Posted on 05/05/2011 2:11:32 PM PDT by FoxPro
To boost morale following the defeat at Guadalcanal, Yamamoto decided to make an inspection tour throughout the South Pacific. On 14 April 1943, the US naval intelligence effort, code-named "Magic", intercepted and decrypted a message containing specific details regarding Yamamoto's tour, including arrival and departure times and locations, as well as the number and types of planes that would transport and accompany him on the journey. Yamamoto, the itinerary revealed, would be flying from Rabaul to Ballalae Airfield, on an island near Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, on the morning of 18 April 1943.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to "Get Yamamoto." Knox instructed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of Roosevelt's wishes. Admiral Nimitz consulted Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander, South Pacific, then authorized a mission on 17 April to intercept Yamamoto's flight en route and shoot it down.
A squadron of P-38 Lightning aircraft were assigned the task as only they possessed the range to intercept and engage. Eighteen hand-picked pilots from three units were informed that they were intercepting an "important high officer" with no specific name given. Yamamoto's last photo alive (April 18, 1943)
On the morning of 18 April, despite urgings by local commanders to cancel the trip for fear of ambush, Yamamoto's two Mitsubishi G4M fast transport aircraft left Rabaul as scheduled for the 315 mi (507 km) trip. Shortly after, 18 P-38s with long-range drop tanks took off from Guadalcanal. Sixteen arrived after wave-hopping most of the 430 mi (690 km) to the rendezvous point, maintaining radio silence throughout. At 09:34 Tokyo time, the two flights met and a dogfight ensued between the P-38s and the six escorting A6M Zeroes.
First Lieutenant Rex T. Barber engaged the first of the two Japanese transports which turned out to be Yamamoto's plane. He targeted the aircraft with gunfire until it began to spew smoke from its left engine. Barber turned away to attack the other transport as Yamamoto's plane crashed into the jungle.
The crash site and body of Yamamoto were found the next day in the jungle north of the then-coastal site of the former Australian patrol post of Buin by a Japanese search and rescue party, led by army engineer, Lieutenant Hamasuna. According to Hamasuna, Yamamoto had been thrown clear of the plane's wreckage, his white-gloved hand grasping the hilt of his katana, still upright in his seat under a tree. Hamasuna said Yamamoto was instantly recognizable, head dipped down as if deep in thought. A post-mortem of the body disclosed that Yamamoto had received two gunshot wounds, one to the back of his left shoulder and another to his left lower jaw that exited above his right eye.
To cover up the fact that the Allies were reading Japanese code, American news agencies were told that civilian coast-watchers in the Solomon Islands saw Yamamoto boarding a bomber in the area. They did not publicize the names of most of the pilots that attacked Yamamoto's plane because one of them had a brother who was a prisoner of the Japanese, and U.S. military officials feared for his safety. State Funeral for Yamamoto in Tokyo
This proved to be the longest fighter-intercept mission of the war. In Japan, it became known as the "Navy A Incident" (ja:海軍甲事件 Kaigun kō-jiken). It raised morale in the United States, and shocked the Japanese who were officially told about the incident only on 21 May 1943. The death of Yamamoto was a major psychological blow for the Japanese nation which had been told of victory after victory even after Midway and Guadalcanal. It also forced the Japanese government to acknowledge that the Americans were quickly rebuilding their military capacity and had begun going on the offensive.
His staff cremated his remains at Buin, and the ashes were returned to Tokyo aboard the battleship Musashi, Yamamoto's last flagship. Yamamoto was given a full state funeral on 5 June 1943,[24] where he received, posthumously, the title of Marshal and was awarded the Order of the Chrysanthemum, (1st Class). He was also awarded Nazi Germany's Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Part of his ashes were buried in the public cemetery in Tama, Tokyo (多摩霊園), and the remainder at his ancestral burial grounds at the temple of Chuko-ji in Nagaoka City. He was succeeded as commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet by Admiral Mineichi Koga.
As you pointed out, Congress did vote. That vote constituted a declaration of war. You will note that nothing in the Constitution describes the contents, format, etc., of a declaration of war. Consequently, it is up to congress whether or not to actually use the phrase “Declaration of War”.
Nicely said. There is a Borders bookstore in my area going out of business. I’m snatching up as many military history books as I can at 70% off!
“Absent a vote from Congress a state of war would not be authorized under our Constitution.”
Let me add, a ‘state of war’ is not at all dependent upon a declaration of war or even upon the constitution. A state of war exists anytime two or more are engaged in an armed conflict. A declaration of war only formallizes that state.
Our constitution assigns the power to declare war to the congress but is completely silent as to how congress shall exercise that power.
Considering it took 8 years to find out the possible hideout, then 8-9 months does not seem out of the realm of possibility to go from “probable” to highly likely.
But it is a necessity, one tragically overlooked in the case of Libya - giving cover to cowardly Democrats who don't want to be on record voting for war - and to cowardly Republicans who don't want to be on record voting for 0bama’s war.
I belong to The Society of American Magicians, The International Brotherhood of Magicians, and a Magic Dealer Association.
You would never hear a complaint from us.....we know how to keep a secret.
....and if someone did complain.....we know how to disappear them!
About all the mission accomplished was to enshrine the memory of Admiral Yammoto. Subsequent events would have tarnished his reputation within the Japanese hirarchy, even though he had predicted them well in advance.
The interception was a technical and airmaship feat of note. Mag compasses in the P-38 were notoriously unreliable, so it was a remarkable feat of navigation by a single pilot aircraft reportedly conducted in complete radio silence. It also posed the possibility of exposing our ability to read the Japanese naval code.
Decades later a dispute grew among the surviving praticipating pilots as to who really “shot down Yammoto”. But there are no similarities between the interception of Yammoto and the taking of bin Laden IMO. Yammoto was a serving military member. Bin Laden was a terrorist. The former was a warrior, the latter merely a rat. >PS
Wise move!!! There is much written on American history and military activity. Yamamoto was “a gambling man”, had spent time in America, knew our industrial might and depth, understood Americans, liked a drink once in a while and loved gambling. He knew he had one shot at America, and when he did not catch our aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor, he knew Japan was in deep trouble. The battleships had seen better days. The age of the aircraft carrier had arrived and he knew it. Pursue your reading about our forefathers. Our Present POTUS Obama knows nothing of American history and that includes the magnificent role that American Blacks have played in our history from the Revolutionary War to present. The idiot Obama has nary a clue!!! Sad!
Are you aware Kelly Johnson, the same guy that designed the U-2, SR-71 and even had a hand in the F-117 is the guy that led the design team for the P-38?
Ah, but we have something even better to the democrats, we have a UN resolution.
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