Compared to the last few years, I feel that my work ethic has improved, not just in this English class but in all aspects of my life. This semester, I put a great amount of effort into all of my work. If I had any confusion about any assignment, I came to my teacher with my questions and didn’t wait until the last minute. Every assignment I was given, I completed on time or before it was actually due. Organization has always been difficult but this year I have really tried to keep everything organized and stay on track. Since the CU Succeed class was on Monday nights, I always started my assignment for this English class on Tuesday whether it was the research portion or the writing part. I think I have shown that I am capable of being a much better student that I have been in the past. I know that part of this improvement is because of the knowledge that “this is my last chance,” but some of the change for the better is due to maturity.
Reading comprehension has always been a difficult thing for me and as this semester passed, it appeared to be easier. I do not like to read and rarely do for pleasure, but as I got more into my subject, it became less of a chore to do. Writing is also not my favorite activity but I really was interested in Pearl Harbor so it didn’t seem so bad. Some of the assignments were tough, like the poem. I hate poetry so that was a hard assignment for me to do. It helped that my teacher provided possible questions to ask in the blogs about the movie and web site review because I would have experienced a more difficult time with that type of writing. Reading the non-fiction book Day Of Infamy,
was tough, I did not enjoy it at all. However, reading the reference material on web-sites, articles and portions of other historical accounts of Pearl Harbor were easy and somewhat enjoyable. My reading skills have definitely improved from this semester’s experience. I am a slow reader and I used to dread having to read anything which made things worse for me. My biggest challenge is in writing as I do not have much confidence in what I put down on paper, but I think there are improvements there too.
What I will keep from my research this semester is that there are usually two sides to every story and sometimes, the truth is not what you have always been told. One piece of information that I found that has made an impression on me is that our government will basically lie or with hold the truth from us to get what they want. Unfortunately, that costs human lives at times. Pearl Harbor really has nothing to do with what my future plans are, but I am still interested in this subject and I know that I will continue to follow articles or public information on this. I do not feel any differently about Pearl Harbor, I have always believed the United States was not surprised by the Japanese attack and the more I read and researched, the stronger my belief became. Overall, I am very glad that I chose my topic, it kept me interested and there was enough information for me to write about it for an entire semester.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Book Review
Day Of Infamy
By Author Walter Lord
Day Of Infamy was written by the author Walter Lord who was famous for his historical books. Lord died in 2002 at 84 after first having a career as an advertising executive and then an author. Some of his most well known books are on the sinking of the Titanic, Pearl Harbor, the Alamo, and the War of 1812. Mr. Lord combined historical research and interviews with survivors or witnesses to the events he wrote about. Lord interviewed 577 witnesses to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and used the 40 volumes from the U.S. Congressional investigation as well as the documents from the War Records Depository. He was known to be meticulous in his research and was an “inspiration” to many authors of historical stories and biographies, according to David McCullough, author of the recent popular biography on John Adams in a New York Times story on Walter Lord’s death. Lord is definitely an author who is trustworthy and accurate, he had no biases when writing this account on the Pearl Harbor bombing and no person or group sponsored or endorsed Day Of Infamy. The critic from the Chicago Sunday Tribune stated, “A behind the scenes story that is utterly fascinating,” while author James Michener, critic for the New York Times said the book “stuns the reader with the weight of reality.” The Atlantic Monthly review states that, “the carefully planned hour by hour recording of the Pearl Harbor assault is as engrossing as the story of the sinking of the Titanic and more harrowing.”
Walter Lord’s purpose in writing Day Of Infamy was to preserve the events of that horrible day in the words of those who witnessed the attack and to show the shock, anger, and fear of those present. There had been many earlier books and articles written on the subject of Pearl Harbor, but none of them detailed the minute by minute actions of civilian witnesses, soldiers and their families like this book does. Mr. Lord was very successful at putting together everyone’s story on a timeline. As an example:
“At 7:02, Elliot sat down and began to fiddle with the controls…a large blip
came across the machine and he thought it was broken, but there was nothing
wrong, it was just a huge flight of planes.” “At 7:03, the destroyer Ward
picked up a sub on her sound apparatus.” At 7:45, Lieutenant Commander
H.P. McCrimmon was sitting with his feet on his desk” (Lord 45 & 57).
