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Remembering Pearl Harbor. Medal of Honor: Donald Ross. Democrats lying and humiliating themselves to get the black vote. They tell lies so Liberal Aunt Peggy spreads their lies to normy norm. Follow The Jesse Kelly Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJesseKellyShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This weekend was the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, an event few call a "surprise" anymore, considering the evidence that it was provoked and desired to launch the U.S. into WWII. Interestingly, according to Popular Mechanics, UAP czar Luis Elizondo was investigating the UFO subject to "prevent another... Pearl Harbor." This reminds us of the PNAC report on Rebuilding America's Defences, which was thought unlikely to be fulfilled short of a "catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor." Then, President Bush wrote in the White House daily log, "The Pearl Harbor of the 21st Century took place today." Could the "threat" of the UAP be used as an excuse to reorder society again? Tonight, Ryan Gable fills in for Clyde Lewis and talks with UFO researcher and author Walter Bosley. Listen to Ground Zero, M-F, 7-10 pm, pacific time on groundzeroplus.com. Call in to the LIVE show at 503-225-0860. #groundzeroplus #clydelewis #ryangable #walterbosley #AI #PearlHarbor #UFO #UAP
This weekend was the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, an event few call a "surprise" anymore considering the evidence it was provoked and desired to launch the U.S. into WWII. Interestingly, according to Popular Mechanics, UAP czar Luis Elizondo was investigating the UFO subject to "prevent another... Pearl Harbor." This reminds us of the PNAC report on Rebuilding America's Defences, which was thought to be unlikely fulfilled short of a "catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor." Then, President Bush wrote in the White House daily log, "The Pearl Harbor of the 21st Century took place today." Could the "threat" of the UAP be used as an excuse to reorder society again? If there is any “alien” technology, perhaps it is hidden behind a veil of confusion; perhaps it is AI, something its engineers can build but not fully understand?*The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below.WEBSITEFREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVE-X / TWITTERFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMYOUTUBERUMBLE-BUY ME A COFFEECashApp: $rdgable PAYPAL: rdgable1991@gmail.comRyan's Books: https://thesecretteachings.info - EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / rdgable1991@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.
Episode 4981: Remembering Pearl Harbor 84 years Ago; Tina Peters Letter To President Trump
Louvre leak… California Death Cap Mushrooms… Black fungus at Chernobyl… Snail theft in France… Email: Chewingthefat@theblaze.com www.blazetv.com/jeffy $20 off annual plan right now ( limited time ) Top weekend movies… Unhappy campers about Netflix buying Warner Bros… Top twenty-five comedians according to Billboard… Who Died Today: Frank Gehry 96 / Justin Baren 40 / Michael Annett 39… Martha Stewart buries horses on property… Remaining survivors of Pearl Harbor can't participate any more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Michael Barry tackles Texas election filing chaos and Supreme Court redistricting drama to Pearl Harbor tributes and a hilarious Christmas ornament heist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This episode goes straight to the heart of Trump's chaotic Pentagon with one of the most respected national security reporters in America, Barbara Starr. In this all–new Manosphere Monday, Paul and Barbara dig into the debate around the boat strikes off Venezuela, war crime allegations, “Signalgate,” Trump's new defense strategy and what happens when the guardrails that protect U.S. troops start coming off. Barbara explains why she's never seen anything like Pete Hegseth's drama-fueled Pentagon, how the new “propaganda press corps” replacing traditional reporters in the briefing room is changing the flow of truth, and why Trump's walk-back from NATO looks like a gift-wrapped present to Vladimir Putin. They connect the dots from Pearl Harbor to 9/11, January 6th and today's surprise-attack risks—from Venezuela to China and Taiwan—and lay out what real vigilance and leadership should look like in 2025. Paul takes listeners through the latest on the controversial boat strikes, the escalating partisan fight on Capitol Hill, the National Guard deployment hearings, and the 3,000-page defense bill barreling through Congress while Trump hands himself a FIFA “peace prize” on Fox Sports. Barbara breaks down what's at stake for apolitical troops, the dismantling of military legal and diversity safeguards, and the danger of turning the Secretary of Defense into a full-time video performer instead of a wartime leader. They also zoom out to the bigger cultural moment—from Pearl Harbor remembrance and World War II's “greatest generation” to the rise of women's flag football and the Dodgers' World Series run—and close with “something good,” including Paul's unapologetic love for *NSYNC's holiday album and Barbara's countdown to spring training. Because every episode of Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the most important news stories--and offers light to contrast the heat of other politics and news shows. It's independent content for independent Americans. In these trying times especially, Independent Americans is your trusted place for independent news, politics, inspiration and hope. The podcast that helps you stay ahead of the curve--and stay vigilant. -WATCH video of this episode on YouTube now. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. -Check the hashtag #LookForTheHelpers. And share yours. -Find us on social media or www.IndependentAmericans.us. -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the holidays. -Check out other Righteous podcasts like The Firefighters Podcast with Rob Serra, Uncle Montel - The OG of Weed and B Dorm. Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Amazon Podcasts Ways to watch: YouTube • Instagram X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook Ways to listen:Social channels: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What would you do if you discovered that members of your family had spied for the Japanese at Pearl Harbor? When this happened to Christine Kuehn, she wanted to find out more.Alongside her husband, former journalist Mark Schiponi, Christine has been researching her father's family's movements from Nazi Germany, to Hawaii, and into the hands of the FBI. They join Don for this episode to untangle this story.Their book, 'Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor' is out now.Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On today's Daily Puck Drop, Jason “Puck” Puckett and Jim Moore, the Go-2-Guy, spend the majority of the show discussing Jimmy Rogers bolting for Iowa State and what's next for Washington State. Jim is all on board with Rick Neuheisel, but Puck doesn't see it or want it. Puck believes they should go all in on Brent Vigen, the Montana State head coach. What about Luke Falk? Both Puck and Jim agree that would be a stretch. Whoever they hire they just want someone who loves Pullman and Washington State. They briefly touch in on the Harry Ford trade and wonder why he didn't return more and it spoke volumes how the rest of the league views him. And, did Pete Carroll just sound the alarms on betting in the NFL on he coached in their loss to the Broncos on Sunday by kicking a last second field goal to cover the spread?Puck talks Seahawks, “The Dugar Report” with Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic. It's another dominating Seahawks defensive performance. Sam Darnold started shaky but was sensational in the second half and it was finally the breakout game for Rashid Shaheed. “On This Day…” George Washington, Pearl Harbor, John Glenn and Jeff George are all in the news. Puck wraps up with, “Hey, what the Puck!?” Commitment and loyalty is over in college athletics. (1:00) Puck and Jim (1:17:18) Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic (1:44:24) “On this Day…” (1:46:50) “Hey, What the Puck!?”
