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REMEMBER? Pearl Harbor

Just to address the "FDR knew it was going to happen" thing. I've been reading the diaries of FDR's Sec. of the Interior, Harold Ickes. He frequently mentions that they all hoped that GERMANY would create an incident that would give the US an excuse to enter the war. At the same time they all (meaning FDR and his administration) were hoping to avoid war with Japan. People criticize the US for shutting off oil and scrap metal sales to Japan in the weeks leading up to the outbreak of war. In fact FDR was receiving criticism for continuing these sales as long as he did, in an effort to appease the Japanese. Yes, he was trying to appease the japanese. The unbridled aggression of Japan forced even the State Dept to agree to stop these sales in November of 1941.
That war was imminent was obvious to everyone in the world by the end of November 1941. How it would start was another issue. Nobody outside the high level military planners in Japan expected such a ferocious and effective blow as the Pearl Harbor attack, and the subsequent invasions of Malaya and other areas of South East Asia.

The policy of appeasement didn't work well for Chamberlain either.:rolleyes:
 
I read The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. Writing the book took such an emotional toll on her that she suffered a nervous breakdown and after several years of battling depression she committed suicide.

I heard her interviewed on a local radio station soon after she wrote it. She didn't exactly sound thrilled with the facts she met with or her ability to get to the truth very quickly as some people stood in her way of uncovering the truth.:eusa_doh:
 

DeaconKC

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A few years ago we were in Hawaii and went to Pearl Harbor. A truly memorable experience. While on the boat to the Arizona Memorial we were with a bunch of high school students, usual kids, laughing and having fun together. But when we got to the Memorial you could see it hit them too, they were suddenly quiet and reverent. It was really inspiring to see that they "got it" at that point.
 
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I heard her interviewed on a local radio station soon after she wrote it. She didn't exactly sound thrilled with the facts she met with or her ability to get to the truth very quickly as some people stood in her way of uncovering the truth.:eusa_doh:

She was working on a book about the Bataan Death March when she suffered her nervous breakdown. Not too long ago the Chinese erected a statue of her at the Nanjing Memorial.
 

LizzieMaine

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I read The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. Writing the book took such an emotional toll on her that she suffered a nervous breakdown and after several years of battling depression she committed suicide.

More people need to read that book -- every single American who thinks the destruction of Japanese militarism was somehow unnecessary needs to read that book.
 

Kirk H.

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Charlotte NC
My flag is flying today. Pity it's the only one on the street that is.

Mine too. Today at my daughter's school the teacher asked the class if they knew what Pearl Harbor was. My daughter was the only third grader who knew. I am pround of her and at the same time sad and disapointed that others did not.
 

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