Day Of Infamy was written in a mixture of styles. It has mainly expository text with some narrative and dialogue mixed in. The structure of the book was set up with events in chronological order on the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the writing was very descriptive so the reader got a mental picture of what the author was describing. For example:
Thirteen year old James B. Mann Jr. stood with his father squinting at the planes that
circled high above their beach house on the northwest coast of Oahu. The Manns liked
to come to the house for a restful weekend, but this morning there was no rest at all.
First the planes set off their two pug dogs; then the barking woke the family up. Mrs.
Mann thought it might be that lieutenant Underwood from Wheeler Field – he was
always buzzing the beach- but Mr. Mann and Junior quickly discovered that it was a
much bigger show. More than 100 planes were orbiting about, gradually breaking
up into smaller groups of three, five and seven. Soon several fighters dropped down
low enough for junior to observe, “They changed the color of our planes” (Lord 49).
The structure of the book did not help in the comprehension of the story, however. This was a difficult account to follow. There were so many different characters and locations talked about that it was impossible to remember who the character was when they came up in the story again. Mr. Lord interviewed hundreds of witnesses for this account of that awful day and it appears he put every one of their part of the story in the book.
The author makes no conclusions and there are really no main points discussed, this is just an accurate eye-witness account of the events of December 7, 1941. Lord begins the book with a short few chapters on the Japanese process of planning for the attack and what they did to follow through. The book comes to a close with the accounts of wives and families of those stationed on Pearl Harbor who waited for news of their soldier husband or father. It also speaks of the many who volunteered their services at the hospital to help with the wounded and ends finally with President Roosevelt’s speech about the “day that will live in infamy”(Lord 209). This book is facts only, no opinions from the author.
Lord’s Day of Infamy is tied directly to my subject, which was the attack on Pearl Harbor and it certainly helped me become more knowledgeable of the events of that day. However, there was nothing about the book that I enjoyed. It was very difficult to read because as stated before, there were too many characters doing too many things. A person might be on page 42 and not appear again until page188 and I could not remember who he or she was or what they were doing originally. I would recommend this book for anyone who is writing a report about Pearl Harbor because there are some good quotes and statistics within it, but it is definitely not a book to read for fun.
By Author Walter Lord
Day Of Infamy was written by the author Walter Lord who was famous for his historical books. Lord died in 2002 at 84 after first having a career as an advertising executive and then an author. Some of his most well known books are on the sinking of the Titanic, Pearl Harbor, the Alamo, and the War of 1812. Mr. Lord combined historical research and interviews with survivors or witnesses to the events he wrote about. Lord interviewed 577 witnesses to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and used the 40 volumes from the U.S. Congressional investigation as well as the documents from the War Records Depository. He was known to be meticulous in his research and was an “inspiration” to many authors of historical stories and biographies, according to David McCullough, author of the recent popular biography on John Adams in a New York Times story on Walter Lord’s death. Lord is definitely an author who is trustworthy and accurate, he had no biases when writing this account on the Pearl Harbor bombing and no person or group sponsored or endorsed Day Of Infamy. The critic from the Chicago Sunday Tribune stated, “A behind the scenes story that is utterly fascinating,” while author James Michener, critic for the New York Times said the book “stuns the reader with the weight of reality.” The Atlantic Monthly review states that, “the carefully planned hour by hour recording of the Pearl Harbor assault is as engrossing as the story of the sinking of the Titanic and more harrowing.”
Walter Lord’s purpose in writing Day Of Infamy was to preserve the events of that horrible day in the words of those who witnessed the attack and to show the shock, anger, and fear of those present. There had been many earlier books and articles written on the subject of Pearl Harbor, but none of them detailed the minute by minute actions of civilian witnesses, soldiers and their families like this book does. Mr. Lord was very successful at putting together everyone’s story on a timeline. As an example:
“At 7:02, Elliot sat down and began to fiddle with the controls…a large blip
came across the machine and he thought it was broken, but there was nothing
wrong, it was just a huge flight of planes.” “At 7:03, the destroyer Ward
picked up a sub on her sound apparatus.” At 7:45, Lieutenant Commander
H.P. McCrimmon was sitting with his feet on his desk” (Lord 45 & 57).
