Evening star., 1951-12-02
The Executioners:

The American scene, that Sunday
morning. was serene and homely.
Sunday newspapers. fat as a holi-
day turkey, reminded people that
only Is shopping days remained
until Christmas. You could buy
shirts for 50 and cigars for a nickel
Business. beefed up with foreign and
domestic war orders was good. Out Of
the Night" was best-seller. People
were humming when You Wish
Upon Star"
AS for those negotiations with the
Japanese, the President had sent
message directly to Emperor Hiro-
hito. A Sunday commentator said
that the Japanese. having tried
threats which did not impress the
State Department. are now giving
soft answers"
That was the day the japanese
struck.
At 1855 am, Hawaii time, force
of 351 bombers. fighters and torpedo
bombers. burst through the rose
colored clouds over the Koolau
Mountains. They had thus been
screened from human observation.
but radar had picked them up and
plotted the approach until they were
within 20 miles of Oahu. But fortune
was with them. No alarm was given.
Jop Loss Was Small
On hour and SIS minutes later.
2,O86 American seamen were dead
and TAG lay wounded. The Army
counted 240 dead and $50 wounded.
Five battleships were sunk. along
with three destroyers, target ship.
a repair ship. a minelayer and
floating drydock. Three battleships.
three cruisers and seaplane tender
were badly damaged.
The japanese had expected to lose
about 100 airplanes, and perhaps
one-third of the surface fleets. What
they actually lost was five midget
submarines, 27 planes and no sur
face vessels.
No more complete surprise is re-
corded anywhere in 5000 years of
military history.
The first reaction was a spasm of
hysteria.
Then came a white-hot wave of
anger-men lined up for blocks
around recruiting Offices.
And the question was on every lip:
How did it happen? How could it
happen?
In later years. official inquiries
beamed a searchlight that disclosed
a towering pyramid Of blunders, built
on foundation Of misconceptions.
and capped with errors, oversight
and failure of liaison.
Perhaps Pearl Harbor was Japan's
greatest mistake, but as a military
operation. it was masterpiece, bril-
liantly conceived. and thorough to
the last small detail. It might have
had measure of success in any case.
YorneIl Set the Pottern
Some 10 years earlier, an American
Admiral, Harry Yarnell, had "at-
tackled" Pearl Harbor in war games
with maneuver that was then
unique. He left behind his capital
ships and delivered what would have
been a shattering blow with planes
launched from his carriers. He. too,
had scored a complete surprise.
The Japanese navy took due note.
This same maneuver, plus some
embellishments devised in Tokyo, was
performed December z. For meteoro-
logical reasons, another date. Decem-
ber 8, also was considered for a
while. But Sunday was finally taken.
because, as Japanese later testi-
fed. American officers are inclined
to sleep late on Sunday mornings"
The two Japanese task forces were
sent into the emptiest area Of the
North Pacific. far from commercial
shipping lanes and beyond the range
Of the aerial reconnaissance of those
days.
Meanwhile, every known trick was
employed to conceal the fact that
deadline had been set, that the fleets
were at sea. and that, politically,
Tokyo had abandoned hope of a
settlement.
In the last days. Japanese authori-
ties carefully fed Tokyo newspapers
line Of optimistic reports. Foreign
II