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.”

  

                                                        

  

                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                             

How About Tuesday? Let’s Vote On It

The U.S. Congress decreed in 1845 that the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November would be the official voting date for presidential elections. The law was extended to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1875. It took another 39 years before the uniform date was extended to the U.S. Senate elections.

That totals 69 years of indecision about which day would become the official date to vote in all the national elections. And what about the confusing way the day of the week became Tuesday after the first Monday?

Most states used the decreed date for their own elections long before it was made official in 1845. At the time, it made sense to set the voting date on that November weekday. The country was an agrarian society. Most crops were already harvested by the beginning of November, allowing farmers enough travel time to reach the county seat where most polls were held.

The voting date was kept off the first day of the month. That’s when merchants totaled their incomes for the previous 30 days. Politicians didn’t want the necessary bookkeeping to prevent business owners from voting. They kept the voting time away from the weekend

because people who traveled by horses and carts often spent the night on the road, and they didn’t want to miss the Sabbath.

Weather was another consideration.  The temperatures were mild enough to make traveling over unimproved roads tolerable.

Today’s society offers many conveniences that make the process of voting easy compared to the hardships endured by patriots in the 18th and 19th centuries. Yet the United States ranks pitifully in the percentages of citizens throughout the world who have the privilege of voting.

Fifteen states in the U.S. still have elections only on the one day in November. The percentage of voter participation has increased among the 35 states that offer early voting that extends through weekends. 

Early voting varies from four to 50 days prior to Election Day.

The United States ranks 138 among 172 nations with free elections in the percentage of people who vote. Being too busy and not being able to get time off from work are two of the most mentioned excuses for not voting.

Election Day is a government holiday in Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, West Virginia and the territory of Puerto Rico. California government allows workers two hours off with pay in order to vote.  At least five countries in the free election world give voters a paid holiday on national election days.  

Veterans Day is November 11. Visit here during the first few days of November for information about its origin.  If you enjoy these blog postings, visit my website, www.joevlatino.com, where you can see information about my book of short stories, “The Device.”

Broad Stripes and Bright Stars

The first official U.S. flag had 13 stars representing the original colonies on a blue background. Thirteen stripes alternating in red and white made up the rest of the flag. The number of stripes still numbers thirteen.

There were several variations of the flag that were flown before and after the Continental Congress accepted the official look on June 14, 1777. Some of the variations continued putting the 13 stars in a circle while other versions set the stars into uniform rows.

The red, white and blue colors had been consistent years before the official ruling about the looks of the flag. Many different opinions suggested what each color represented. The meanings of the colors weren’t officially named until the government created the United States Seal.

The Continental Congress authorized an official seal during their historic session on July 4, 1776. It must have been a very busy day as it included the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Creating a seal for the new country might have been an afterthought, but it was as significant a decision as the move to standardize the design of the flag the following year. The final design of the seal was not accepted until six years later on June 20, 1782. That’s when the meanings of the red, white and blue became official.

Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, reported to the Congress why the three colors, the stars and the stripes were used to create the seal:

“White signifies purity, and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; and blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice. The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial. The stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun.”

The same definitions of the elements in the U.S. Seal apply to the country’s flag. Our Founding Fathers must have realized that the U.S. Seal and Old Glory would both function as material representations of the bravery that led to our country’s freedom. Designing them to look similar was an intentional decision.

Several variations of the seal are used in the departments of the United States. The President and the Vice President both have their own seals that identify the Executive Office. The appropriate seal is always positioned on the front of the podium used by the number one and number two top executives.

The Judicial Branch has its own seal as does the Legislative Branch. Each branch of the military has its own distinctive seal. The various seals look similar and are easily recognizable as symbols of the United States.

When a seal is transported, it’s carried in a protective covering and treated with respect. Flags are moved much more often and also require special treatment.

The flag of the United States is folded in a particular way each time it’s lowered. This same procedure is used when a flag is taken off the coffin of a veteran. Then the flag is folded and handed to a family member in its unique form.

When folding a flag in the correct way, it resembles a triangle with only the blue field showing. Tradition holds that the three-corned shape represents hats used by military people throughout the country’s battles during the Revolutionary War and later.

Why is Election Day on the first Tuesday of November? Read the answer in this space during the last week of the month.

Check my website, www.joevlatino.com, for information about my book of short stories, “The Device.” You can also read a piece of flash fiction there.