12/08/25 Kate And Duke on MTG and Trump and Pearl Harbor NEW! by Kate Dalley
On this episode of The Other Side of Midnight, LIonel asks the question, Is your reality a lie? Dive into the secret decisions behind Pearl Harbor, exposing "selective blindness," the economic trap of the oil embargo, and why battleships served as "emotional bait" while aircraft carriers were protected. Track the seismic shift in global media as Netflix's colossal $72 billion acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery remakes culture, creating one dominant gatekeeper, and question the terrifying threat posed by AI in showbiz, including the controversial AI actress Tilly Norwood. Lionel unpacks America's "lopsided outrage economy" by examining a viral Cinnabon controversy involving racial slurs and the fear of cultural replacement. Plus: precision matters—distinguishing peaceful Islam from political Islamism, challenging the official cause of death in the George Floyd controversy, and navigating explosive debates on capitalism, welfare, and the dark history of eugenics (including the infamous Buck against Bell decision). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lionel peels back the curtain on Pearl Harbor, which the official narrative treats like sacred scripture. He explores the inconsistencies, intelligence gaps, and strange decisions that defy the history book cartoon. Discover how decrypted Japanese diplomatic traffic through "Magic" hinted at war, yet no real warning was sent ("selective blindness"). Lionel examines the economic trap (the oil embargo as provocation) and the suspicious positioning of the fleet, where battleships served as "emotional bait" while aircraft carriers were protected. Pearl Harbor is not a closed case; it's a template and a reminder that nations often make decisions in secret while telling the public something else. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the 7 AM hour, Larry O’Connor and Julie Gunlock discussed: GUEST: Joe diGenova on Latest Legal News LATEST LEGAL NEWS: Trump Legal Battles Update GUEST: Kevin Kline on Pearl Harbor's 84th Anniversary Where to find more about WMAL's morning show: Follow Podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Audible and Spotify Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @JGunlock, @PatricePinkfile, and @HeatherHunterDC Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Website: WMAL.com/OConnor-Company Episode: Monday, December 8, 2025 / 7 AM HourSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
WMAL GUEST: KEVIN KLINE (Executive Director of The U.S.S. Arizona "Operation 85", Grand Nephew of GM2c Robert Edwin Kline) on Pearl Harbor's 84th Anniversary Since Attack SOCIAL MEDIA: X.com/Operation85 WEBSITE: USSArizona.navy Where to find more about WMAL's morning show: Follow Podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Audible and Spotify Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @JGunlock, @PatricePinkfile, and @HeatherHunterDC Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Website: WMAL.com/OConnor-Company Episode: Monday, December 8, 2025 / 7 AM HourSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
01:55- Robert Barrett 36:35- John Solomon, award-winning investigative journalist, founder of "Just The News," and the host of “Just the News, No Noise” on the Real America’s Voice network Topic: Kennedy Center Honors, other news of the day 51:04- Gen. Jack Keane, a retired 4-star general, the chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst Topic: U.S. military buildup near Venezuela, Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, remembering yesterday's Pearl Harbor anniversary 1:22:46- Thomas Homan, Border Czar for the Trump administration Topic: Mamdani telling NYC residents how to resist ICE agents, in defense of ICE's crackdown on Somali migrants 1:34:41- Bill Camastro, Dealer and Partner at Gold Coast Cadillac Topic: Latest from Gold Coast Cadillac 1:45:20- Dr. Rebecca Grant, national security analyst based in Washington, D.C. Specializing in defense and aerospace research, founder of IRIS Independent Research, and Senior Fellow at the Lexington Institute Topic: Drone attack on Chechen 1:59:19- Carol Platt Liebau, Attorney, Political Analyst, and President of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy Topic: Trump's second term 2:08:00- Gianno Caldwell, Fox News Political Analyst, founder of the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety and the host of the "Outloud with Gianno Caldwell" podcast Topic: Miami Mayoral Runoff, Trump's second termSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Remembering Pearl Harbor Day. Producer David Doll updates the audience on his weekend antics. What does a Make America Great Again (MAGA) foreign policy look like? The Trump Administration’s newly-released National Security Strategy. Charles Fain Lehman’s piece at City Journal, “Thinking About Crime at 50.” Charlie Kirk's last book will be posthumously released tomorrow.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chris is remembering Pearl Harbor, LA and the Olympics and of course the law makers, the lawbreakers, and the time their ought to be a law INCLUDING a shooting near the La Brea Tarpits, and burglars targeting recycling centers. All that and more on KFIAM-640!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feliks Banel's guests on this LIVE BROADCAST of CASCADE OF HISTORY include Lt. Colonel Erik Flint (retired) LIVE from Pearl Harbor Day commemorations in Honolulu; Roving Correspondent Ken Zick with multiple LIVE UPDATES from Candy Cane Lane in Seattle; meteorologist Scott Sistek on storm history and his new Emerald City Weather Blog; and Frank Abe on Rachel Maddow's new podcast about Japanese American incarceration during World War II - and a preview of the live production of "We Hold These Truths" that Frank is participating in on Monday, December 15, 2025 at 7:30pm Pacific Time at Town Hall Seattle (and which will be broadcast LIVE as a special episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY). More information about the LIVE BROADCAST of "We Hold These Truths": https://townhallseattle.org/event/we-hold-these-truths/ More info about Lt. Colonel Erik Flint (retired) : https://stephenambrosetours.com/historian/erik-flint/ Candy Cane Lane Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SeattleCandyCaneLane/ Scott Sistek's Emerald City Weather Blog: https://emeraldcityweather.com/ Frank Abe's RESISTERS Website: https://resisters.com/author/frankabe/ Links to more information about all of these stories - and photos of Candy Cane Lane by Ken Zick - are available at the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/cascadeofhistory This LIVE broadcast of CASCADE OF HISTORY was originally presented at 8pm Pacific Time on Sunday, December 7, 2025 via SPACE 101.1 FM and gallantly streaming live via www.space101fm.org from historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle. Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.
The Department of Justice failed to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on mortgage fraud charges. The FBI has arrested and charged a suspect for the pipe bombs placed at the DNC and RNC on January 5th, 2021.Jim Jordan has subpoenaed Jack Smith to appear behind closed doors after rejecting the Special Counsel's request to testify before the House Judiciary Committee publicly.Kash Patel faces more scrutiny about his personal use of public resources after ordering an FBI detail to give his girlfriend's inebriated friend a ride home after a night out.Plus listener questions…Do you have questions for the pod? Follow AG Substack|MuellershewroteBlueSky|@muellershewroteAndrew McCabe isn't on social media, but you can buy his book The ThreatThe Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and TrumpWe would like to know more about our listeners. Please participate in this brief surveyListener Survey and CommentsThis Show is Available Ad-Free And Early For Patreon and Supercast Supporters at the Justice Enforcers level and above:https://dailybeans.supercast.techOrhttps://patreon.com/thedailybeansOr when you subscribe on Apple Podcastshttps://apple.co/3YNpW3P Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
“Man your battle stations! This is no sh*t!” This is the story of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It's 7:55 on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. 183 Japanese aircraft descend on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Sailors awaken to a nightmare as “Battleship Row” becomes a graveyard, hundreds of US planes are destroyed without ever leaving the ground, and the cries of thousands of dying, wounded, and terrified Americans rend the air. It is a day that will “live in infamy.” And it means war. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tracy Smith catches up with Ethan Hawke, who is already getting awards-season buzz for his performance in “Blue Moon,” in which he plays lyricist Lorenz Hart. David Martin shares a story of espionage, betrayal and little-known Pearl Harbor history in World War II, based on the new book Family of Spies. Anthony Mason examines the life and times of Elvis Presley's legendary and controversial manager: Colonel Tom Parker. He visits Graceland to speak with biographer Peter Guralnick, who writes about Parker in his new book, The Colonel and The King. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
BASED ON A TRUE STORY (BOATS EP. 379) — Most movies focus on the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, but the true story of December 7th, 1941, involves a coordinated global offensive across the Pacific. In this episode, history professor Joshua Donohue returns to explore what the movies miss—including attacks on Wake Island, the Philippines, and military installations across Oahu that extended far beyond the harbor itself. From civilian casualties to pilot heroics to the international scope of Japan's ambitious assault, we separate fact from fiction across multiple Pearl Harbor films.Josh's Latest WorkEmbattled Marines at Air Station EwaChapters0:00 Intro & Two Truths and a Lie Game3:16 From Here to Eternity: Life Before the Attack10:20 The Global Scope of Japan's Offensive12:40 Wake Island Under Siege20:04 Oahu's Airfields and Widespread Attacks28:23 American Aircraft in the Air During the Attack43:20 Civilian Casualties and Friendly Fire58:23 American Morale and the Movies' Coverage1:05:02 Pilots Beyond Pearl Harbor1:11:13 The Final Countdown: What If Scenario1:22:32 Two Truths and a Lie Answer RevealSupport my workSupport my sponsorsBecome a BOATS Producer (name in credits + ad-free episodes)Join the BOATS DiscordGet the BOATS email newsletterEmail me: dan@basedonatruestorypodcast.comGet my video podcasting classNote: If your podcast app doesn't support clickable links, copy/paste this in your browser to find all the links: https://links.boatspodcast.com/379See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
I feel pretty well versed when it comes to World War II. I understand fairly well what was happening in Europe at least with Germany and whatnot. I know that the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 (84 years ago today) was the event that drew the United States into the war. But Pearl Harbor wasn't bombed by Germany. It was bombed by Japan. Wait, what? Japan? What does Japan have to do with Nazi Germany and World War II? This week I sit down with Quin Cho, an expert on the Pacific Theater during World War II, to talk about what was happening in Asia leading up to that fateful attack on Pearl Harbor. He'll fill us in on the rising action, like the Mukden Incident and the Second Sino-Japanese War, that led to the collision of two different war theaters into one big, bad world war. Quin's books: "Rise of the Kwantung Army: Japan's Empire in Manchuria to 1932""Competing Empires in Burma: A Chronicle of the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations in World War 2"Support the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources:The National WWII Museum "Pearl Harbor Attack, December 7, 1941"Office of the Historian "The Mukden Incident of 1931 and the Stimson Doctrine"Office of the Historian "The Chinese Revolution of 1911"History.com "Pearl Harbor"Wikipedia "Zhang Zoulin"Wikipedia "Mukden Incident"Shoot me a message! Shop for History Fix merch here to support the show! Support the show
A surprise attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,400 Americans on this day in 1941. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cataclysmic disasters arouse the attention and response of people and nations, and very often the trajectory of history is changed in these unforgettable events. Do you agree? But here’s an important question: Can you discern the work of God in these great disasters? The Sunday morning Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, 81 years ago yesterday, is an example. America’s response was a whole scale effort to enter WWII with a vengeance after that day and our world has never been the same since, including the greatest outflow of missionaries taking the gospel worldwide following WWII, including to Japan and all Asia! (Click here to see full text, images and links) Pastor Doug Anderson “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)Have a comment or question about today's chapter? I'm ready to hear from you, contact me here. Interested in helping "Walking with Jesus" financially? Click here
Guest Kurt Couchman, Senior Fellow of Fiscal Policy with Americans for Prosperity, joins to discuss his latest testimony in Congress on a balanced budget bill. Could we work towards cutting federal spending and balancing the federal budget? Discussion of tariff revenue, federal income tax, and wasteful spending in Government. Mayor Elect Mamdani of NYC looks to end cleaning up homeless camps in New York. Are we about to see a repeat of LA with tent cities? Discussion of policy changes from Trump vs Mamdani. Pearl Harbor remembrance weekend, and remembering the war against socialism, fascism, and tyranny.
On 7 December 1941, as Japan struck Pearl Harbor, London was deep in its third winter of war: bruised, blacked out, queueing for scraps, shrugging off sirens. In this episode of London Calling we take the city's pulse on that day. From wardens chastening Noël Coward to milk carts pulled by dogs, from Advent sermons to Fleet Street's midnight shock, we watch London discover the attack that would change its fate. A fogbound capital learns, almost in its sleep, that it's no longer alone.
