Author: steve

3-30-19

The Boston returned to San Pedro (CA) for repairs and upgrades in March 1945.   San Pedro, as referred to by the men, was a town and harbor adjacent to the growing Los Angeles Harbor and adjacent Terminal Island – the center point of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbor complexes (now the Port of Los Angeles.)   This was an important Navy facility during the War.

3-23-19

. . . when Americans pulled together and headed in the same general direction.   Let us not forget the contributions that women workers made to the war effort.   Pictures by Fenno Jacobs:

steve

3-16-19

Signalman George Pitts:
HOMEWARD BOUND
March 7, 1945:   The Boston got underway today with her Homeward Bound pennant flying 800 ft. in the air.   Six inches per man is what the pennant is supposed to represent.   While leaving Ulithi, all the carriers, cruisers, batts. and destroyers bid us a “bon voyage.”

March 17, 1945:   The Hawaiian Islands popped up over the horizon this afternoon. As we came into the Harbor we could see Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach and the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which Paul Veno + myself visited before.   It sure is wonderful to see some kind of civilization.   God knows how I’ll feel when we pull into California.

2-9-19

Some years ago, I was in a trade show in Dallas.   It was my first time in that city. My hotel room windows looked down across boulevards and an overpass and gave me a direct view of the Book Depository and the grassy knoll(s).   Naturally I walked there, wanting to see for myself one of the most jarring and unforgettable locations of my life.   When I reached the sidewalk in front of the infamous building, I was surprised to see several people with posters, signs, diagrams, dvds and the like.   They were Conspiracy Theorists, each one rabidly railing about “what really happened here.”

All these years later, conspiracy theorists of every ilk have so permeated our daily lives and the media with their rantings that I think it has become increasingly difficult for us to “separate the wheat from the chaff”.   I mention all this, because in this last segment looking at the major things that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. trade embargoes in the months leading up to the “Day that lives on in Infamy” pushed Japan into desperate measures.   Much of the info available online drips with political overtones suggesting the FDR pushed the embargoes knowing it would cause Japan to retaliate militarily and “force us” into war; thus assuring he would be re-elected.   Writers suggest the FDR knew the attack on Pearl Harbor was coming, and looked the other way so we would have an excuse to declare War on Japan and get re-elected.   My experience in Dallas with “deep state” plot(s) theorists rings all sorts of flashing lights and waves red flags in my little brain at these assertions.   (If you are a “Believer”, I imagine you’ll call me naive.)

Let’s look at the highlights of the trade embargoes against Japan in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor.

In 1938, our government, concerned by the sabre-rattling and mushrooming armament manufacturing in Germany and Japan, began urging aircraft manufacturers to cease selling planes to countries who were using them for attacks on civilian populations. In 1939, the list was expanded to any aviation materials or technology.   The Treasury Dept urged banks to stop extending credit to Japan.

In July, 1939, the U.S. terminated it’s 1911 Commercial Treaty with Japan.

In July, 1940, Congress passed the Export Control Act, which authorized FDR to restrict and prohibit the export of war materials. In September, export of iron and scrap steel to resource-poor Japan was prohibited.   On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, becoming allies with Germany and Italy (“Axis Powers”.)   On October 16, FDR imposed an embargo on all exports of steel ans scrap iron to any destination other than Britain and Western Hemisphere nations.

On July 26, 1941, FDR froze all Japanese assets in the United States. A week later, he embargoed all oil exports to Japan.   British and Dutch oil embargoes from their Asian colonies to Japan were also put into effect.

On Dec 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

2-15-19 (Almost President’s Day.)

We take a peek at our Presidents between WWI and WWII. Why? Beacuse the tapestry of history is woven with many threads.

1916    Democrat Woodrow Wilson was narrowly elected to a second term.  He campaigned on keeping US out of the War, but by 1917 we could no longer remain neutral and he asked Congress (4/2/17) to declare war on Germany.  After Germany signed the Armistice Treaty (11/18), he went to Paris to work on Peace Initiatives. He later presented the Treaty of Versailles (which included the founding of the League of Nations) to Congress.  The election of 1918 had shifted congressional power to the Republicans.  The Senate did not ratify the treaty of Versailles, thus they rejected US participation in the League of Nations.

1920  Republican Warren Harding was elected President in a landslide after a campaign to “return US to normalcy.” In his tenure a “trade war” resulted in high tariffs on imports, tax cuts favoring the wealthy and corporations were rolled out, and immigration was substantially curtailed.  Harding died of an apparent heart attack while in a hotel in San Francisco on 8/1/23.  Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in.

1924  Republican Calvin Coolidge was elected and continued to lead the country through the Roaring 20’s.  His belief in Small Government and Private Enterprise led to further reducing taxes, rolled-back government spending, and appointing of corporate-minded Department Secretaries.  In August 1927, Coolidge announced he would not run for reelection.

1928   Republican Herbert Hoover was elected in another landslide. He took office in the Great Depression (which started on October 24, 1929).  Hoover, a firm believer in limited government and strong capitalism, vetoed several bills that would have provided direct relief to struggling citizens.  In his 1930 State of the Union address he proclaimed, “Prosperity cannot be restored by raids on the public Treasury.”  He carried only six states in the 1932 election.

1932  Democrat Franklin Roosevelt was elected in a landslide after running on a “New Deal” of reform and economic relief programs. He was re-elected by landslides in: 1936, (and to a third term) in 1940 and (a fourth term) in 1944.

Policy flip-flops between “progressive” and “conservative” Presidencies and Congresses had a powerful impact not only on American lives and domestic policies; they directly affected international developments as the world crept toward the Second World War.  Treaties, promises, “secret pacts and gentlemen’s agreements” and international trade policies between reigning American and Japanese leaders were enacted; only to be flopped by the next administration.  Japan signed the Treaty of Versailles; we did not.  Japan joined the League of Nations (predecessor to the U.N.); we did not.  Our import tariffs directly affected the Japanese economy.

These and many more examples exacerbated the rising tension between America and Japan during the lead-up to World War II.  It is important to note that America leaned into increasing Isolationism in the years after WWI. Japan, meanwhile, was growing as an industrial power with a strong leaning toward Expansionism and Militarism.