Posted on 10/08/2009 5:22:09 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
*Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana told reporters that the President “has the greatest opportunity of any American President in history to serve humanity and bring about a permanent peace in Europe while preventing the slaughter of millions of human beings. . . . I believe 99 per cent of our people who oppose our becoming involved in any European war will not only support but welcome President Roosevelt in immediately taking the initiative in trying to arrange an armistice to end this senseless war.”
That last part would make a great bumper sticker.
It’s eerie to think about how naive they all were.
Ping to news reports of the arrival of the Trapp Family Singers!
(Amazing how broad their smiles are aboard ship having just left everything behind!)
You know they should sell the rights to their story to Hollywood, that would make for a very good movie.
Pretty funny.
At that time FDR was doing all he could to suck America into the war.
The Krauts didn’t know that? No wonder they lost.
The von Trapp family had abandoned Austria more than a year before, this was at least their second trip to the United States (I don’t believe they ever went back to Europe to live after 1939).
Sabotage plot on the USS Arizona???
I want a Dunhill bag.. no I don’t.. I am a MAN!!
Dang subliminal ads.
Churchill was running the government it sounds like from these daily memos
While I’m speaking from hindsight, just from reading the papers from this period, anyone who thought America wouldn’t inevitably get dragged into the war was just putting their head into the sand.
1. Someone had opened the reserve lube oil tanks and let the oil drain into the bilges.
2. Nuts, bolts and other items including steel wool had been found in the spring bearing housings for the 4 propeller shafts.
After the FBI investigation it was determined that the sabotage was not so much to do major damage, but to embarrass certain officers on the ship. The person who had access to dump lube oil into the bilge would also been able to damage more critical items like the turbines.
There was also this incident from October 8th 1939 on the Arizona.
An incident that took place on 8 October 1939 demonstrated the seriousness of the situation. The Arizona was anchored at San Pedro that afternoon when the sailing yacht Sans Gene went past. People topside in the yacht took pictures of the battleship, so the Arizona's officer of the deck dispatched a boarding party commanded by the ship's assistant navigator. He confiscated two rolls of film containing the potentially revealing photos.- Paul Sullwell, Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History, p. 270
Excused absence requested. Fish were biting this morning...
lol. SO it wasn’t as bad as it sounded?
Not really I guess. Any sabotage is bad though. I cant find anything on anyone falling on the sword for it so I’m betting they never identified who or how many were involved.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.