Movies and History on a SundayFirst, a look at this day in History.Then, Screen Directors Playhouse, originally broadcast December 7, 1950, 75 years ago, My Favorite Wife starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. A comedy about a man whose missing wife turns up after 7 1/2 years, on the day he remarries!Followed by The Lux Radio Theater, originally broadcast December 7, 1942, 83 years ago, The War Against Mrs Hadley starring Edward Arnold and Fay Bainter. A Washington socialite cannot forgive nor understand the Nazis and Japs for declaring war and interfering with the lives of her son and daughter.Then, NBC News Broadcast, originally broadcast December 7, 1941, 84 years ago. Live network programming from 4:30 to 5pm Eastern time. Report from London (ninety seconds). Upton Close reports from San Francisco: the Japanese consul in San Francisco denies any knowledge of the attack (5 1/2 minutes). Upton Close continues for another six minutes. Report from KGU, Honolulu: a summary of the attack. The report of an attorney who was flying his own airplane when the Japanese attacked. Three hundred and fifty men have been killed at Hickum Field. (4 1/2 minutes). A telegram from David Sarnoff to President Roosevelt is read. Followed by HV Kaltenborn News, originally broadcast December 7, 1941, 84 years ago. "Japan has made war on the United States without declaring war." Late news developments and commentary. An army transport has been torpedoed thirteen hundred miles west of San Francisco. An unidentified warship is firing on Pearl Harbor. Finally, Lum and Abner, originally broadcast December 7, 1942, 83 years ago, The Golden Era Discussion Club. Lum is planning to start "The Pine Ridge Golden Era Discussion Club." He plans to win a set of encyclopedias from "Information Please."Thanks to Richard G for supporting our podcast by using the Buy Me a Coffee function at http://classicradio.streamCheck out Professor Bees Digestive Aid at profbees.com and use my promo code WYATT to save 10% when you order! Find the Family Fallout Shelter Booklet Here: https://www.survivorlibrary.com/library/the_family_fallout_shelter_1959.pdfhttps://wardomatic.blogspot.com/2006/11/fallout-shelter-handbook-1962.html
As originally broadcast on December 7, 2022.An hour devoted to the broadcasts of December 7, 1941, including a broadcast of HV Kaltenborn News from that date, and an address from the National Commander of the American Legion. Original theme music for this hour by Savfk (www.youtube.com/savfkmusic www.facebook.com/savfkmusic)
In this episode of the US Navy History Podcast, Dale and Christophe commemorate Pearl Harbor Day, focusing on the personal, lesser-told stories from December 7, 1941. They explore the human experiences of sailors, marines, nurses, airmen, and civilians during the attack, offering insights into the emotional and psychological impact of the event. The script also delves into the harrowing efforts of survivors and rescue teams, the rapid salvage and rebuilding operations, and the lasting legacy of resilience and unity forged that day. The episode concludes with reflections on the broader significance of Pearl Harbor, emphasizing its enduring influence on the US Navy and the nation.
This weekend is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and we will never forget, nor should you.
Join correspondent Tom Wilmer on Oahu at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii aboard the “Mighty Mo”.
Christine Kuehn knew hardly anything about her father's family. But when a mysterious letter reaches her doorstep in 1994, it kicks off a 30-year journey uncovering her family's Nazi history, and their role in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Ed Miklavic was one of 12 children and he ended up joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940 because he tagged along with his brother and a friend to the Army recruiter. But Ed was better qualified than both of them. This was before the U.S. entered World War II, and the Army didn't even have a current uniform to give Miklavcic. Nonetheless, he headed out west for training and was stationed at Pearl Harbor's Wheeler Field leading up to the Japanese attacks on December 7, 1941.In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Miklavcic tells us what his duties were before the attacks, how the attacks unfolded for him on December 7, and what he saw at Wheeler Field once the attacks were over.Miklavcic also describes his service on Iwo Jima. He explains why he came ashore days later than expected, what he saw when he landed, and his assignment at the airfields. He shares what it was like trying to dig and build in the black ash sand of Iwo Jima and to deal with Japanese mortar attacks and nighttime raids. He also remembers the iconic flag raising atop Mount Suribachi.Finally, Miklavcic stresses the importance of remembering the service and sacrifice of all who have fought, bled, and died for our nation.
MERCHANDISE NOW ON SALE THROUGH 12/31 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE THROUGH 12/31 On their fourth annual remembrance of Pearl Harbor, the lads hop in their B-17's and throw Los Angeles into chaos as they cover Steven Spielberg's notorious 1979 WWII flop: 1941. Topics include the duality of Jon Belushi, the real-life horror of the Zoot Suit Riots, and the difficulties of delivering a punchline when everyone around you is screaming. Media Referenced in this Episode: 1941. Dir. Steven Spielberg. 1979 “Civilian Casualties: Pearl Harbor”. National Park Service. Last updated September 18th, 2024. “How Pearl Harbor created a climate of fear” by Daniel Greene. CNN. December 7th, 2016. “Inn Owner Tells of Shelling; SUBMARINE SHELLS A CALIFORNIA PLANT U.S. MAINLAND SHELLED” by The New York Times. February 24th, 1942. Remember Pearl Harbor! By Thomas Blake Clark. Modern age books. 1942. Steven Spielberg's 1941 | The Making Of. “The 1942 Battle of L.A.” by Scott Harrison. The Los Angeles Times. February 23rd, 2017. TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com Interstitial: “Something Special” // Written and performed by A.J. Ditty // Music: “Inkwell Hell” by Kristopher Maddigan
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was hit with fire, chaos, and a surprise attack that should have shattered the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Instead, it produced some of the wildest, most unlikely heroes in American history. In this episode, Ben Thompson is joined by Navy veteran and comedian Rob Mayfield to break down the stories of the men who refused to fold - from mess attendant Doris “Dorie” Miller dropping enemy planes with a .50-cal he'd never been trained to fire, to two hungover fighter pilots who rolled out of bed, ignored every order, and took on the entire Japanese strike force, to the boatswain who literally dove into the harbor to keep a battleship from going down. It's Pearl Harbor like you've never heard it - intense, unbelievable, and absolutely badass.
Episode DescriptionDreaming of a Hawaiian vacation but not sure where to start? In this episode of All Things Travel, hosts Ryan and Julie wrap up their three-budget series by exploring the islands in three completely different ways—proving that paradise is accessible no matter your budget.What You'll DiscoverJoin travel advisors Ryan and Julie as they break down three distinct Hawaiian vacation experiences for a family of four, each offering unique adventures across the islands:Budget-Friendly Oahu Adventure (Around $155/person/day) Experience the best of Waikiki without breaking the bank. Stay at the Aqua Aloha Surf Waikiki with free breakfast, explore iconic sites like Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor, and discover why Oahu offers the biggest bang for your buck. Learn how to maximize free and low-cost activities while still capturing that authentic Hawaiian spirit.Moderate Two-Island Experience (Around $300/person/day) Ready to see more? This 8-10 day journey combines the energy of Oahu with the relaxation of Maui. From Pearl Harbor passport tours and catamaran snorkel cruises to the legendary Road to Hana and Molokini Crater, discover how to experience Hawaii's must-do activities while staying at quality resorts like the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki and Sheraton Maui.Luxury Multi-Island Escape (Under $700/person/day) Indulge in 10-12 days of pure Hawaiian luxury with stays at Four Seasons properties in Oahu, plus your choice of the Big Island or Maui. Enjoy private island tours, chartered catamarans, helicopter rides over dramatic sea cliffs, VIP luau experiences, and exclusive cultural programs. Learn why the Big Island's Volcanoes National Park is an absolute must-see.Episode HighlightsWhy Oahu is perfect for budget-conscious travelersThe best free and low-cost activities across the islandsSmart strategies for keeping food costs manageable in HawaiiPrivate vs. group tour options: when to splurgeInter-island flight planning tipsThe ultimate Hawaii activity recommendation from experienced travel advisorsWhether you're planning your first Hawaiian getaway or returning for another taste of aloha, this episode delivers practical insights and real pricing to help you craft your perfect island adventure.Bonus: Hear where Julie's heading next—a magical Disney Christmas trip with family and clients!Ready to start planning your Hawaiian escape? The travel advisors at Wonder and Beyond Travel are here to help create your one-of-a-kind journey.Support the showLove the podcast? Help us continue to create great travel content by supporting the show. You can do that here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1197029/supporters/new Ready to plan your vacation? Most families are confused and overwhelmed when planning a vacation. We work with you to plan a trip perfect for your family. Saving you time, money, and stress! Visit our website www.allthingstravelpodcast.com and click on "Plan Your Next Vacation" Join the travel conversations and the fun in our Facebook Page and Instagram Page! Please share the show with your travel buddies!! Click this link and share the show! Never miss an episode and help us take you to the top with us by following and leaving a 5-Star review on your favorite podcasting app!
In this the first comprehensive treatment of Pearl Harbor since the early 1990s, respected Pacific War naval historian Mark E. Stille traces the road to war and the Japanese attack itself. Stille challenges the conventional narrative that Japan's sneak attack was brilliantly planned and well executed.
