And not only did they bring about their own defeat, they brought doom to NAZI Germany as well. Roosevelt wanted to support Britain in a war against Germany, but could quite get the Congress to go for it. One wonders if the Japanese had delayed their attack, would Roosevelt have been able to get Congress to go to war with Germany. I don't know, but it doesn't seem to have been an option for the Japanese. Once the US put an embargo on shipments of gas to the Japanese, that really lit a fuse that would end either in the Japanese buckling or them going to war. Not too long after the embargo went into effect, the Japanese would start to run out of aviation and naval fuel. If that happened, they wouldn't be able to do much militarily - the point that that Roosevelt wanted. He did, I think, underestimate what the Japanese were capable of, if only temporarily.
Here's a beautiful tribute called ETERNAL PEACE - Interment Aboard the USS Arizona.
I had not see this one before, but it's in regards to the men who served aboard the Arizona who lived, and who have now chosen to be buried with their buddies who perished. So touching, so moving. Try and get through this one without shedding a tear...
Speaking of Pearl Harbor, I saw an interesting moving on the plane the other day. [Forgot to mention that last week I took a TAD/TDY trip to Okinawa. I will be coming back before I take of for there for my 3 year tour, this is just a short trip for turnover with my replacement in Albany. Good for scouting, however!] So among the other shows I watched, I also watched "Yamamoto". It is about the Japanese Admiral and is in Japanese. I was surprised that I hadn't heard of it.
Now that I've looked it up, I guess that it is too new to have made it over here yet. Glad I got the chance to watch it.
Lee and I have been patiently waiting for this to come out. He was interested in hearing your thoughts on it.
It was very well done. It portrays him as one of the leading admirals that was against the involvement in the Tripartite Pact and anything that would lead to war with the US. The effects are good and I suppose the acting is good, although it's hard to be too critical of another language's acting. They didn't spend a great deal of time on re-enacting the battles, but followed more what was his reaction to them. For example, during the battle of Midway (which did have some great effects), Yamamoto and one of his subordinates played Go while they got the situation reports. (As an officer in the military I can understand this. For a senior leader like Yamamoto, your job is to make the overall call and the execution is not your job. This is akin to Eisenhower making the call to launch Op Overlord or not. Once the call was made, there's nothing that he has to do.) So in conclusion, good story, interesting characters, interesting look into Japan in the pre-war and mid-war years, good effects that weren't the raison d'être for the movie, and maybe even good acting! I say 2 thumbs up!
I was just able to see the internment video just now. Very moving.
Ah, thanks for that review. Lee wanted to know your honest reaction. He is really looking forward to its release here.
So funny to think of you oh so far away. Will be interesting once you get situated. Can't wait to hear your first impressions of family and military life in Japan.
Let's hope there aren't any major earthquakes during your three year stay. Stay safe and healthy.
Just a reminder, I'm not over there permanently yet. This is actually just a short trip to do turnover with my successor. This was a trip scheduled before I found out I was going. I don't go out to there for 3 years until June. Not many pictures from this trip - I know I'm coming back so there hasn't been a great deal of urgency to see the sights!
Oh, I realize this was just a trip and not the real move yet! 