Day Of Infamy was written in a mixture of styles. It has mainly expository text with some narrative and dialogue mixed in. The structure of the book was set up with events in chronological order on the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the writing was very descriptive so the reader got a mental picture of what the author was describing. For example:
Thirteen year old James B. Mann Jr. stood with his father squinting at the planes that
circled high above their beach house on the northwest coast of Oahu. The Manns liked
to come to the house for a restful weekend, but this morning there was no rest at all.
First the planes set off their two pug dogs; then the barking woke the family up. Mrs.
Mann thought it might be that lieutenant Underwood from Wheeler Field – he was
always buzzing the beach- but Mr. Mann and Junior quickly discovered that it was a
much bigger show. More than 100 planes were orbiting about, gradually breaking
up into smaller groups of three, five and seven. Soon several fighters dropped down
low enough for junior to observe, “They changed the color of our planes” (Lord 49).
The structure of the book did not help in the comprehension of the story, however. This was a difficult account to follow. There were so many different characters and locations talked about that it was impossible to remember who the character was when they came up in the story again. Mr. Lord interviewed hundreds of witnesses for this account of that awful day and it appears he put every one of their part of the story in the book.
The author makes no conclusions and there are really no main points discussed, this is just an accurate eye-witness account of the events of December 7, 1941. Lord begins the book with a short few chapters on the Japanese process of planning for the attack and what they did to follow through. The book comes to a close with the accounts of wives and families of those stationed on Pearl Harbor who waited for news of their soldier husband or father. It also speaks of the many who volunteered their services at the hospital to help with the wounded and ends finally with President Roosevelt’s speech about the “day that will live in infamy”(Lord 209). This book is facts only, no opinions from the author.
Lord’s Day of Infamy is tied directly to my subject, which was the attack on Pearl Harbor and it certainly helped me become more knowledgeable of the events of that day. However, there was nothing about the book that I enjoyed. It was very difficult to read because as stated before, there were too many characters doing too many things. A person might be on page 42 and not appear again until page188 and I could not remember who he or she was or what they were doing originally. I would recommend this book for anyone who is writing a report about Pearl Harbor because there are some good quotes and statistics within it, but it is definitely not a book to read for fun.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Poem
In the 1930’s, Japan was waging war.
Trying to expand their conquests,
Throughout the Pacific shores.
The United States became irate,
And blocked supplies and ended Japan’s take.
Japan in return, schemed and planned,
An attack on the United States land.
In 1941, December 7,
The first Japanese missiles
Rained down from the heavens.
In little more than an hour,
The damage was done.
The naval fleet was destroyed,
The Japanese thought they’d won.
They had no idea the battle had just begun.
Trying to expand their conquests,
Throughout the Pacific shores.
The United States became irate,
And blocked supplies and ended Japan’s take.
Japan in return, schemed and planned,
An attack on the United States land.
In 1941, December 7,
The first Japanese missiles
Rained down from the heavens.
In little more than an hour,
The damage was done.
The naval fleet was destroyed,
The Japanese thought they’d won.
They had no idea the battle had just begun.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Atomic Bombings
Prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japan had begun their attempt to create an Asian empire. They seized Manchuria and moved into Indochina and were getting ready to attempt a take over in the Philippines and Malaya. Japan also had plans to seize smaller islands throughout the Pacific, such as Thailand, Borneo, Burma and the Marshall Islands. The reason behind Japan’s blatant plans for expanding their country’s rule was that the population was growing too large for the small islands of Japan; they lacked the resources and were importing nearly everything needed to support their economy. Because of their aggressive actions against these smaller nations, the United States imposed sanctions upon Japanese by not allowing the needed imports into Japan (Bard 130).
The Japanese attack on the American shores of Pearl Harbor came about due to Japan’s anger at the sanctions and the United States demand that they withdraw from China (Bard 130). The American President, Harry Truman, decided to retaliate and use the newly developed atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The thought at the time was that the United States attack on Japan was necessary in order to stop the Japanese from further expanding their conquest in the Pacific and any lesser action would not have sufficed. After researching the subject, I have come to disagree with this statement. Instead, it was unnecessary and unethical for the United States to use atomic weapons against a country that had been making attempts to surrender, whose naval fleets had already been destroyed, and who had no resources to conduct a full fledged war.