The story of the USS Indianapolis and the men who served aboard her is one that spans the entire pacific theater of WW2. She was in the fight from the jump, she was off the coast of Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She took part in some of the most well known battles during the island hopping campaign to drive the Japanese back toward their home islands. And in 1945 she undertook the top secret mission to transport critical components for construction of the atomic bomb Little Boy on the island of Tinian. After sailing unescorted from Pearl to Tinian she headed for Guam before being sent alone, yet again, to the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan. She never made it. At midnight on July 30th, 1945 she was struck by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine and sunk in around 12 minutes. 300 men went down with the ship and 800 went into the water. The men that made it off the ship were met with a new set of horrors, total darkness, lack of fresh water or food, no rescue in sight and hundreds of sharks. They fought for 5 days as the Navy somehow missed one of their most decorated ships not showing up in harbor. This is the story of the men that lived through the nightmare. Support the show
Pearl Harbor, the turning point in American history. Long before December 7, 1941, the collision between two Pacific powers had already begun. Manchuria had fallen to Imperial Japan in 1931, marking the start of Japan's empire push across China. The United States, publicly neutral, watched war spread while trying to stay out of global conflict. But by 1941, diplomacy broke down. After Japan moved into French Indochina, the U.S. answered with crippling oil embargoes that threatened Japan's military ambitions, leaving its leaders convinced war was the only path to secure resources like those in the Dutch East Indies.On November 26, 1941, a strike fleet built around six carriers under Admiral Chuichi Nagumo slipped into the Pacific Ocean under radio silence, heading toward a target few considered possible: Hawaii. In Washington, leaders knew war was imminent through broken diplomatic codes, but nothing pinpointed the exact time or place. At Pearl Harbor, defenses were relaxed, planes parked tight at airfields, and anti-aircraft crews off rotation—ready for sabotage, not annihilation.At 7:55 a.m., Commander Mitsuo Fuchida signaled the raid with “Tora! Tora! Tora!”, unleashing a two-hour nightmare. Torpedoes smashed hulls, bombs detonated steel, and Battleship Row burned. Pilots attacked at sunrise, one timing mistake putting the rising sun directly in American defenders' view, and later claims even surfaced that the glare briefly impaired their approach. The result was devastating—and unifying. But decades later, the question remains a ghost story wrapped in cipher smoke: did the U.S. government know more than it said?Tonight, around the digital campfire, we explore the lead-up, the attack, and the theories www.patreon.com/theconspiracypodcast
This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall dig into the morass that is the British “problem” in Malaya following the Japanese invasion. Just before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched the Invasion of Malaya, landing on several beaches and quickly moving inland. British colonial troop's reaction to the Japanese advance was both slow and improper, leading to cataclysmic defeats at Jitra, Slim River and Muar, in December 1941, and January 1942. By the time the Japanese have beaten the Brits back at Mura, they are poised to make their final devastating run to Singapore. The Malayan campaign, as expertly described by Jon, remains the worst military defeat in the long and storied history of the British Army. Tune in to hear all about the debacle. #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam
Air Force veteran Cami Gage shares her journey from competing in track and cross country at the Air Force Academy to becoming a professional triathlete and coach. After her military career, Gage found deeper purpose in coaching adaptive and wounded veteran athletes, helping them overcome physical and psychological barriers through organizations like the Air Force Winter Warrior program and Semper Fi & America's Fund. In this episode, she discusses the power of breathwork, mental regulation, and the fulfillment that comes from guiding others to achieve what they never thought possible. She reflects on the importance of continuing service, mental health and gratitude — and why showing up for people matters more than ever.Also in this episode, a chat about Pearl Harbor's legacy, discussing the future of the USS Arizona, the continuing impact of service from those lost in the attack and more.
This week’s episode of The Chuck ToddCast dives into the full spectrum of Donald Trump’s political chaos — from a deadly Venezuela boat strike that jolted Congress awake to an explosive shooting in Washington, D.C., where Trump delivered the most divisive response imaginable. Chuck breaks down how the shooter’s surprising CIA ties, Trump’s immediate “blame game,” and his increasingly politicized rhetoric toward the military risk putting service members in harm’s way. He examines Trump’s contradictory foreign policy moves, including pardoning a cocaine-trafficking former Honduran president and a billionaire fraudster, all while saber-rattling toward Venezuela and relying on Roger Stone as his unofficial “pardon broker.” With Republicans bracing for a wave of resignations and watchdog committees gearing up for investigations, Chuck argues that the founders never intended the pardon power to be used this way — and that a constitutional fix may now be essential. Then, editor of The Dispatch, Sarah Isgur joins Chuck for a sweeping conversation about the Supreme Court, constitutional design, and the modern dysfunction of Congress. Sarah argues that SCOTUS is the only institution still operating as the founders intended—and with two major cases on the docket, the Court could soon reshape the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches. She and Chuck examine how the activist class has abandoned Congress, why long-term challenges like climate change require legislation rather than court battles, and how a dramatically expanded House—potentially 1,200 members or more—could restore true representation. They dig into how the collapse of traditional parties, the rise of communications-focused lawmakers, and the outsize influence of small states have all warped American governance. The conversation then widens into history, culture, and political “what-ifs”—from Ken Burns’ Revolutionary War documentary to the chaotic post-Lincoln era, to the tantalizing possibility that a surviving President Garfield might have accelerated civil rights by a century. Chuck and Sarah compare Obama to Chester Arthur, debate whether Democrats learned the wrong lessons from Trump, and revisit the alternate timelines of Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and the Tea Party. They close with a provocative question: Should the DOJ be structurally separated from the executive branch? And, more fundamentally, should it be far easier to amend the Constitution for a modern nation of 300 million people? Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to December 7th, 1941 when FDR addressed the nation via radio after Pearl Harbor, and traces the history of media fragmentation throughout the decades. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and gives his college football update. Go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Got injured in an accident? You could be one click away from a claim worth millions. Just visit https://www.forthepeople.com/TODDCAST to start your claim now with Morgan & Morgan without leaving your couch. Remember, it's free unless you win! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 02:00 We got the full spectrum of Trump this week 02:45 Venezuela boat strike has awoken congress from its slumber 03:15 Pete Hegseth could take the fall for war crime strike 04:00 Resignation of head of SouthCom was a flashing red light 05:45 Two national guardsmen shot in Washington D.C. 06:45 Trump’s response to shooting was most divisive possible 07:30 Surprising that shooter was Afghan employee of CIA 08:45 It’s likely shooter was mentally unstable & something triggered him 09:30 Trump immediately went into “blame game” mode after shooting 10:15 Trump’s entire political currency is division 11:00 Trump’s politicization of military risks putting target on their back 12:00 Trump blames Biden’s vetting, but administration rarely vets anything 12:45 Trump gave away everything U.S. won in Afghanistan to Taliban 14:30 Every president in the 21st century has screwed up Afghanistan 15:45 Trump tried to weaponize the shooting for political gain 17:30 Pay attention to what Trump does, not what he says 18:15 Trump pardons cocaine trafficking ex president of Honduras 19:00 Trump threatens war with Venezuela over drugs, then gives this pardon?? 20:00 Trump threatens voters of Honduras over their election 20:45 Roger Stone has become Trump’s pardon merchant 21:45 Pardon was direct result of Roger Stone’s lobbying 22:15 Trump has normalized pardoning of convicted felons 24:15 Trump pardons executive guilty of 1.6B fraud scheme 25:15 Trump’s pardons are far more corrupt than prior president’s pardons 27:30 We need a constitutional amendment to change the pardon power 28:30 Founder imagined congress would prevent abuse of pardon power 29:15 We’ll likely see 2-4 retirements per week in congress through December 30:45 Senate Armed Services committee will do thorough investigation of strike 32:15 Trump is likely to give an illegal order w/ military action in Venezuela 33:45 Trump’s coalition wanted less military intervention overseas 39:30 Sarah Isgur joins the Chuck ToddCast 41:00 SCOTUS is the only institution functioning as founders intended 41:30 SCOTUS has 2 cases that could rebalance other two branches 42:45 SCOTUS may strengthen executive while empowering congress 45:00 What if SCOTUS gives Trump everything he wants? 