December 7, 1941: Japan Uses Element of Surprise

World War II began without warning for the United States on December 7, 1941.  A surprise attack from the Empire of Japan started the war during a beautiful Sunday morning on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, the home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor.

A clear sky with a warm day looming made it promising to spend time outside on a golf course or a tennis court.  Instead of providing for a day of leisure, the weather gave perfect conditions for a flight of fighter airplanes to find their way from an aircraft carrier hundreds of miles off shore.

Minutes before 8 a.m., Japanese fighter planes began dropping specially designed torpedoes into the harbor. The torpedoes were set to run only 35 feet deep to be effective in the shallow water.  Delivered with deadly accuracy, the underwater, powered bombs were fired from the first wave of 83 aircraft sent from one of six aircraft carriers.

An armada of 30 warships including the carriers traveled undetected for thousands of miles from the Land of the Rising Sun.  An attack force of 423 fighter/bomber planes rested on top of the carriers and remained undetected during the attack that lasted less than two hours. The fighters had to fly almost 90 minutes from the carriers to reach Pearl Harbor.

The element of surprise worked perfectly for the Japanese. Their fighters were able to cross several miles of ocean, follow the terrain of the island and find the harbor without any resistance from the Americans.

Ironically, one Army private saw the first wave of planes crossing Oahu. He and another soldier were manning a remote radar station. It was used to give advanced warning to the U.S. Fleet of possible enemy planes. When he saw the large flight of planes on the radar screen, he called in the sighting. The radar intelligence office instructed the soldier to ignore them. The radar blips, the officer said, were a flight of B-17 bombers that were expected to fly into Hawaii that morning.

Eight U.S. battleships were stationed in the harbor.  All of them were damaged by torpedoes.  The Arizona and the Oklahoma were destroyed.  Six battleships eventually returned to service after repairs.

The Arizona sank with 1,000 men on board. A memorial of a white concrete and steel structure spans the hull of the sunken ship. It was dedicated on May 30, 1962, to honor the Americans who died in the attacks in 1941.

More than 180 American aircraft were destroyed. Few American planes left the ground. Clustered in tight groups on the airfield, they were sitting ducks for Japanese bombs and machine guns.

The second wave of planes left the attacking carriers with the intent of damaging other ships and shipyard facilities.  Storage tanks holding thousands of gallons of fuel were targeted by the invading planes, but the precious gasoline was not destroyed.

The prime targets wanted by the Japanese consisted of the three Pacific Fleet carriers—the Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga.  Fortunately, the U.S. aircraft carriers were on maneuvers, many miles from Pearl Harbor. They were safe from the invasion.

By 9:45 a.m., the Japanese inflicted enough damage to cripple the U.S. fleet.  The attackers’ original plan was to send in a third wave of planes to finish off the remaining equipment and the vital fuel supply on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese admirals argued about continuing the attack, because they didn’t know how close the missing American aircraft carriers were to Hawaii. The Japanese had plenty of airplanes and ammunition to complete the attack against the U.S., but the admirals made a mistake in leaving without finishing the job.

The United States government and the government of Great Britain declared war against Imperial Japan the next day.  On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the announcement to a joint session of Congress that the United States was going to war. 

The war would surely have lasted longer if the Japanese had taken their element of surprise to the next level and wiped out Pearl Harbor. Most historians agree that the end of the war would have taken longer but still have the same results even if the attack on Pearl Harbor had been more destructive.

One leader of the Japanese Navy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was the main officer in the attack on Pearl Harbor.  While the armada retreated from American waters he described the situation best in facing the United States entering the new war:

“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

Thank you for reading this blog. Visit this site again in December for another interesting subject. Look for my website, www.joevlatino.com, for information about my book “The Device.” A sample short story can be read there.  

First Thanksgiving held in 1621 or 1623?

The Pilgrims established their first colony in Plymouth, MA, in 1620. They built homes, storage buildings and a church during the first year of their arrival in the New World. By the time the cold, fall season set in, they decided it was time to celebrate.

From its beginning, Thanksgiving was a holiday affected by politics and disagreements of its official place in American history.

About 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians gathered sometime in November of 1621, the exact date is unknown, to celebrate the success of the colony. This was more of a political move on the part of the Pilgrims than what they considered a thanksgiving. A strict religious group, the Pilgrims believed that a thanksgiving was a gathering that included prayers and worship of God.

The Pilgrim leaders wanted to use the 1621 celebration as a way to cement the military alliance between them and the natives who undoubtedly saved them from starvation. The Wampanoag Indians showed the Pilgrims how to kill game for food and cultivate the land for crops. Massoasoit, supreme chief or king of the Wampanoag people, attended the celebration that lasted at least three days. William Bradford, the English governor, also was there.

The Pilgrim women didn’t attend the feast. Only the men participated in the several days of socializing and eating with the Indians. The women were delegated to cook the numerous meals consumed during the celebration. The two cultures exchanged gifts and played games.

All the celebrating was done outdoors. They didn’t sit at long tables that are often depicted in paintings and drawings. Most people at the celebration stood up to eat or sat leaning against trees. At night the Pilgrims went to their homes. The natives were left to sleep outside.

