Yeah, I bet that’s what they said eighty years ago.
The attack on Pearl Harbor had no parallel in US history until 9/11. Both events, on the surface, came out of nowhere and both reshaped the world afterwards. To me the biggest lesson learned is to not get into the mindset that ‘it cant happen’. It’s all happened before and it’ll all happen again. In just one morning, the entire trajectory of the world changes for decades to come. It can actually happen that fast. Mind-boggling when you think about it.
…and the governement knew about both of them in advance.
Sort of…
In both cases it seems that the Government expected SOMETHING but not what or where.
A definite case of overconfidence…
Ceejay
movietone news had SIX film crews in pearl harbor that day. they knew where, and when.
What source are you relying on for that information?
https://www.virtualmirage.org/
Wrong, fdr had the timing almost to the minute,the islands had been on “invasion watch” for the previous 6 weeks continuously(50 alert, constant air patrol,all money marked,blackout),fdr personally ordered the standdown or the Japanese fleet would have been discovered/sunk and not the same war.
There is much written evidence in several documented studies relating FDR and the actions he instilled to provoke the Japanese. Likewise the decoding machines that we had were only allowed as far west as Hawaii.
Only WWI ships of the line were at Pearl. FDR wanted to enter the war but needed an excuse. The American sentiment was to stay out of the foreign conflicts. He needed a reason to overcome that sentiment. He got it.
I don’t think, or at least I hope, that he estimated the cost.
He was annoyed that the Japs had invaded China, which was a big trading area for US business interests.
He GUARANTEED Japan would attack someone, and the US was high on their list of potential targets due to our large Pacific fleet that could make life difficult for the Japanese military.
For various reasons, the US was the sole supplier of oil to Japan, and when he cut off oil access, he knew they had only an 18 month reserve to run their civil and military needs. The closest oil supply to them was the Dutch East Indies production field and refineries.
That idiot Gen MacArthur made a big deal about his fleet of Flying Fortresses at his Filipino bases being a deterrent to the Japanese, and then he crowded them together just like they did at Pearl Harbor, so they would be easily wiped out by bombing by air.
FDR also had a hand in starting the war in Europe, but that is another story…
Having said all that (and I agree), I find it eternally amazing that Japan imagined attacking Pearl Harbor would somehow lead to victory.
Good read on the attack, with details I hadn’t known ( and I”ve always knew the bastards were up to no good. I mean. Mr. Gold Confiscation, not the Japs ).
*
https://archive.org/stream/TruthAboutPearlHarbourJohnFlynn1945/America,%20Roosevelts%20-%20The%20Truth%20About%20Pearl%20Harbour_djvu.txt
*
Look at how much prep work was done prior to the attack. Not just the US Navy fighting the Krauts earlier that year, as per the above, but the draft, the installation of dams in the West that weren’t utilized until they began smelting aluminum for the war. The Garand. Over 100 universities and a thousand trade schools getting grants to teach “emergency” production skills in factories in 1940. FDR was far too busy for war for it to “accidentally” “without warning” happen. You don’t have to like the Nips to hate FDR more.
Absolutely right, …James
CZ you may have forgotten the previous case-“Remember the Maine”. Where a US Navy ship had a boiler explosion but was successfully portrayed as a attack. Do not forget that we had broken the Japanese code and were decoding faster than they were,knew the fleet had left Japanese waters days before,the attack plans had been stolen from USMC planning(we war gamed it),only half the attack was carried out(third and fourth waves were to destroy fuel/logistics and repair and salvage capabilites) if fully implemented the next 5 years would have been vastly different. Have interviewed 3 attack survivors and all agreed fdr wanted in to the war and sacrificed those men.
I read my history. I’m of the opinion that FDR did everything he could to get us into the war and I have no doubt he knew *something* was gonna happen. Just another reason I dislike him.
the war machine needs to be fed.
The soldiers assigned to guarding the docks after the attack could hear trapped sailors tapping on the hulls of the damaged and overturned ships trying to alert rescuers, nothing could be done to save them.
That is not true. Efforts were made to access the trapped sailors, and a number of them were successful. Not all, of course. There are films and photographs showing some of the actions, and books and magazine articles about those efforts. You can search the web for lots of it.
I’m wondering if the Senators comments about a “First Strike ” nuclear attack against Russia is intended to set us up for a EMP Strike and Cyberwarfare attack. Something about economic disaster and population reduction AKA Georgia Guidestones and World Economic Forum “Cyberwarfare Exercises ” scheduled recently.
Interesting Times as the Chinese curse says.
You might as well quote Chinese sayings now, as China will expect you to be able to quote them – IN CHINESE!
When it comes to threats to the West, China is a bigger danger than Russia, Islam and North Korea combined…
Ceejay