46:30 Activist class has given up or ignored congressional authority 47:30 You need legislation to address long term problems like climate change 49:00 The house needs to be expanded to make it more representative 51:15 The house should have 1200+ members 52:45 We replaced political parties with high dollar special interests 53:30 Members aren’t attending town halls, they’re posting on social media 56:00 The two leaders of each chamber run congress, not committee chairs 56:45 Legislators are frustrated with the broken nature of congress 58:00 Members aren’t hiring legislating staff, they hire comms staff 59:30 Boebert, AOC, MTG would be backbenchers without comms 1:01:00 Small states are getting far too much influence electorally 1:04:00 The constitution is a good ballast if we follow it and regularly amend it 1:05:00 Ken Burns was gutsy to make a doc on the American revolution 1:06:30 If you want 300 million people to follow a law, it should take time to pass 1:08:30 Death By Lightning was too short to tell the whole story 1:10:30 “Manhunt” really painted a picture of Andrew Johnson 1:11:30 Lincoln assassination was meant to upend Lincoln's administration 1:12:15 Holiday reading list 1:13:30 End of 19th century was a weird time for the U.S. presidency 1:15:30 Rehnquist’s book comments on Bush v Gore through 19th century lens 1:17:15 Thomas Jefferson impeached justices in order to get a SCOTUS rubber stamp 1:18:00 Chuck’s project to create a scripted TV show about Garfield & reconstruction 1:19:15 George Washington wanted D.C. to be the biggest port city on east coast 1:22:00 1860-1865 was a fascinating time for the city of Washington DC 1:23:30 If Garfield lived we might have gotten the Civil Rights Act 100 years sooner 1:25:00 Parallels between Obama and Chester A. Arthur presidencies 1:26:00 Democrats learning from Trump that action matters over process 1:27:00 Dems gutted their bench during Obama years 1:28:00 Obama endorsing Clinton was a massive mistake for the Democratic Party 1:30:30 GOP voters realized the “nice” candidate like Romney couldn’t win 1:32:00 Without “bridgegate”, Chris Christie may be president instead of Trump 1:33:30 Chris Christie is a wildly talented politician, but mismanaged era with his shot 1:35:00 The Tea Party energy in GOP could have derailed Christie’s ambitions 1:36:15 Christie derailed Carly Fiorina’s campaign in 2016 1:37:30 Should DOJ be detached from the executive branch? 1:40:00 Founders never specified how many justices should be on SCOTUS 1:42:45 Ford pardon was a huge mistake, created protected political class 1:44:15 Where to find Sarah’s work 1:45:30 It should be easier to pass constitutional amendments 1:49:00 Chuck’s thoughts on interview with Sarah Isgur 1:49:45 ToddCast Time Machine - December 7th, 1941 1:50:30 The shock of Pearl Harbor is almost gone from living memory 1:51:00 Pearl Harbor showed the power of shared media experience 1:52:00 Radio was the height of communal media 1:52:15 December 1945, FCC gave massive expansion of FM radio 1:53:00 FM created the first fragmentation of media 1:54:00 Summer of 1980, Walkman introduced personalization in media 1:55:30 The Walkman was the beginning of mass media fragmentation 1:57:30 By 1990, 40% of minutes listened in the car weren’t radio 1:58:15 Radio never recovered from the Walkman 1:58:45 Streaming and social are diminishing TV & cable 1:59:30 For Americans under 60, almost all media consumption is on smartphones 2:02:00 Ask Chuck 2:02:15 Love for “The Barn” and the book recommendations 2:05:30 Is there any hope for a return to respectful bipartisan discourse? 2:11:15 Should we consider distributing presidential roles & diluting power? 2:16:00 What benefits do members of congress receive after leaving? 2:21:00 College football updateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week’s episode of The Chuck ToddCast dives into the full spectrum of Donald Trump’s political chaos — from a deadly Venezuela boat strike that jolted Congress awake to an explosive shooting in Washington, D.C., where Trump delivered the most divisive response imaginable. Chuck breaks down how the shooter’s surprising CIA ties, Trump’s immediate “blame game,” and his increasingly politicized rhetoric toward the military risk putting service members in harm’s way. He examines Trump’s contradictory foreign policy moves, including pardoning a cocaine-trafficking former Honduran president and a billionaire fraudster, all while saber-rattling toward Venezuela and relying on Roger Stone as his unofficial “pardon broker.” With Republicans bracing for a wave of resignations and watchdog committees gearing up for investigations, Chuck argues that the founders never intended the pardon power to be used this way — and that a constitutional fix may now be essential. Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to December 7th, 1941 when FDR addressed the nation via radio after Pearl Harbor, and traces the history of media fragmentation throughout the decades. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and gives his college football update. Go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Got injured in an accident? You could be one click away from a claim worth millions. Just visit https://www.forthepeople.com/TODDCAST to start your claim now with Morgan & Morgan without leaving your couch. Remember, it's free unless you win! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 02:00 We got the full spectrum of Trump this week 02:45 Venezuela boat strike has awoken congress from its slumber 03:15 Pete Hegseth could take the fall for war crime strike 04:00 Resignation of head of SouthCom was a flashing red light 05:45 Two national guardsmen shot in Washington D.C. 06:45 Trump’s response to shooting was most divisive possible 07:30 Surprising that shooter was Afghan employee of CIA 08:45 It’s likely shooter was mentally unstable & something triggered him 09:30 Trump immediately went into “blame game” mode after shooting 10:15 Trump’s entire political currency is division 11:00 Trump’s politicization of military risks putting target on their back 12:00 Trump blames Biden’s vetting, but administration rarely vets anything 12:45 Trump gave away everything U.S. won in Afghanistan to Taliban 14:30 Every president in the 21st century has screwed up Afghanistan 15:45 Trump tried to weaponize the shooting for political gain 17:30 Pay attention to what Trump does, not what he says 18:15 Trump pardons cocaine trafficking ex president of Honduras 19:00 Trump threatens war with Venezuela over drugs, then gives this pardon?? 20:00 Trump threatens voters of Honduras over their election 20:45 Roger Stone has become Trump’s pardon merchant 21:45 Pardon was direct result of Roger Stone’s lobbying 22:15 Trump has normalized pardoning of convicted felons 24:15 Trump pardons executive guilty of 1.6B fraud scheme 25:15 Trump’s pardons are far more corrupt than prior president’s pardons 26:30 We need a constitutional amendment to change the pardon power 29:30 Founder imagined congress would prevent abuse of pardon power 28:15 We’ll likely see 2-4 retirements per week in congress through December 29:45 Senate Armed Services committee will do thorough investigation of strike 31:15 Trump is likely to give an illegal order w/ military action in Venezuela 32:45 Trump’s coalition wanted less military intervention overseas 38:45 ToddCast Time Machine - December 7th, 1941 39:30 The shock of Pearl Harbor is almost gone from living memory 40:00 Pearl Harbor showed the power of shared media experience 41:00 Radio was the height of communal media 41:15 December 1945, FCC gave massive expansion of FM radio 42:00 FM created the first fragmentation of media 43:00 Summer of 1980, Walkman introduced personalization in media 44:30 The Walkman was the beginning of mass media fragmentation 46:30 By 1990, 40% of minutes listened in the car weren’t radio 47:15 Radio never recovered from the Walkman 47:45 Streaming and social are diminishing TV & cable 48:30 For Americans under 60, almost all media consumption is on smartphones 51:00 Ask Chuck 51:15 Love for “The Barn” and the book recommendations 54:30 Is there any hope for a return to respectful bipartisan discourse? 1:00:15 Should we consider distributing presidential roles & diluting power? 1:05:00 What benefits do members of congress receive after leaving? 1:10:00 College football updateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What happens when you discover that the reason your father never speaks about his parents or his childhood growing up in Hawaii is because his mother, father, and older sister were Nazi spies? And not just any Nazi spies–the spies sent by Berlin to help the Japanese surveil Pearl Harbor.Christine Kuehn was living a quiet suburban life when a mysterious letter in 1994 pierced that bubble, sending her on a thirty-year quest to discover the truth behind a horrendous family secret kept hidden for half a century. The result is the new book, FAMILY OF SPIES. Following a career in journalism, public relations, and nonprofits, Christine now lives in Maryland with her husband, Mark Schiponi, who helped her research the book for 30 years.In this conversation, Greg Olear talks to the couple about how the book came to be, the long and unusual research process, and the emotional impact of learning the truth.Buy the book:https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250344465/familyofspies/Support the podcast:gregolear.substack.com Make America Great Gatsby Again!https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=tSubscribe to The Five 8:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhACheck out ROUGH BEAST, Greg's new book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Peter Boyles talks with Christine Kuehn (Author of "Family of Spies") and her husband Mark Schiponi. The story of How the Book Came to Be, Explosive Family Secrets, An Affair with Joseph Goebbels, Spying for the Japanese, How long was the Pearl Harbor attacked planned for?. And much more! LINK TO YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/live/DV_mat-BCqY?si=jJT3zZh3JOEUw_ipSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comMichel is a human rights lawyer and author. He's currently a lecturer at Columbia Law School, where he teaches national security law and jurisprudence. He's also a contributing editor at Lawfare. His latest book is The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower — an accessible, racy account of the run-up to D-Day, along with fascinating snapshots of his entire career.For two clips of our convo — why FDR picked Eisenhower to orchestrate D-Day, and why he's the antithesis of Trump — head to our YouTube page.Other topics: Michel raised by a single mom in Allentown who became an Allentown DA; his scholarship to Oxford for computational linguistics; his work on human rights and defending Gitmo detainees; John Adams and due process; the Dish's coverage of torture; the ways Eisenhower was misunderstood; his self-effacement; his religious pacifist parents; his abusive dad; his Horatio Alger story; Kansas conservatism; the knee injury that ended his football stardom at West Point; the scandal that nearly ended his career early on; the scarlet fever that killed his son; his early friendship with Patton; his intellectual mentor Fox Conner; Ike a protege of MacArthur until they soured on each other; his moderation and suspicion of ideology; his workaholism and stoicism; Pearl Harbor; his uneasy relationship with FDR; unexpectedly picked over George Marshall to lead D-Day; his knack for building consensus; winning over Monty and the other Brits; Churchill's antics and his opposition to a Normandy landing; haunted by Gallipoli; the Atlantic Wall; Rommel; shouting matches at the Cairo Conference; Ike's quiet charisma; the alleged affair with his Irish driver Kay Summersby; and how the weather nearly ruined D-Day.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: George Packer on his Orwell-inspired novel, Shadi Hamid on US power abroad, Simon Rogoff on the narcissism of pols, Jason Willick on trade and conservatism, Vivek Ramaswamy on the right, and Arthur Brooks on the science of happiness. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.