During the second day of feasting, the Pilgrims conducted a shooting contest among themselves. Some historians surmise the Pilgrims wanted to impress the Indians with their match-lock rifles that were loud and spewed large clouds of smoke from the black powder they used. This could have been a show of superiority by the Pilgrims who were concerned about the advantage of the American Indians who greatly outnumbered the new colonists.  

Two years later, Governor William Bradford declared the community hold a thanksgiving gathering that included all members of the group. As expected, the women still had to do the cooking. The second Thanksgiving in 1623 included religious celebrations, and the colonists used the time to thank God for their success in the New World. The 1621 celebration is usually the one recognized as the first Thanksgiving. After all, it did concentrate on eating and having fun rather than holding religious functions.
 

Turkey wasn’t on the menu for the Pilgrims. The bird didn’t become a staple part of Thanksgiving Day feasts for another 300 years. Wild duck was plentiful and a popular food the Pilgrims ate regularly. They also ate roots, squash, carrots, peas and corn that they grew themselves. Migrating fowl of several types were plentiful in the autumn. Lobster, mussels, clams and several kinds of fish were eaten at the feasts. The forest provided walnuts and chestnuts.

Fresh corn wasn’t available in the cold autumn and only dried corn was on the Thanksgiving menu. The Wampanoag guests provided a favorite of theirs called sobaheg. Sobaheg is a stewed mix of dried corn, roots, beans, squash and chunks of meat. Pumpkins grew wild but pies didn’t exist. 

Cranberries were available, but only in their natural form. Cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes were not invented yet. The friendly Indians provided several deer to the original feast. Venison was readily available and was a favorite food for the locals and the Pilgrims.

The first attempt to nationalize the Thanksgiving holiday occurred in 1789 when President George Washington proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. He issued his request on October 3^rd of that year. It didn’t become a national holiday until later.

Hoping to use any means to unify the country that was at the beginning of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed in 1861 that government offices would close on the fourth Thursday of November to celebrate Thanksgiving. The holiday became a national observance on Oct. 3, 1863. Prior to that, each state government scheduled its own celebration at different times in November.

Politics influenced the celebration period of Thanksgiving again in 1939. President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to move the holiday one week earlier to encourage citizens to begin their Christmas buying season sooner. The country was ending its worst economic decade, and the president thought the extra spending would help the weakened economy.

 Many state governments objected to the date change. Congress acted during a time of great turmoil in American history to move the official day back to its origin. On December 26, 1941, just 19 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor that pushed the country into World War II, Thanksgiving was moved by law to its permanent place on the fourth Thursday. It became a calming effect on a very nervous population that was facing what became a world war.

Thanksgiving is often considered the favorite national holiday. It doesn’t have the pressure of buying gifts to exchange with family and friends. And it’s a quick holiday that doesn’t extend past two weekdays.

Thanks for reading this blog. Check here at the end of the month for another interesting topic. You can check my website at www.joevlatino.com where you can get information about my book of short stories, “The Device"

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Number Eleven Meaningful to Veterans Day

Veterans Day is on November 11th. It began on that date as Armistice Day in 1919 to celebrate the first anniversary of the ending of what was then called The Great War. We now know it as World War I.

Communities across the country celebrated with parades and flag waving after President Woodrow Wilson recognized the significance of the war’s end with a proclamation on the first anniversary. Congress enacted a resolution in 1926 to make Armistice Day an annual observance but not a holiday.

In 1938 it became a national, legal holiday. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed in 1954 that the holiday would be known as Veterans Day and would honor all military people who participated in any American wars and military actions.

In 1971 Veterans Day became one of the Monday holidays until President Gerald Ford moved it back in 1978 to its original November date. Several state governments and veterans groups objected to the change from the original date that spotlighted the number 11.

The number 11 was repeated when The Great War ended on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month. An armistice or truce was signed by representatives of the German government in the private railroad car of one of the French commanders. The historical importance of that date spotlighted by the coincidence of the number 11 encouraged many citizens to reject the three-day weekend. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs released estimates of the numbers of people who participated in various wars and the approximate number of survivors. These estimates are about four years old, but they demonstrate how many Americans were involved.  

Several thousand veterans from World War II are dying each month. They are entitled to military funerals, and the government has to search into reserve units to meet the demand. The official figures show that 16, 113,000 servicemen and servicewomen participated in that war. The number of survivors numbers about 1,000,000.

In Korea, about 5,720,000 service people were involved. Survivors number less than 1,900,000.

The Vietnam War veterans number about 7,560,000 people. The numbers of veterans who served and many who still serve in global conflicts number in the millions.

These numbers show why the theme of Veterans Day now includes peacetime as well as during times of war.

Memorial Day is a three day, weekend holiday. It falls on the last Monday of May. It’s different from Veterans Day because it celebrates the military people who died during battle. Veterans Day, originating from the end of the First World War, honors all military people dead and alive.

Thank you for viewing this blog. The origins of Thanksgiving will be revealed in this space later this month. Look at my website at www.joevlatino.com for information about my book of short stories, “The Device.”