“We must somehow maneuver them into firing the first shot.” President Roosevelt declared prior to the outbreak of World War II.
The “them” he referred to—none other than a vital part of the Axis seeking control of the Pacific–The Japanese.
Crippled by the isolationist American public and Congress, who refused to enter another war, the Commander in Chief of the armed forces straddled the fine line of support for the British, Canadians, Dutch, known as the ABCD, and his duty to his public.
The Japanese must fire the first shot!
Without a doubt, this aggressive action would anger our sleeping country and insight Congress to declare war. But how to accomplish this task without the U.S. firing first? [Read more…] about Firing the First Shot – World War II
As the 353 Japanese aircraft rained death and destruction across the Island of Oahu, Takeo Yoshikawa, using his alias of vice-counsel Tadashi Morimura, was hurriedly burning his implicating files inside the Japanese Consulate on Nuuanu Avenue. The 13,400-square-foot grounds of the Japanese consulate, in a well-to-do neighborhood, displayed a gold imperial chrysanthemum crest outside the two-story main building where the smoke billowed from the chimney, as the pile of incriminating evidence was destroyed.