America did not exhaust all possible means for ending the war before launching those bombs. President Truman knew that the Japanese had been negotiating with Stalin and the Russians for months to help them negotiate an end to the war. The United States was aware of this because we had deciphered the Japanese codes (Freeman 2). Japan was in trouble at this time, their government was divided and their resources were diminished because they could not get supplies to their military due to the sanctions against them (Boyer 2).
The United States demanded total and unconditional surrender from Japan, but the Japanese wanted to keep their Emperor. They viewed their Emperor as a “divine being, a direct descendent of the goddess of the sun” (Raico 3). The Japanese people did not want to witness him tried as a war criminal and hanged.
Another often quoted reason for the need to drop the atomic bomb on the two Japanese cities was that is was crucial to save millions of American lives. However, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the allied Forces in Europe and future President of the United States stated that “Japan was already defeated and dropping those bombs was completely unnecessary” (Freeman 1). Even Chief of Staff to President Truman, Admiral William D. Leahy said that “the use of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan; the Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender” (Freeman 2).
Ethically America could not justify the retaliation against 200,000 innocent men, women and children. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, a military base; we destroyed two cities full of innocent civilians. Our President tried to argue that the Japanese military was violent and brutal and therefore so was the entire country. Propaganda films were shown in theaters all over the United States that encouraged prejudice and racial hatred against the Japanese to help sway the American people to agree (Raico 1).
Even though Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, killing over 2000 people and nearly destroyed our entire Navel fleet, the United States should not have used the atomic bomb on innocent people in retaliation. This was unethical because no matter how devastating an attack on our country was, it does not call for the destruction and deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
Sources:
Bard, Mitchell. World War II. Penguin Group: New York. 2004.
Boyer, Paul S. “Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity-Hiroshima.” Enotes. 11 Dec.
2008.
Freeman, Robert. “Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Necessary?” Newscenter. 08 Dec.
2008. http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0806-25.htm.
Raico, Ralph. “Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Ludwig von Mises Institute. 06 Aug. 2004.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/raico22.html.
The Japanese attack on the American shores of Pearl Harbor came about due to Japan’s anger at the sanctions and the United States demand that they withdraw from China (Bard 130). The American President, Harry Truman, decided to retaliate and use the newly developed atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The thought at the time was that the United States attack on Japan was necessary in order to stop the Japanese from further expanding their conquest in the Pacific and any lesser action would not have sufficed. After researching the subject, I have come to disagree with this statement. Instead, it was unnecessary and unethical for the United States to use atomic weapons against a country that had been making attempts to surrender, whose naval fleets had already been destroyed, and who had no resources to conduct a full fledged war.
America did not exhaust all possible means for ending the war before launching those bombs. President Truman knew that the Japanese had been negotiating with Stalin and the Russians for months to help them negotiate an end to the war. The United States was aware of this because we had deciphered the Japanese codes (Freeman 2). Japan was in trouble at this time, their government was divided and their resources were diminished because they could not get supplies to their military due to the sanctions against them (Boyer 2).
The United States demanded total and unconditional surrender from Japan, but the Japanese wanted to keep their Emperor. They viewed their Emperor as a “divine being, a direct descendent of the goddess of the sun” (Raico 3). The Japanese people did not want to witness him tried as a war criminal and hanged.
Another often quoted reason for the need to drop the atomic bomb on the two Japanese cities was that is was crucial to save millions of American lives. However, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the allied Forces in Europe and future President of the United States stated that “Japan was already defeated and dropping those bombs was completely unnecessary” (Freeman 1). Even Chief of Staff to President Truman, Admiral William D. Leahy said that “the use of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan; the Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender” (Freeman 2).
Ethically America could not justify the retaliation against 200,000 innocent men, women and children. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, a military base; we destroyed two cities full of innocent civilians. Our President tried to argue that the Japanese military was violent and brutal and therefore so was the entire country. Propaganda films were shown in theaters all over the United States that encouraged prejudice and racial hatred against the Japanese to help sway the American people to agree (Raico 1).