Columbus Didn’t Know He Discovered the New World

Columbus Day is one of the Monday holidays mandated by the federal government in 1970. It occurs on the second Monday of October that will fall this year on the 13th. Next year the holiday will come on the exact date Christopher Columbus landed on what he thought was the East Indies, 523 years ago on October 12, 1492.

The expedition of three small ships with a crew of 90 men landed at what we now call Haiti in the Dominion Republic. Columbus claimed the land for the King and Queen of Spain. He named it Espanola. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella funded the cost of the voyage after Columbus made several, persistent requests to the Spanish royalty.

A faster way to sail to the East Indies and China was tempting to any nation that wanted to get the spices and gold available there. Spices from the East often were more valuable than gold.  Columbus’ theory was to sail westward across the ocean to reach the riches of the East.

His idea had at least two major flaws. The earth is much larger than he realized, and such a trip would take at least 5,000 miles longer than his calculations indicated. Also, nobody knew about the two land masses that exist across the Atlantic Ocean. Columbus eventually bumped into both of them—North America and South America.

Columbus began his career when he went to sea as a 14-year-old boy.  He became an expert in navigation. As a ship’s captain, he often was credited as having a keen sense of understanding the influences of weather in changing ocean conditions. These abilities helped him make the first trip from Spain across the ocean.

During the two-month trek, the crewmen begged Columbus to turn back. That uncharted part of the ocean was called the Sea of Darkness. Superstitious sailors believed in sea monsters and whirlpools that could swallow ships.  Just two days before making land, some men threatened mutiny.

Columbus held the crew under control by constantly insisting that they would find land in just a few days.  He also explained that only he knew the way home to Spain, and he wasn’t going to turn the ships back.

The expedition landed on an inhabited island in the Bahamas. Natives welcomed the travelers who thought they found the East Indies. In a short ceremony, Columbus claimed the island for Spain. He completely ignored the ownership of the natives, because he needed to start paying tribute to his patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

Columbus and his crew members were welcomed warmly by the natives who gave them food and shelter. The locals wore ornamental gold that was found in shallow mines. Gold had no value to the natives except as jewelry. They eagerly traded the precious metal for feathers and beads.

The Santa Maria, the fleet’s flagship, sank after making landfall. Columbus sailed the two other ships, the Nina and the Pinta, on the trip back to Spain to show the king and queen the spoils from what he was convinced was part of the East Indies. The smaller ships were too crowded and thus prohibited thirty-nine crewmen from leaving. They became the first colony established for Spain.

Columbus was greeted as a hero by the royalty and the populace of Spain. The gold he brought back impressed Ferdinand and Isabella who immediately began assembling an armada of ships to take workers and colonists to the discovered land.

The Spanish travelers landed at the site of the first colony in September, 1493. None of the thirty-nine men survived. They were killed by the native population during an uprising against the harsh rule imposed by the Spanish invaders.

Greedy for gold, the sailors in the colony chained and beat the natives to make them mine more gold. The crew men, greatly outnumbered, were killed. Their bodies were left hanging in trees for Columbus to find. 

Columbus with the soldiers in the new expedition killed hundreds of native men, women and children to revenge the death of the crew. Slavery became the order of the day as Columbus looked to find more gold for Spain. Lives of the native population were regarded as disposable.

The third trip Columbus made from Spain involved his colonizing land in San Salvador in the Bahamas. Again, the Spanish colonists took charge of local natives and demanded gold. The promises of becoming rich from gold discovery were exaggerated, and the Spanish explorers were disillusioned about how rich they could get.

After the third trip from Spain, Columbus came back dishonored and rejected by the king and queen. His health started to deteriorate as he clung to the false belief that he found the route to the East.

One last voyage in 1502 put Columbus in the middle of several uprisings from the numerous colonists that sailed there in the second and third waves of ships. So-called settlers were eager to leave for home.

Ferdinand and Isabella felt compassion for their former hero. They made sure he had enough money to survive. Columbus died in December, 1504. He never stopped insisting that he found the westward route to the riches of the East Indies and China. Ironically, he wasn’t able to realize that his greatest accomplishment was in making the first lasting European exploration, conquest and colonization of The New World.

Thank you for reading this blog. Check this space later this month to read about the meaning of our flag’s colors.

Visitwww.joevlatino.com to read a new piece of flash fiction.  You can also find a link to my book, "The Device."