Pearl Harbor | My Good Time Stories

Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941.

There was a spirit of despair, dejection, and defeat—you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war.

On Christmas Day, 1941, Admiral 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 everywhere you looked.

As the boat returned to the dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, “Well, Admiral, what do you think after seeing all of 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 you mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make?”

Nimitz replied:

“Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked on a Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were shore on leave. If those ships had been lured to sea and had been sunk—we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,8000.

Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined up 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 everyone of those ships to America to get repaired.

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.”

~ Author Unknown

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Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else only saw 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 tour national motto is “IN GOD WE TRUST”

Lest we never forget our soldiers and heroes from the past and our courageous military personnel of today.

Thank you to all our military personal for the sacrifices that you have made for the freedom that we enjoy today.

Happy Veteran’s Day!

Photo Credit: via WikiMedia

Today, December 7, 2014, is the 73^rd Anniversary of the day which President Franklin Roosevelt declared, “a day that will live in infamy”, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. During that fateful day, more than 2,300 people were killed and over another 1,100 individuals were wounded. One day later, the United States declared war on Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on America…placing America right in the middle of World War 2.

I decided to do something a little different today and list some interesting and fascinating facts about this tragic day. I am sure that you will learn some new details that will present you some further insight and give you a deeper appreciation of what our military personnel faced that day.

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The Japanese reportedly had intended to declare war prior to the attack. However, the message never got to the President.*

The entire attack lasted just under two hours, 110 minutes.

The Japanese also used submarines, including smaller ones called midget submarines, in the attack.*

The Japanese only lost 64 people that day.

When the USS Arizona was destroyed, it took with it, the lives of 1,177 servicemen.

The reason for choosing the attack on a Sunday morning was because the Japanese felt that Americans would be less alert on a weekend. Many U.S. servicemen were having their morning breakfast when the Japanese aircraft hit the U.S. Naval base. **

Eighteen ships, including five battleships, were sunk and 188 aircraft were destroyed while another 159 others damaged. The Japanese only lost 29 aircraft, five midget submarines and just 64 men.***

Although the Japanese aerial attack was very successful, their submarines failed to finish off any wounded ship inside the harbor.#

A U.S. army private who noticed the large flight of planes on his radar screen was told to ignore them because a flight of B-17’s from the continental US was expected at the time.#

Twenty-three sets of brothers died aboard the USS Arizona.##

The USS Arizona’s entire band was lost in the attack. It is the only time in American history that an entire military band had died in battle.##

The USS Arizona, the division 1 battleship docked at Pearl Harbor, is still leaking fuel. The ship had filled up her massive 1.5 million gallon tank the day before the attack. While much of the fuel was burned up in fires from the attack, experts say as much as 9 quarts leaks into the water daily. ###

Lt. Annie Fox was the first woman to receive a Purple Heart for being wounded in action and her leadership during the attack.###

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*Ducksters.com http://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_ii/pearl_harbor_attack.php

**Facts Barn.com – http://www.factsbarn.com/facts-about-pearl-harbor/

***Learnodo-newtonic.com – http://learnodo-newtonic.com/pearl-harbor-facts

# Erikanderson.net – http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/facts.html

##History.com – http://www.history.com/news/5-facts-about-pearl-harbor-and-the-uss-arizona

### Fallenheroesfund.org – http://fallenheroesfund.org/News-and-Blog/IFHF-Blog/5-Little-Known-Facts-About-Pearl-Harbor.aspx?sf34261619=1

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