[rktman]

I read a book a while back(don't remember the name of it) concerning the events leading up to the attack and all didn't seem to be as presented by the powers that be at the time. Kimmel was disgraced but he was more than likely correct. And, as far as fdr and his proclamations about not putting our young men in harms way......democrat?

[Sans-Culotte]

On the day after GHWB's funeral, I am reminded of a speech he gave in which he misidentified September 7 as Pearl Harbor Day. You could hear people in the audience murmuring that he was wrong. It was a good example of what can go wrong when a speaker departs from his script.

[ByteMercenary]

I too have read a fair amount regarding the events that lead up to the Pearl Harbor raid. Lots of screw-ups before, during, and after the raid, both political and some just plain bad decisions.

Unlike more recent efforts I still think that the 1970 movie ‘Tora - Tora - Tora’ did the best job portraying the event and it even touched on several of the FUBARs.

[Snickering Hound]

Kimmel was disgraced but he was more than likely correct.

Most of Kimmel's PBY patrol aircraft were destroyed on the ground instead of being in the air looking for Japanese submarines or even a carrier fleet.

The committee got it right the first time when they ran him out of the Navy.

[bert]

aaah....

This afternoon is Tora Tora Tora again

My acute visualization is flying a yellow bi plane out over the Pacific on a CAVU Sunday morning and being overtaken by squadrons of Jap planes.

[blueunicorn6]

I recently read a book that stated that the fuel in the above ground fuel tanks at Pearl Harbor had been pumped into underground tanks before the attack.

[SkyDancer]

Until some liberal will call racism.

[TonytheTiger7777]

My stepfather, who is a hero, served at Guadalcanal where he was wounded twice and got the bronze star. He died on Dec. 7, 1971. God rest his soul in Glory.

[gaijin]

Only last year I learned something like 40% of the torpedoes turned out to be DUDS after hitting perfectly.

A similar % of the dive bombs went astray.

Their attack was absolutely a great success but in fact it could have been TWICE as bad, very easily.

I wish I had the link to the concise, EXCELLENT video summary of their attack, it was 10x better than any other analysis I’ve ever seen (I’ve seen and read TONS of them).

[libertylover]

I’ll bet you could ask a number of young people about what happened on Dec. 7, 1941 and most wouldn’t know.

[gaijin]

Translations of encoded Japanese transmissions had a lag phase.

After the attack, obviously interest in WHAT IN HELL the Japanese were saying to their Embassies in the US became hugely interesting.

The last encrypted cables sent to Japanese Embassies in the US were chilling:

They addressed to topic of follow-up attacks on the US defense industrial base, calling on allies in the Japanese community.

US authorities could not disclose that, obviously, as the fact the US could read Japanese code was a very closely guarded secret; the enemy would instantly change their tactics. This topic is not talked about to this day, as the overwhelming majority of the ethic Japanese community was loyal to the US.

But not all were, and there was widespread worry about what could happen.

Germans and Italians were interned at Fort Meade, Maryland, where the NSA is now.

[Freedumb]

Related to this is something I have never seen an adequate explanation for. Clearly there is controversy over whether Kimmel and Short were negligent in their preparations before the attack. But what about McArthur in the Philippines? He clearly knew Pearl had been attacked but did not implement the battle plans that were in place for such an event such as launching an attack on Formosa and instead allowed the Far East Air Force to be destroyed on the ground despite warnings.

Yet after he was run out of the Philippines he was treated like a hero. Why was he not held responsible like Kimmel and Short, who had no such warning or knowledge of the incoming attack?

[sima_yi]

It was evident that an attack by the Japanese was coming, but no one knew when or where. Whereas the Japanese diplomatic code "Purple" was being read by the Americans, often even before the Japanese recipients, the Naval Code JN-25B was not broken until a month after Pearl Harbor.

Also, the story of Churchill not warning Coventry is false. The attack by the Luftwaffe was expected, but the target had been identified as London.

Battle of Wits, Stephen Budiansky

[fredhead]

Kimmel (and Short) didn’t know it was coming, and were blamed for not being properly prepared for the attack.

MacArthur, however, knew for at least 12 hours that the Japanese had attacked us, and his air force was STILL destroyed on the ground.

And he became a hero.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

For everybody in the San Francisco Bay Area, December 7 is the one day each year that the beacon on Mount Diablo is lit in commemoration of the December 7, 1941 attack on the U.S. Yes, even in the Bay Area we have true patriots! The story of the beacon is interesting... http://www.savemountdiablo.org/activities/beacon-lighting-pearl-harbor-day/>

"Mount Diablo’s beacon is lit at sunset and shines all night on this single evening each year."

The Beacon was originally lit by Charles Lindbergh in 1928 to assist in the early days of commercial aviation. The Beacon shined from the summit of Mount Diablo each night until December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It was not relit until December 7, 1964, when Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces during World War II, attended a ceremony on Mount Diablo’s summit in commemoration of the survivors of Pearl Harbor. He suggested that the beacon be lit every December 7th to honor those who served and sacrificed.

Since that day in 1964, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and now the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors with co-sponsor Save Mount Diablo have memorialized Pearl Harbor Day by turning on the summit Beacon atop Mount Diablo. The Beacon now shines on that single night each year.

The “Eye” is one of the last remaining working beacons from the original transcontinental string of guides.

The 2018 Pearl Harbor Day Beacon Lighting Ceremony will be held today at 3:45 PM in the Oak Room (with extra seating in the Redwood Room) at the California State East Bay Concord Campus, 4700 Ygnacio Valley Road, Concord, CA 94521

[Pappy Smear]

Never would have happened if Kirk Douglas unleashed the power of the USS Nimitz on Dec 6, 1941. But he just let 'em go.