Hello everyone, a big thanks to all of you who joined the patreon and voted for this to be the next episode, you all are awesome. This is a part 2 about Hirohito's responsibility during the wars of 1931-1945, so if you have not heard part 1, perhaps go do so, or maybe you just don't care about 1931-1940 and just want to hear about the 1941-1945 period, hell by all means enjoy. So last time we kind of left it on a bit of a dramatic cliff hanger. I spoke about Emperor Hirohito's involvement in what was called at the time the “China Incident”. It was not an official declared war until December of 1941. We left off in 1940, Hirohito was struggling with a situation of juggling two things: 1) how the hell to finally end the China War 2) how to do it without receiving horrible ramifications from the international world. On July 22nd of 1940, Konoe was back and formed a second cabinet. Notably General Hideki Tojo went from vice to army Minister during this time. If you guys ever want a podcast on Hideki Tojo, let me know, he is one rather bizarre figure that's for sure. Konoe tackled his job by holding an imperial HQ government liaison conference. For 90 minutes everyone worked on a new national policy designed to exploit the international situation, IE: Germany bulldozing europe. The result was a document on national policy dated July 27th. It shifted focus to the “southern area” IE: southeast asia and the Pacific if the China war did not end quickly. Its basis was to exploit the foreign nations that had their hands full in europe, France, Britain and the Netherlands. It called for an invasion of French Indochina to establish bases to launch assaults against the Dutch East Indies for natural resources if diplomatic means failed. It acknowledged if the Dutch East Indies were seized through military means, Japan would also seek to fight Britain, but not the US, instead Japan would prepare for a possible war with the Americans. To all of this Hirohito approved. The army also kept pressuring its desire to ally with Germany. Throughout 1939-1940 Hirohito rejected this idea, not because of any ideological differences, it was because of Germans anti aggression pact with the USSR. If Japan were to ally to Germany, Hirohito wanted it to be mutually to fight the USSR. The Navy likewise opposed allying to Germany because they believed it would force Britain and the US to increase their aid to Chiang Kai-shek. However the Blitzkrieg changed everything. Everyone was shocked at how well Germany was doing. Prince Chichibu repeatedly argued with Hirohito to change his mind over the alliance idea. Then suddenly the Navy changed their mind and began favoring an alliance. This changed came about in June of 1940 when the France fell. The Navy changed their mind based on a few factors, a major component was the belief if Germany and the USSR were allied, than at least Japan would not have to worry about the USSR and could focus on the pacific. Both the IJA and the IJN believed Hitler would soon take Britain and thus there was a huge desire to join the new international order on the winning side. A third factor was a new clause in negotiations with Germany and Japan, that if they allied Japan would not automatically be drawn into a war with Britain against her will. Some in the navy also believed perhaps Germany could help their diplomatic situation with the Americans. So the army and navy were now both demanding an alliance with Germany, it was all up to hirohito. At an imperial briefing on June 19th of 1940, Hirohito asked chief of staff Prince Kan'in and the Army Minister Hata “At a time when peace will soon come in the European situation, will there be a deployment of troops to the Netherlands Indies and French Indochina?” Such as question revealed Hirohito's perception at the time that Germany was on the verge of victory and that he was gradually considering the deployment of troops in French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies as neither parent nation were in a position to defend their holdings. In regards to the China war, the Japanese sought to end leaks of materials getting into China from places like Hong Kong. Hirohito received reports indicated Britain would not accept closing the movement of materials into China via Hong Kong. The military acknowledged it would probably be required to invade Hong Kong and thus declare war on Britain. Upon hearing of this Hirohito remarked “Should that happen, I am sure America will use the method of an embargo, don't you agree?” To this his lord of the privy seal, Kido reassured him stating “the nation must be fully resolved to resist to proceed cautiously and not to be dragged into events precipitated by the overseas agencies”. Konoe's second cabinet resolved to end the China war, construct a new order in greater east asia and to complete war preparations as a national defense state. On July 27th at a liaison conference a document was adopted, affirming a course of advancing to the south and to ally with Germany. Japan would incorporate the Dutch East Indies, British Malaya and other resource rich areas of Southeast Asia into its new order while simultaneously bolstering its relationship with the Axis states. After hearing and reading everything, Hirohito sanctioned it all. Thus Hirohito had sanctioned the preliminary actions that would set Japan into a collision course with the US. In September Japan began sending troops into northern French Indochina after concluding its Tripartite alliance with Germany and Italy. Now Hirohito was briefed beforehand by Army Minister Tojo and other chiefs of staff about securing bases in northern French indochina. Hirohito agreed to this under the belief acquiring such bases would stop more leaked materials going into China and thus contribute to the fall of Chongqing. But Hirohito also sanctioned it under the full knowledge it was preparing the Nanshin-ron advance and that carried a risk of going to war with Britain and by proxy the US. Naturally he wanted to thwart any war breaking out with the US by it seems his officials had convinced him they could manage most of their plans without aggravating the US. On July 29th with the German offensive aimed at finishing off Britain, Hirohito summoned his chiefs and vice chiefs of staff to the imperial HQ. He began to question the prospects of war with the US. Prince Fushimi replied “[u]nless we complete our domestic preparations, particularly the preparation of our material resources, I do not think we should lightly start war even if there is a good opportunity to do so.” Hirohito then asked if “the Army were planning to occupy points in India, Australia, and New Zealand.” But overall Hirohito seemed to be the most concerned about the US, Germany and the USSR. “Could Japan, obtain a victory in a naval battle with the United States as we once did in the Battle of the Japan Sea? . . . I heard that the United States will ban exports of oil and scrap iron [to Japan]. We can probably obtain oil from other sources, but don't you think we will have a problem with scrap iron?” In regards to the USSR “If a Japan-Soviet nonaggression treaty is made and we advance to the south, the navy will become the main actor. Has the army given thought to reducing the size of its forces in that case? . . . How do you assess the future national power of Germany? . . . Both Germany and the Soviet Union are untrustworthy countries. Don't you think there will be a problem if one of them betrays us and takes advantage of our exhaustion fighting the United States?I]t seems as though you people are thinking of implementing this plan by force because there is a good opportunity at this moment for resolving the southern problem even though some dangers are involved. . . . What does a good opportunity mean? [To this question Sawada replied: “For example, if a German landing in England commences.”] In that case wouldn't the United States move to aid Britain? . . . Well, I've heard enough. I take it, in short, that you people are trying to resolve the southern problem by availing yourselves of today's good opportunities.” You can tell Hirohito understood the very real threat of an Anglo-American alliance and was very cautious. It seemed to Hirohito, that his officials were trying to take the limelight off the abysmal situation in China but emphasizing a southern advance. Well Americans response to the Japanese movement into northern French indochina was to see it as a direct threat. Something I have not paid much attention to was Hirohito's decision making being the direct result of trying to mediate between competing entities, ie: the IJA and IJN. At this point in time the IJA and IJN top officials had the power to simply stop governmental functions from occurring altogether whenever they were displeased with a decision. As you can imagine the IJA and IJN were also competing for resources and political power. Thus Hirohito spent a lot of time and effort trying to formulate decisions that at a minimum kept the governance going. In the end Hirohito sanctioned Imperial HQ army order number 458, ordering the area army to begin the entry into French Indochina. Thus once again Hirohito sanctioned aggression aboard. America began what it called a “moral embargo” on aircraft parts, scrap iron and aviation gasoline. This was one of many gradual steps America took to incrementally sanction Japan, while aiding China to keep it bogged down. Japan's direct response was joining the Axis with a clause “to assist one another with all political, economic and military means if attacked by a power at present not involved in the European War or in the Sino-Japanese conflict”. This clause was designed specifically to check Britain and the US. Hirohito knew this was a turning point carrying the possibility of war with the US. Later he would blame some officials and even his brothers Chichibu and Takamatsu, but not his own actions sanctioning the Axis pact. Speaking of his brothers, at this time Chichibu got severely ill with tuberculosis and as a result retired from active public life, now Prince Takamatsu stood as next regent. Thus Takamatsu would begin reading reports and advise Hirohito. Takamatsu like Chichibu approved the Tripartite Pact and found his brother Hirohito's performance lacking. Meanwhile Britain responded to the Tripartite pact by opening up the Burma road and America made a loan to Chiang Kai-shek. The Soviets came to Japan for a neutrality pact and sweetened the deal by offering Soviet coal and oil concessions in North Sakhalin. Hirohito ratified the treaty on April 25th of 1941. 