument with FDR, the admiral objected to placing his sailors and ships in harm’s way. Richardson was then fired and in his place FDR selected an obscure naval officer, Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, to command the fleet in Hawaii. Kimmel was promoted to a four-star admiral and took command on February 1, 1941. In a related appointment, Walter Short was promoted from Major General to a three-star Lieutenant General and given command of U.S. Army troops in Hawaii.
Throughout 1941, FDR implemented the remaining seven provocations. He then gauged Japanese reaction through intercepted and decoded communications intelligence originated by Japan’s diplomatic and military leaders.
The island nation’s militarists used the provocations to seize control of Japan and organized their military forces for war against the U.S., Great Britain, and the Netherlands. The centerpiece—the Pearl Harbor attack—was leaked to the U.S. in January 1941. During the next 11 months, the White House followed the Japanese war plans through the intercepted and decoded diplomatic and military communications intelligence.
Japanese leaders failed in basic security precautions. At least 1,000 Japanese military and diplomatic radio messages per day were intercepted by monitoring stations operated by the U.S. and her Allies, and the message contents were summarized for the White House. The intercept summaries were clear: Pearl Harbor would be attacked on December 7, 1941, by Japanese forces advancing through the Central and North Pacific Oceans. On November 27 and 28, 1941, Admiral Kimmel and General Short were ordered to remain in a defensive posture for “the United States desires that Japan commit the first overt act.” The order came directly from President Roosevelt.
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“A massive cover-up followed Pearl Harbor a few days later, according to an officer close to Marshall, when the Chief of Staff ordered a lid put on the affair. ‘Gentlemen,’ he told half a dozen officers, ‘this goes to the grave with us.’”
The Congressional vote to declare war on December 8th was not unanimous. Rep. Jeanette Rankin from Montana was the sole vote against declaring war. Rankin was a radical pacifist..probably the Cindy Sheehan of her day.
As a kid I was a PH-phile. Read everything I could lay my hands on about the event - from Prange to Fuchida to Toland. Hollywood couldn’t manufacture that kind of drama.
“The Congressional vote to declare war on December 8th was not unanimous. Rep. Jeanette Rankin from Montana was the sole vote against declaring war. Rankin was a radical pacifist..probably the Cindy Sheehan of her day.”
Wasn’t she also one of the co-founders or something of the ACLU???
BING however has the most breathtaking photo of battleship roll I have ever seen.
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