anotherview Loc: California

They had so much history in their hands back then.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

BamaTexan Loc: Deep in the heart of Texas

I had the distinct privilege of working for one of the pilots, Col. Dean Davenport in Panama City, FL from 1970-1972. He was crusty as hell. He called and cussed out the fellow who hired me away. It has been a long time but I
believe the fifth man from the left on the top row is him.

pendennis

I would only disagree with the OP as to the Doolittle Raid effect. While tactically, it was less than marginally successful, strategically, it was a huge victory. Along with the Battle of The Coral Sea a few weeks later, it forced the Japanese to understand that the home islands were no longer impregnable, and the United States was no longer on its heels, reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack. There were those who believed the raid would cause the Japanese to change their strategy, but the Japanese were somewhat hidebound to maintain their original war plans.

Coral Sea had far reaching consequences. It caused the Japanese to abandon their broadening of the South Pacific Campaign, and it allowed the U.S. to execute, and get a foothold on, the Guadalcanal Campaign.

anotherview Loc: California

The Japanese leadership at the time made the colossal error of attacking Pearl Harbor, thus awakening a sleeping giant. Interestingly, Japanese visitors to the U.S. at the time noted the potential of the U.S. and advised against war with the U.S.

I've read also that the U.S. had begun sanctioning Japan by restricting its oil supply. Apparently, this U.S. action, in part, stimulated Japanese leadership to declare war.

Others here may offer more history of this matter.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

Your analysis is spot on!

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Super capture! Thanx for sharing.

jpgto Loc: North East Tennessee

Great photo and narrative. History!

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Correct! My photo of the B-25 Mitchell

(Download)

pacman Loc: Toowoomba, Qld, Australia.

What a great post! I appreciate this is a photography forum, but what you have posted is pure history. Paints a picture of just how grim things were in those days. We owe so much to the allied personnel of that era. Doubtful if many of today's generation have any concept of the sacrifices made.

pendennis

As with all history, pre-WWII, there are many factors which, if changed, could have lead the parties in different directions. A few to consider:

The Japanese were (still are) natural resource poor. As such, they needed iron ore and petroleum sources. They existed on mainland Asia, and along the area in and around Indonesia and the nearby archipelagoes. The Japanese invaded China, and Manchuria, which satisfied their need for iron ore, and set plans to invaded S.E. Asia to get at petroleum and rubber. Since their invasion of China, the U.S. then "retaliated", cutting off oil, and scrap metal. The Japanese really didn't want war with the U.S., especially a protracted one. It was common knowledge in Japan, that the U.S. had a far larger manufacturing base, but the U.S. wouldn't want to fight a protracted war. Admiral Yamamoto wasn't the only one who knew this.

Roosevelt, as early as 1939, was itching to get the U.S. into the European war, and he did a number of illegal acts to provide aid to Great Britain, such as trading 50 old destroyers for 99 year leases on certain British military and naval bases. Hitler, on the other hand, didn't want to fight the U.S., and ordered his U-Boat fleet not to torpedo U.S.-flagged cargo and war ships. Roosevelt ignored the "cash and carry" provisions concerning foreign combatants, and generally committed any number of impeachable offenses before December 7, 1941.

Japan, although an "ally" of Italy and Germany, was not in a position to help them directly in case of attacks on the other two Axis powers. There is speculation by historians, that the Japanese, were poised to move in several directions, and were waiting to see how Germany fared against the USSR in 1941. Had Germany been successful, Japan could have invaded Siberia, forcing the USSR into a futile two-front war. This also leads to speculation that the two great European Socialist governments would beat each other to death, sparing the rest of Europe another disastrous war.

The French and British were tricked into signing a mutual aid pact with Poland, even though there was no way to support the Poles if they were attacked. The Poles were not so innocent as everyone believed.

In September 1941, the Japanese were still interested in talks with the U.S. to avoid war. However, FDR refused to meet with the moderate prime minister, Fumimaro Konoe. When his government fell, the Japanese Army headed by Tojo took control, and war was a fait accompli by December 7, 1941. This doesn't mean that FDR knew the Japanese would attack, but that he was trying to maneuver the U.S. in that direction despite his protestations to the contrary. Admiral Kimmel was sacked, and General MacArthur, who committed far worse dereliction of duty, was awarded the Medal of Honor. So much for military honor.

The U.S. failed, because of its own ignorance dealing with the USSR and Japan, has to live with the following:

The U.S. sided with China over Japanese atrocities committed at Nanking and many other places in China, only to watch as Mao started a revolution which killed as many as 200 million Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, and Korean (North and South) people either directly, or indirectly through the spread of Chinese Communism. Which was worse?

The U.S. also failed to see that Stalin's policies also insured the enslavement of half of Germany, Poland, the Baltic States, the Balkans, and numerous other countries, including Central and South Americas. The ensuing forty-five years rolled up a huge body count.

Just food for thought.

Rob48 Loc: Portland, ME

Rob48 Loc: Portland, ME

Thank you very much, rmalarz; yes, I don't know why I made that error.

Rob48 Loc: Portland, ME

Thank you very much for that; I very much appreciate your insight.

Rob48 Loc: Portland, ME