Visit our Popular Forums

urnmor · 12-07-2017, 07:52 PM

A Day Of Infamy
A friend sent this to me so I thought I would repost as I found it interesting reading. Sunday, December 7th, 1941--Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington D.C. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat--you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters every where you looked. As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, "Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?" Admiral Nimitz's reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice. Admiral Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America. Which do you think it was?" Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, "What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?" Nimitz explained: Mistake number one : the Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk--we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800. Mistake number two : when the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships. Mistake number three : every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America. Any way you look at it--Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism. President Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job. We desperately needed a leader that could see silver linings in the midst of the clouds of dejection, despair and defeat. There is a reason that our national motto is, IN GOD WE TRUST.

PaulnGina · 12-07-2017, 07:58 PM

Thank you for that.

Kids coming out of the screwll system these days probably cannot tell you the significance of today.

Shiny16 · 12-07-2017, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulnGina

Thank you for that.

Kids coming out of the screwll system these days probably cannot tell you the significance of today.

Most probably could not tell you the significance of jul 8th 1853 either.

cwf · 12-07-2017, 08:38 PM

Buy 8, 1853..
Commodore Matthew C. Perry sails his frigate Susquehanna into Tokyo Bay, opening Japan to Western influence and trade..

It took a lot of misery for it to work out to what we have today.. both sides have blame and credit..

Shiny16 · 12-07-2017, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwf

Buy 8, 1853..
Commodore Matthew C. Perry sails his frigate Susquehanna into Tokyo Bay, opening Japan to Western influence and trade..

It took a lot of misery for it to work out to what we have today.. both sides have blame and credit..

I never learned anything about that in school. As tragic as Pearl Harbor was I would like to see a complete history taught in school.

rmkrum · 12-07-2017, 10:30 PM

Nimitz was one hell of a smart guy....that’s why his statue is in front of the USS Missouri. That battleship’s deck is where the surrender documents were signed.

It took me almost 40 years to set foot in Pearl Harbor and give proper respect to those heros. I was there on Memorial Day, appropriately. We also visited the USS Arizona monument.

It is a very special place....rest in peace, shipmates.

PaulnGina · 12-07-2017, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Nimitz was one hell of a smart guy....that’s why his statue is in front of the USS Missouri. That battleship’s deck is where the surrender documents were signed.

It took me almost 40 years to set foot in Pearl Harbor and give proper respect to those heros. I was there on Memorial Day, appropriately. We also visited the USS Arizona monument.

It is a very special place....rest in peace, shipmates.

I was in Hawaii and at the USS Arizona Memorial as a teenager back in 1976. I still remember the feeling of looking at the remains of that ship, the oil still seeping out, and thinking of those who lost their live, and those entombed there.

21Airstream · 12-07-2017, 11:42 PM

As an amateur historian (and Army veteran) I’ve come to the conclusion that Adm. Nimitz was one of the finest military leaders this country has ever produced.

I was raised by a career diesel boat submariner (Chief Machinist Mate) so I might be a little biased but I do believe Adm. Nimitz’s reputation has survived the test of time.

I also remember my late father (the Chief) also had a great deal of respect for Rear Adm. Dan Gallery.

mimiandrews · 12-08-2017, 05:06 AM

I recommend the Museum of the Pacific War in Adm. Nimitz's home town of Fredericksburg,
TX. I got to go there a couple of years ago while visiting Airstream friends in the area. It is well done.

rmkrum · 12-08-2017, 10:29 PM

Admiral Dan Gallery is one of my favorite authors and heroes. His story of his days in command of the USS Guadalcanal and the capture of U-505 is a ripping great tale. His other ‘sea stories’ are also great stuff.

I toured the U-505 as a kid growing up in Chicago. It’s a fascinating story.

21Airstream · 12-09-2017, 04:39 AM

Visiting Adm. Nimitz’s home (& the rest of Fredericksburg) is on our “to do list”.

cwf · 12-09-2017, 08:52 PM

Yup... amazing how a German descendant from my up in the Hill Country was able to become such a gifted leader. God had his hand on him for sure.

21Airstream · 12-09-2017, 10:06 PM

Amen.

Pretty ironic that Adm. Nimitz defended Adm. Donitz’s used of unrestricted submarine warfare (something our Navy also practiced) during the war. Says a lot about Adm. Nimitz’s character...