Even though Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, killing over 2000 people and nearly destroyed our entire Navel fleet, the United States should not have used the atomic bomb on innocent people in retaliation. This was unethical because no matter how devastating an attack on our country was, it does not call for the destruction and deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
Sources:
Bard, Mitchell. World War II. Penguin Group: New York. 2004.
Boyer, Paul S. “Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity-Hiroshima.” Enotes. 11 Dec.
2008.
Freeman, Robert. “Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Necessary?” Newscenter. 08 Dec.
2008. http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0806-25.htm.
Raico, Ralph. “Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Ludwig von Mises Institute. 06 Aug. 2004.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/raico22.html.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Annotated Bibliography
Bard, Mitchell. World War II. New York: Alpha Books, 2004.
This book offers a significant amount of information on the events that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan and the United State’s reaction to the attack and their entrance into WWII.
There is a great deal of background detail presented which is helpful to someone who is searching for the cause or the events prior to Pearl Harbor. This source is very reliable and is unbiased. The section on Pearl Harbor gives both sides of the story, telling about some of the early warnings and how the government ignored them.
I used this source to assist in my research because it had accurate figures of damage done to the United States Navel fleet and deaths. It has not changed the way I feel about my topic, it has reinforced my feeling that our government knew the Japanese were planning this attack.
“Timeline Pearl Harbor.” Pearl Harbor Remembered. Pearl Harbor Survivors
Association. 25 Jan. 2005.
The website offers a minute by minute account of December 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The account begins at 3:42 AM when a periscope is spotted in Honolulu Harbor.
This source is very reliable as the timeline is written from military documents that were recorded at the times the events occurred. It is unbiased, just tells the facts of the day as they happened.
This document did not help me much with my research other than to confirm the schedule of the day’s events.
Willey, Mark. Pearl Harbor Mother of All Conspiracies. 19 Jan. 2005.
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/pearl.html.
The website “Pearl Harbor- Mother of All Conspiracies” is the epitome of an effective website for those individuals who believe in a conspiracy surrounding Pearl Harbor. This website, created by the author, Mark Willey, contains an excerpt from the first chapter of his book, Mother of Conspiracies. The author’s statements are credible and accurate. He quotes from public documents from the Navy Court of Inquiry, the Army Board Report and the Joint Congressional Committee Report. Although Mark Willey’s writing is credible, and he utilizes trustworthy sources for his information, the author is biased. Mr. Willey is adamant that there was a conspiracy between the United States government and Pearl Harbor. He does not speak about both sides of the issue. This website helped in my research because I agree that there was a conspiracy.
Lord, Walter. Day of Infamy. New York. Henry Holt and Company, 1985.
The main point of this book is to tell the story of the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. Mr. Lord tells the account of December 7, 1941 by using first hand accounts from soldiers and laymen that were present in Pearl Harbor that day.
This book is a very reliable source since the author uses direct quotes from men and women present and he lists the contributors at the end of the book. I believe this book is objective and unbiased. Mr. Lord just wants to tell the story of that day.
Day of Infamy has been helpful to me in my research because it gives an honest description of that day from people who were actually present and involved in the attack. It has not changed my mind about the events of Pearl Harbor; it has just confirmed the events of that day.
Persico, Joseph. Roosevelt’s Secret War. New York: Random House, 2001.
The topic of Roosevelt’s Secret War is the disclosure of how President Roosevelt led the United States into World War II without the general public realizing this was what was happening. This book covers the entire WWII years, and what and when the President knew certain facts about coming events like the Holocaust and Pearl Harbor. The book is very clear that President Roosevelt was deceptive and misleading to the American people.
It was a useful source for me because it was further proof of my belief that the U.S. government knew that Pearl Harbor was going to be attacked by the Japanese and that our President had a part in concealing that knowledge. Roosevelt’s Secret War is accurate and objective and the author used sources close to the president and documents from the Library of Congress and they are cited in the back of the book.
This book was again a help to me to formulate my thoughts on the conspiracy surrounding Pearl Harbor.
Prange, Gordon. Pearl Harbor. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1986.
