The exchanges between Nimitz and King regarding possible fleet engagements in Operation Forager caught my eye. There has been some controversy about Spruance’s conduct in the upcoming Battle of the Philippine Sea. He had two potentially conflicting objectives: defense of the amphibious landing forces at Saipan and the destruction of the Japanese Fleet. Looking at the notes in Nimitz’ diary of the exchanges between Nimitz and King, it looks like there wasn’t a clear unity of opinion even at the top of the American naval command in the final planning for the operation.
I’d like to read the actual notes exchanged between Nimitz and King sometime.
KNITTING OF AMERICAS PREDICTED BY DEWEY:
Governor Tells Latin Group of Dwindling Barriers
Governor Dewey ... made a prediction that the barriers of language differences between the United States and the Central and South American Nations “will soon dwindle if not disappear entirely.”
“The barriers of distance are well on the way to being abolished, thanks to the development of air transport,” he went on. “Actually, there will be far more in common between us of the North and you of South and Central America than ever before.
“I look forward to the day when it shall become a matter of course for our young people to learn Spanish and Portuguese before they study any other foreign tongues.”
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Is this a Jeb Bush campaign release, or from 1944? I think Gov. Dewey is thinking about importing Latin Americans to do the “jobs Americans won’t do,” post-War. This fits with his assumption that Americans will need to learn Spanish or Portuguese, rather than Latin Americans’ learning English: he expects the well-off, employer-class students to be able to learn the language of their servants, not the other way around.
The white elites of Latin America are happy to cooperate in the plan to ship their excess dark-skinned citizenry to El Norte.