The Japanese sorely wanted to obliterate America’s ability to defend itself in the Pacific, figuring the best way to do so was to take out our aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor. As shocking as it sounds, the Japanese did us a favor by striking when they did; as terrible as it was, the timing of the attack was fortuitous.
Three carriers—Saratoga, Lexington, and Enterprise—were not at bay. Lexington and Enterprise were busy returning and delivering aircraft to Midway island, respectively. The Saratoga was docked in San Diego.
Had the Japanese more carefully considered the teaching of Greek historian Thucydides they might have waited for better intel. Thucydides warned of the “imponderables,” those things which can’t possibly be foreseen, especially in the midst of conflict. The Japanese thought they were taking one swift master stroke to get us out of the way—in the end they took a horrific punishment for their hubris.
The tide turned in favor of the United States, but not without a brutal price. Hardware and lives were lost but eventually Midway, and the Pacific Rim as a whole, were secured.
An entire nation was stunned, and once that wore off its disbelief turned to outrage. Japanese-Americans were interred. The residual paranoia, the flat-out racism created as a by-product of the attack, still haunts us to this day . . . 69 years later. An author friend of mine, Frances Kakugawa—a Japanese-American, born on the Hawaiin island of Kapoho—still suffers the crucifixion of her mere outward appearance. Despite her many contributions and sheer heart she still gets assailed simply because she’s Japanese. To wit, here is an example of a poem she wrote, inspired by the event:
Under the rising sun,
The enemy came,
Wearing my face.
The Pearl Harbor attack happened when she was very young,. Yet in a personal sense, though she should be equally as thankful for America’s good fortune that day, she lives with the ultimate misfortune of that bygone Japanese empire by virtue of her ancestry.
That the United States came back and hammered Japan into capitulation is something we celebrate, for ultimately it did bring an end to the war. History shows us that democracies do not give up when at war—they typically fight until the bitter end. Certainly this would have been the case in the Pacific. MacArthur was prepared to invade the Japanese mainland, and had, in fact, already invaded Okinawa just prior to the nuclear purging of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bloodletting of such an invasion would have been to the devil’s delight, to the angels’ heartbreak.
We should remember Pearl Harbor for the lessons it teaches, those of fortune amidst loss, and conversely of loss amidst fortune.
I wish to thank Ms. Kakugawa for allowing me to use her poem “The Enemy Wears My Face.”
Please check my blog at:
http://franceskakugawa.wordpress.com
Both our posts seem to complement each other on our views on Pearl Harbor
and war.
Beautiful post, J.W. Reading about war always makes me immensely sad, because it seems like such a huge pointless waste… I know that not many of the big achievements in the world’s governments came about without some sort of war and bloodshed, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about it.
http://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/us-navy/