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  #11  
Old 12-10-2012, 03:21 PM
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Originally Posted by bobabode View Post
Yep. Anyone who thinks that we would have sued for peace with Tojo after the sneak attack on Pearl is not a good student of history. Maybe there is something to some of the conspiracy that we had some advance notice. Our flattops weren't in the barn at the time so I can understand that but no one has been able to find any evidence, so it will remain a mystery. We may have been just lucky.
My grandfather still believes that there was knowledge of the coming attack. He was in the Phillippine Islands and on shore the night before the attack. MPs came and gathered up all the off ship sailors and they promptly steamed away avoiding the impending attack on the PI. He was in the Asiatic Fleet and was in Shanghai back in 1938-9 in close proximity to the invading Japanese. It wasn't unusual for American and Japanese soldiers to be in different bars and bordellos within sight of one another. IIRC, about 3 million Chinese were killed by the Japanese since the 1931 invasion.
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Last edited by bhunter; 12-10-2012 at 03:29 PM.
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  #12  
Old 12-10-2012, 03:35 PM
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Originally Posted by bhunter View Post
My grandfather still believes that there was knowledge of the coming attack. He was in the Phillippine Islands and on shore the night before the attack. MPs came and gathered up all the off ship sailors and they promptly steamed away avoiding the impending attack on the PI. He was in the Asiatic Fleet and was in Shanghai back in 1938-9 in close proximity to the invading Japanese. It wasn't unusual for American and Japanese soldiers to be in different bars and bordellos within sight of one another. IIRC, about 3 million Chinese were killed by the Japanese since the 1931 invasion.
The night before the invasion would have been the night of December 7th, 1941. Pearl Harbor had already been attacked. It's likely that your grandfather was evacuated on the strength of that and perhaps because American PBYs had spotted the invasion fleet headed to the Philippines.

John
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  #13  
Old 12-10-2012, 03:56 PM
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The night before the invasion would have been the night of December 7th, 1941. Pearl Harbor had already been attacked. It's likely that your grandfather was evacuated on the strength of that and perhaps because American PBYs had spotted the invasion fleet headed to the Philippines.

John
I suspect that he was referring to the night before the attack of Pearl Harbor. My grandfather isn't likely to make such an obvious mistake since he wrote about it in real time. The PI was attacked on the 8 December 1941 local time which was hours after the Pearl attack on December 7 local time IIRC. My grandfather asserts that his ship left the PI the night before the Pearl attack which would make it December 6th at Pearl and December 7th in Cavite.
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  #14  
Old 12-10-2012, 04:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Boreas View Post
The night before the invasion would have been the night of December 7th, 1941. Pearl Harbor had already been attacked. It's likely that your grandfather was evacuated on the strength of that and perhaps because American PBYs had spotted the invasion fleet headed to the Philippines.

John
I would think an old shellback with that funny award you get for crossing the International Date Line wouldn't get his dates mixed up unless he was under the thrall of those beauteous Phillipino ladies of the night and rum - at the time.
+1 on the Catalina flying boats (PBY) spotting some funny goings on.

I forget the name of that patrol boat on the Yellow? Pearl? river prior to WW2 but that incident had to be in the fore of any USN GWF sailor's mind leading up to Dec.7th.
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  #15  
Old 12-10-2012, 04:20 PM
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Originally Posted by bhunter View Post
I suspect that he was referring to the night before the attack of Pearl Harbor. My grandfather isn't likely to make such an obvious mistake since he wrote about it in real time. The PI was attacked on the 8 December 1941 local time which was hours after the Pearl attack on December 7 local time IIRC. My grandfather asserts that his ship left the PI the night before the Pearl attack which would make it December 6th at Pearl and December 7th in Cavite.
The date line caught me out. I forgot that the Philippines were on the other side of it.

John
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  #16  
Old 12-10-2012, 04:24 PM
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My Dad, a Navy aircraft mechanic, was part of the recovery crew sent to Pearl, arriving just days after the attack. He spent most of the war there working on battle damaged airplanes. He didn't talk about it much until shortly before his death.

I hate war.

Regards,
Dave
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  #17  
Old 12-10-2012, 04:48 PM
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Originally Posted by BlueStreak View Post
My Dad, a Navy aircraft mechanic, was part of the recovery crew sent to Pearl, arriving just days after the attack. He spent most of the war there working on battle damaged airplanes. He didn't talk about it much until shortly before his death.

I hate war.

Regards,
Dave
I'll bet he had some choice words about the decision to bunch up aircraft on the tarmac to protect them from Hawaiian saboteurs. I would be interested in hearing what he had to say, if you don't mind Dave. Thanks, Bob.
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