5 weeks later on June 5th, the Japanese ambassador to Berlin, General Oshima Hiroshi reported to Hirohito and the high command that Hitler was about to invade the Soviets. The Army high command sprang into action drafting plans to open a war with the Soviets while simultaneously advancing south into French Indochina. But many in the military also sought to wait until the time was ripe, and a rift emerged. Operation barbarossa commenced and on June 23rd the IJN high command gave their opinion that Japan should seize all military bases and airfields in southern French Indochina even at the risk of war with Britain and America. Can you say boy that escalated quickly? There was obvious temptation to invade Siberia towards Lake Baikal, but at the same time the western powers were tightening sanctions on Japan, she needed resources. At this point Japan had been stuck in China for 4 years and 5 months, the army had expanded from 17 divisions totalling 250,000 men in july of 1937 to 51 divisions at 2.1 million men in December 8th of 1941. On July 2nd, 10 tens into Operation barbarossa, Konoe summoned an imperial conference to debate actions going forward. The consensus was that southern French Indochina needed to be taken and that it probably would not provoke the US going to war with Japan. Hirohito sanctioned it and on July 30th made a major operational intervention by advising General Sugiyama to build up forces in Manchukuo to prevent the Soviet Far Eastern Army. Japan negotiated with Vichy France to allow Japanese troops to occupy southern parts of French Indochina. What was to be originally just 40,000 IJA forces turned into 185,000 and in response America increased sanctions and began preparing the Philippines for war. Roosevelt froze Japanese assets in the US on July 26th and by August the 1st a total embargo of oil and gasoline exports to Japan. Konoe's cabinet, the military high command, pretty much everyone was shocked by how harsh the economic sanctions were. Emperor Hirohito told Sugiyama to halt mobilizing forces in Manchukuo and the army basically dropped all plans of attacking the USSR. A month after the US oil embargo suddenly the army had changed its mind to go all in on the southern advance. Britain likewise began sanctions against Japan and both Britain and the US managed to convince the Dutch to follow suit by refusing to sell oil to Japan. The Dutch even took it a step further and followed Americans lead in freezing Japanese assets. Konoe was in full panic mode, be believed his ambassador to washington was a moron and sought to go in person to speak to Roosevelt. At 11:40am on August 4th Konoe spoke to Hirohito about the plan, but Washington kept making up excuses prolonging any meeting from taking place. Meanwhile Washington was building up its navy, and the IJN were stressing, in the words of Admiral Takagai “As time passes and this situation continues, our empire will either be totally defeated or forced to fight a hopeless war. Therefore we should pursue war and diplomacy together. If there is no prospect of securing our final line of national survival by diplomatic negotiations, we must be resolved to fight.” Hirohito understood the predicament full well, that each day Japan was wasting its oil reserves, if they were to strike it had to be quickly. On september 3rd at a liaison conference it was decided Japan was to prepare for a war against the US, UK and Netherlands while simultaneously pursuing diplomacy. If diplomacy failed by early October the decision for war would be made. Konoe presented everything to Hirohito on September 5th and requested an imperial conference on the matter. The most important decision of his life was about to be made. Now take a second to feel the moment. Germany's invasion of the USSR was in its 6th week and not producing a decisive victory; Britain was still in the fight and the Japanese ambassador to London reported back Britain would allow Japan to maintain its great power status and exert influence in asia if they stayed out of the European War and “re-examined their current policy”. An olive branch. Hirohito had options is what I am arguing. He could stale things, he could mobilize units into Manchukuo to simply threaten the Soviet border, he could simply stay out of new wars, even it the China war would get worse, but try to profit from the situation in Europe. He could stop the southern advance, lose the chance to seize the resource in southeast asia, but perhaps the US, UK and Netherlands would lift some sanctions. After speaking back and forth with Konoe while scolding Sugiyama here is a bit of their conversation: Emperor: In the event we must finally open hostilities, will our operations have a probability of victory? Sugiyama: Yes, they will. Emperor: At the time of the China Incident, the army told me that we could achieve peace immediately after dealing them one blow with three divisions. Sugiyama, you were army minister at that time. . . . Sugiyama: China is a vast area with many ways in and many ways out, and we met unexpectedly big difficulties. . . . [ellipses in original] Emperor: Didn't I caution you each time about those matters? Sugiyama, are you lying to me? Nagano: If Your Majesty will grant me permission, I would like to make a statement. Emperor: Go ahead. Nagano: There is no 100 percent probability of victory for the troops stationed there. . . . Sun Tzu says that in war between states of similar strength, it is very difficult to calculate victory. Assume, however, there is a sick person and we leave him alone; he will definitely die. But if the doctor's diagnosis offers a seventy percent chance of survival, provided the patient is operated on, then don't you think one must try surgery? And if, after the surgery, the patient dies, one must say that was meant to be. This indeed is the situation we face today. . . . If we waste time, let the days pass, and are forced to fight after it it is too late to fight, then we won't be able to do a thing about it. Emperor: All right, I understand. [He answered in a better mood.] Konoe: Shall I make changes in tomorrow's agenda? How would you like me to go about it? Emperor: There is no need to change anything. There is no need to change anything. Konoe grabbed Hirohito for a private audience afterwards and tried to get Hirohito to revise the outline, but Hirohito ignored this. Hirohito at that point could have stopped or at least slowed down the countdown to all out war. Hirohito instead did not want to displease the pro-war factions in his military, perhaps he saw them as a threat to his authority. Hirohito was not at all pleased with the policy plan. When he was shown in on september 5th, he looked extremely irritated and blew up on Sugiyama and the army high command as a whole. 20 minutes before the Imperial conference on September 6th, Hirohito spoke with his lord of the privy Kido and told him he was going to raise some questions at the meeting. Kido told him that it would be best to leave the questions at the very end, basically he was advising to allow for things to go through. Thus Hirohito sat through the meeting and sanction the preparations for war. Here is a conversation between Hirohito and the Chiefs of the general staff: Emperor: You may go ahead and mobilize. But if the Konoe-Roosevelt talks go well, you'll stop, won't you? Chief of the General Staff: Indeed, your majesty, we will. Emperor: I will ask you one more time: Is there any possibility that the north [that is, the Soviet Union] may move against us while we are engaged in the south [emphasis added]? Chief of the General Staff: I cannot say that will absolutely not occur. However, because of the season it is inconceivable that large forces will be able to attack us Meanwhile Konoe's deadline to reach a diplomatic resolution with the US was fast approaching. On October 13th Hirohito told Kido “In the present situation there seems to be little hope for the Japan–U.S. negotiations. If hostilities erupt this time, I think I may have to issue a declaration of war.” The next day Konoe held his last cabinet meeting and Army minister Tojo took the lionshare of talking: For the past six months, ever since April, the foreign minister has made painstaking efforts to adjust relations [with the United States.] Although I respect him for that, we remain deadlocked. . . . Our decision was “to start the war . . . if by early October we cannot thoroughly achieve our demands through negotiations.” Today is the fourteenth. . . . We are mobilizing hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Others are being moved from China and Manchuria, and we have requisitioned two million tons of ships, causing difficulties for many people. As I speak ships are en route to their destinations. I would not mind stopping them, and indeed would have to stop them, if there was a way for a diplomatic breakthrough. . . . The heart of the matter is the [imposition on us of] withdrawal [from Indochina and China]. ...If we yield to America's demands, it will destroy the fruits of the China Incident. Manchukuo will be endangered and our control of Korea undermined And so Konoe resigned two days later, but before he did his last official action was to recommend Prince Higashikuni to succeed him, in fact he got Tojo to do the same. Prince Higashikuni was deemed capable of controlling both the Army and Navy. And what did Hirohito say to this? He said no, and appointed Hideki Tojo. Why? As going back to the beginning of this series, to protect the Kokutai. He did not want a member of the royal family to hold the seat as Prime Minister during a time when war might be declared, a war that Japan might lose, which would toss the responsibility onto the imperial house. It was a threat to the Kokutai. Hirohito chose Tojo because Tojo was 100% loyal subject to the emperor. Tojo was the perfect fall guy if one ever existed. Between November 8-15th, Hirohito received a full rundown of the Pearl Harbor surprise attack plan and sanctioned it. The deadline to reach a diplomatic solution with the US was set for midnight December 1st. Hirohito ever since the Mukden Incident had expressed fear that not taking warlike actions, not pumping up the kokutai or not suppressing dissent would jeopardize the imperial system of government and damage the imperial institution itself. For Hirohito domestic conflicts were more dangerous than external ones, because they carried the risk of eroding the monarchy. As the time approached for his finally decision on declaring war, Hirohito requested a last round of discussion. The carriers enroute to Pearl harbor departed on november 27th, while on December 1st, 19 leaders, the entire Tojo cabinet and Emperor met. Tojo pulled a rather cheeky maneuver, he reported the response from America, the famous Hull note by stating “the United States . . . has demanded that we withdraw troops from all of China [emphasis added],” but in fact, Hull had used only the word “China.” Hara asked “I would like to know,whether Manchukuo is included in the term ‘China'? Did our two ambassadors confirm this point?” Togo's reply to this was “However . . . the American proposal [early in the negotiations on] April 16 stated that they would recognize the state of Manchukuo, so Manchukuo would not be part of China. . . . On the other hand . . . there has been a change in their position . . . they look upon Chungking as the one and only legitimate regime, and . . . they want to destroy the Nanking regime, [so] they may retract what they have said previously” A nonsensical gibberish answer, intentionally done to make everyone think America did in fact include Manchukuo, thus forcing everyone to see the demands as impossible to comply with. Togo finished the meeting : “Once His Majesty decides to commence hostilities, we will all strive to meet our obligations to him, bring the government and the military ever closer together, resolve that the nation united will go on to victory, make an all-out effort to achieve our war aims, and set his majesty's mind at ease. I now adjourn the meeting.” Hirohito simply nodded. Sugiyama remarked that the emperor did not show the slightest sign of anxiety, in fact he looked like he was in a good mood. Hirohito's naval aid Jo Eiichiro wrote minutes on the first day of the pacific war, recording the emperors actions. 