Fascinating. What he must have participated in- and a good luck and thanks to 🙏🏻 that he survived the war!
If you don’t mind me asking: why had he been in Borneo when the American-Japanese War broke out after the attack on PH? Were there American troops stationed in the Dutch East Indies by then? To deter potential invaders (the Japanese army, for instance)?
I thought America had been neutral until the sneak attack on PH…🤔
My dad joined the navy in 1939.
“About 24 November 1941,” her war diary reported “the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet sensed that the relations between the United States and Japan had reached such a critical state that movement of men-of war . . . was indicated.” The next day, Marblehead , with TF 5, departed Manila Bay for seemingly “routine weekly operations.” She anchored at Tarakan, Borneo, 29 November and waited for further instructions.”
On 8 December (7 December in the
United States) she received the message “Japan started hostilities; govern yourselves accordingly.”