Pearl Harbor is a sequel to another book I used, called At Dawn We Slept.
Pearl Harbor goes more into depth about the conspiracy and warnings given to our government about what Japan was planning.
Mr. Prange worked on this book for 37 years and he interviewed every surviving Japanese officer who was part of the Pearl Harbor plan and attack as well as every other U.S. source that he could find.
This book was a good resource for me because it further added to my beliefs that our government knew in advance that the Japanese were going to attack us and they did nothing to stop it from happening.
This book offers a significant amount of information on the events that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan and the United State’s reaction to the attack and their entrance into WWII.
There is a great deal of background detail presented which is helpful to someone who is searching for the cause or the events prior to Pearl Harbor. This source is very reliable and is unbiased. The section on Pearl Harbor gives both sides of the story, telling about some of the early warnings and how the government ignored them.
I used this source to assist in my research because it had accurate figures of damage done to the United States Navel fleet and deaths. It has not changed the way I feel about my topic, it has reinforced my feeling that our government knew the Japanese were planning this attack.
“Timeline Pearl Harbor.” Pearl Harbor Remembered. Pearl Harbor Survivors
Association. 25 Jan. 2005.
The website offers a minute by minute account of December 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The account begins at 3:42 AM when a periscope is spotted in Honolulu Harbor.
This source is very reliable as the timeline is written from military documents that were recorded at the times the events occurred. It is unbiased, just tells the facts of the day as they happened.
This document did not help me much with my research other than to confirm the schedule of the day’s events.
Willey, Mark. Pearl Harbor Mother of All Conspiracies. 19 Jan. 2005.
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/pearl.html.
The website “Pearl Harbor- Mother of All Conspiracies” is the epitome of an effective website for those individuals who believe in a conspiracy surrounding Pearl Harbor. This website, created by the author, Mark Willey, contains an excerpt from the first chapter of his book, Mother of Conspiracies. The author’s statements are credible and accurate. He quotes from public documents from the Navy Court of Inquiry, the Army Board Report and the Joint Congressional Committee Report. Although Mark Willey’s writing is credible, and he utilizes trustworthy sources for his information, the author is biased. Mr. Willey is adamant that there was a conspiracy between the United States government and Pearl Harbor. He does not speak about both sides of the issue. This website helped in my research because I agree that there was a conspiracy.
Lord, Walter. Day of Infamy. New York. Henry Holt and Company, 1985.
The main point of this book is to tell the story of the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. Mr. Lord tells the account of December 7, 1941 by using first hand accounts from soldiers and laymen that were present in Pearl Harbor that day.
This book is a very reliable source since the author uses direct quotes from men and women present and he lists the contributors at the end of the book. I believe this book is objective and unbiased. Mr. Lord just wants to tell the story of that day.
Day of Infamy has been helpful to me in my research because it gives an honest description of that day from people who were actually present and involved in the attack. It has not changed my mind about the events of Pearl Harbor; it has just confirmed the events of that day.
Persico, Joseph. Roosevelt’s Secret War. New York: Random House, 2001.
The topic of Roosevelt’s Secret War is the disclosure of how President Roosevelt led the United States into World War II without the general public realizing this was what was happening. This book covers the entire WWII years, and what and when the President knew certain facts about coming events like the Holocaust and Pearl Harbor. The book is very clear that President Roosevelt was deceptive and misleading to the American people.
It was a useful source for me because it was further proof of my belief that the U.S. government knew that Pearl Harbor was going to be attacked by the Japanese and that our President had a part in concealing that knowledge. Roosevelt’s Secret War is accurate and objective and the author used sources close to the president and documents from the Library of Congress and they are cited in the back of the book.
This book was again a help to me to formulate my thoughts on the conspiracy surrounding Pearl Harbor.
Prange, Gordon. Pearl Harbor. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1986.
Pearl Harbor is a sequel to another book I used, called At Dawn We Slept.
Pearl Harbor goes more into depth about the conspiracy and warnings given to our government about what Japan was planning.
Mr. Prange worked on this book for 37 years and he interviewed every surviving Japanese officer who was part of the Pearl Harbor plan and attack as well as every other U.S. source that he could find.
This book was a good resource for me because it further added to my beliefs that our government knew in advance that the Japanese were going to attack us and they did nothing to stop it from happening.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Letter to Houghton Mifflin Company
November 19, 2008
Houghton Mifflin Company
222 Berkeley Street
Boston, MA 02116
To Whom It May Concern,
Pearl Harbor was a major historical event which led the United States into World War II. After scrutinizing the minimal information provided on Pearl Harbor in the text book World History: Patterns of Interaction, which is published by your company, I am writing to suggest some changes in the content for future editions.
Most textbooks make little to no reference to the fact that the United States had prior knowledge of the coming attack from Japan, the author of your passage at least mentions the de-coded message. However, the United States government had been forewarned by multiple other sources as well. Gordon Prange’s book, At Dawn We Slept, and Roosevelt’s Secret War, by Joseph Persico, describe the numerous secret intelligence reports that warned the U.S. government of Japan’s plans. Had these intelligence reports been treated appropriately by our government officials, they would have been prepared for the encounter with the Japanese. The President of the United States and the Superior Officers of our Armed Forces withheld this information in order to gain support from the American public on the entry into World War II.
I feel that the information I have presented here should be included in future publications of this textbook because the whole story should be taught instead of the typical account of a surprise attack.
Sincerely,
Blaine Hudson
350 Coal Creek Road
Redstone, Colorado 81623
Houghton Mifflin Company
222 Berkeley Street
Boston, MA 02116
To Whom It May Concern,
Pearl Harbor was a major historical event which led the United States into World War II. After scrutinizing the minimal information provided on Pearl Harbor in the text book World History: Patterns of Interaction, which is published by your company, I am writing to suggest some changes in the content for future editions.
Most textbooks make little to no reference to the fact that the United States had prior knowledge of the coming attack from Japan, the author of your passage at least mentions the de-coded message. However, the United States government had been forewarned by multiple other sources as well. Gordon Prange’s book, At Dawn We Slept, and Roosevelt’s Secret War, by Joseph Persico, describe the numerous secret intelligence reports that warned the U.S. government of Japan’s plans. Had these intelligence reports been treated appropriately by our government officials, they would have been prepared for the encounter with the Japanese. The President of the United States and the Superior Officers of our Armed Forces withheld this information in order to gain support from the American public on the entry into World War II.
I feel that the information I have presented here should be included in future publications of this textbook because the whole story should be taught instead of the typical account of a surprise attack.
Sincerely,
Blaine Hudson
350 Coal Creek Road
Redstone, Colorado 81623
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Interpreting Data
I was unable to find any charts or graphs related to my topic but I did find this website www.usshancockcv19.com/pearl_harbor_history.htm . This is an inclusive site that offers how and what time the attack occurred, how many casualties the U.S. suffered, and how much damage was inflicted upon our Naval fleet.
I did not gain any knowledge from this website that I had not already acquired. Of course after exploring this area in history and researching many sources for quite some time now, there is not much I do not already know of this issue. However this source presents valuable statistical information directly related to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It shows the number of casualties killed and wounded from each branch of the military as well as how many civilian lives were taken. It also provides a list of the U.S. Naval ships that were damaged or destroyed in the attack. The web site declares whether the ships were lightly or heavily damaged and if they were salvaged or repaired after the raid.
After deciphering this data I have concluded that it is comprehensive and reliable as I have seen this information written in other sources that I have read. This website could help others understand my topic because after reading the figures they would have a better grasp on the severity of the attack and the damage the Japanese caused to our naval fleet.
I did not gain any knowledge from this website that I had not already acquired. Of course after exploring this area in history and researching many sources for quite some time now, there is not much I do not already know of this issue. However this source presents valuable statistical information directly related to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It shows the number of casualties killed and wounded from each branch of the military as well as how many civilian lives were taken. It also provides a list of the U.S. Naval ships that were damaged or destroyed in the attack. The web site declares whether the ships were lightly or heavily damaged and if they were salvaged or repaired after the raid.
After deciphering this data I have concluded that it is comprehensive and reliable as I have seen this information written in other sources that I have read. This website could help others understand my topic because after reading the figures they would have a better grasp on the severity of the attack and the damage the Japanese caused to our naval fleet.
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