4 A.M. (Japan time): Japan issued a final ultimatum to the United States. 3:30 A.M.: the Hawaiian surprise attack was successful. 5:30 A.M.: Singapore bombed. Great results. Air attacks on Davao, Guam, Wake. 7:10 A.M.: All the above was reported to the emperor. The American gunboat Wake was captured on the Shanghai front. The British gunboat Petrel was sunk. From 7:15 to 7:30 the chief of the Navy General Staff reported on the war situation. At 7:30 the prime minister informally reported to the emperor on the imperial rescript declaring war. (Cabinet meeting from 7 A.M.). At 7:35 the chief of the Army General Staff reported on the war situation. At 10:45 the emperor attended an emergency meeting of the privy council. At 11:00 A.M. the imperial rescript declaring war was promulgated. 11:40 A.M. Hirohito conferred with Kido for about twenty minutes.] At 2:00 P.M. the emperor summoned the army and navy ministers and bestowed an imperial rescript on them. The army minister, representing both services, replied to the emperor. [At 3:05 P.M. the emperor had a second meeting with Kido, lasting for about twenty minutes.] At 4:30 P.M. the chiefs of staff formally reported on the draft of the Tripartite (Germany-Italy-Japan) Military Pact. At 8:30 P.M. the chief of the Navy General Staff reported on the achievements of the Hawaii air attack. . . . Throughout the day the emperor wore his naval uniform and seemed to be in a splendid mood. Hirohito believed Germany would win, thus if with their help he believed Japan could thwart off the US until a negotiated peace. Having made his choice, Hirohito devoted himself to presiding over and guiding the war to victory at all costs. He was a extremely cautious person, every single campaign he looked for what could go wrong, made worse case scenario predictions and was very suspicious of reports from his high officials. He was notably very harsh and critical on said high commanders. Although he did not visit the war theaters as did other commanders in chief, he exercised and controlled influence on theater operations, both in the planning and execution whenever he chose to do so. As was the same case with the China war before it, he issued the highest military orders of the Imperial HQ, performed audited conferences and led to decisions transmitted in his name. He received generals and admirals to the imperial palace who gave full reports of the battlefront. He visited bases, battleships, various army and naval headquarters. He inspected military schools, you know the full shebang. After 26 months of war, the naval air force had lost 26,006 aircraft, nearly a third of its total power, thousands of veteran pilots were dead. Hundreds of thousands of tons of warship was sunk, the merchant and transport fleet was crippled. Late 1943 saw the Americans turning the initiative of the war, Japan was on the defensive. Guadalcanal had been the major turning point. During the staled battle for the philippines, Hirohito pressed upon Army chief of staff Sugiyama to increase troop strength to knock out Bataan. The problem persisted, on February 9th and 26th Hirohito pressed Sugiyama again about getting more troops to take Bataan. Hirohito was confronted with the prisoner of war issue after the doolittle raid. When the pilots were caught, Togo initially opposed executions, but many in the IJA sought all 8 men executed. Hirohito chose to intervene and commuted the execution of 5 out of the 8. Why just 5, no one knows to this day, but its theorized it was to demonstrate his benevolence while simultaneously giving a bit of what the army wanted. The CBI theater took the lionshare of his attention in 1942, he continuously pressed up Sugiyama when a final blow would be delivered against Chongqing. When the Midway disaster occurred, Hirohito was given a full report of what happened, but he chose to hid the extent of the loss from the IJA. In fact in response to the Guadalcanal campaign he was heard once asking “I wonder if this is not the start of the AmericanBritish counteroffensive?” He urged his commanders to increase offensive activities and to toss all weapons possible at the enemy, because Japan needed more time to secure its reserves of vital oil, rubber and iron. When he heard the first report of the Ichiki detachment being wiped out, he simply stated “I am sure it [Guadalcanal] can be held.” With numerous reports pouring in about the men dying from tropical disease and starvation, Hirohito kept demanding greater efforts from them. Hirohito continuously applied pressure on his naval and land commanders to recapture the island. On September 15th, November 5th and November 11th he called for more IJA troops and aircraft to be allocated to it. Sugiyama was nervous about sending more IJA pilots as they were inexperienced in transoceanic combat and he sought to reinforce the north china army to hit Chongqing. Hirohito demanded it a second time and Sugiyama replied the IJA had deployed its air power instead to New Guinea and Rabaul. Hirohito continuously hammered the issue despite the high level commanders disagreeing with it. By late november it was clear guadalcanal was a lost cause. At an imperial HQ conference on December 31st of 1942, the chiefs of staff reported they would cancel the attempts to recapture guadalcanal. Hirohito sanctioned it but stated “It is unacceptable to just give up on capturing Guadalcanal. We must launch an offensive elsewhere.” Hirohito forced the issue and it was decided the new strategic points would be in the solomons north of New Georgia and the Stanley range on New Guinea. Hirohito in fact threatened not to authorize the withdrawal of men from Guadalcanal until such a plan was made. Hirohito would go on to oppose the withdrawal from the Munda airfield on New Georgia since it contradicted the new defensive line. As the defensive perimeter in the central and northern solomons was crumbling, Hirohito continued to demand the navy fight decisive battles to regain the initiative so ships could begin transports supplies to the countless soldiers trapped on islands without them. When Hirohito heard of the navy's failure to reinforce Lae on March 3rd he stated “Then why didn't you change plans immediately and land at Madan? This is a failure, but it can teach us a good lesson and become a source of future success. Do this for me so I can have peace of mind for awhile.” “Do this for me” would become his signature message. In August of 1943 as the fall of the solomons progressed, Hirohito lambasted “Isn't there someplace where we can strike the United States? . . . When and where on earth are you [people] ever going to put up a good fight? And when are you ever going to fight a decisive battle?Well, this time, after suffering all these defeats, why don't you study how not to let the Americans keep saying ‘We won! We won!'[emphasis added]”” Hirohito berated his chiefs of staff and in the face of mounting defeats he remained undismayed, rigidly self disciplined and aggressive as ever. When he received a report on September 21st of 1943 that the allies were heading for Finschhafen he replied “Being ready to defend isn't enough. We have to do the attacking.” When the Americans destroyed the main naval anchorage at Truk forcing the navy to evacuate it, leaving behind numerous tanks, the dream of fighting one great decisive naval battle in the central pacific was over. On February 21st of 1944, Hirohito took the unprecedented action to force Sugiyama to resign so Tojo could assume his position, alongside that of army minister and prime minister. He did this to end dissent. Hirohito and Tojo oversaw the haymaker attempts in 1944, like operation Ichi-go and the Imphal campaign fall into ruins. It looked like the Philippines, Taiwan, Okinawa, the Bonin islands and eventually the home islands would be invaded. When Saipan fell, the home islands had at last come into range of the dreaded B-29 Super flying fortresses. Hirohito had warned Tojo “If we ever lose Saipan, repeated air attacks on Tokyo will follow. No matter what it takes, we have to hold there.” For two days his chiefs of staff explained the dire situation on Saipan was hopeless, but Hirohito ignored their advice and ordered Admiral Shimada to recapture it, the first department of the navy general staff immediately poured themselves into the problem. Day and night they worked, until a draft plan was created on June 21st, 3 days later the combined fleet gave opposition. Tojo and Shimada formally reported to Hirohito the recapture plan needed to be canceled. Hirohito refused to accept the loss of Saipan and ordered his chief aide General Hasunuma to convene in his presence the board of field marshals and fleet admirals. They all met on the 25th, upon which they all unanimously stated the reports indicating Saipan was a lost cause were valid, Hirohito simply told them to put it in writing and he left the room. Hirohito finally decided to withdraw his support of Tojo, allowing Tojo's numerous enemies to take down his cabinet on July 18th 1944. But Hirohito was undaunted in determination to steal victory from the allies. Imperial HQ on October 18th ordered a decisive naval battle and the battle of Leyte Gulf was it. After the war Hirohito would go on the record stating “Contrary to the views of the Army and Navy General Staffs, I agreed to the showdown battle of Leyte thinking that if we attacked at Leyte and America flinched, then we would probably be able to find room to negotiate.” This statement shows the facts as they were, Hirohito and his chiefs of staff forced the field commander, General Tomoyuki Yamashita to engage the American invasion force in a place Yamashita did not want to fight nor prepared adequate defenses. It was a horrible loss. The Kamikaze attacks increased as Japan's desperation wore on. On new years day of 1945 Hirohito inspected the special last meal rations given to departing kamikaze units. Iwo Jima fell. Okinawa remained, and Hirohito lashed out “Is it because we failed to sink enemy transports that we've let the enemy get ashore? Isn't there any way to defend Okinawa from the landing enemy forces?” On the second day of Okinawa's invasion Hirohito ordered a counter landing by the 32nd army and urged the navy to counterattack in every way possible. It was a horrible failure, it cost the lives of up to 120,000 Japanese combatants, 170,000 noncombatants. The Americans lost 12,500 killed and 33,000 wounded. An absolute bloodbath. Konoe re-entered the stage writing to Hirohito pleading with him to order a surrender because from his perspective “The Soviet Union is Japan's biggest threat. Defeat was inevitable, but more to be feared than defeat was the destruction of the Kokutai. Sue quickly for peace, before a Communist revolution occurred that would make preservation of the kokutai impossible”. Hirohito was taken aback by this, as he shared his military's hope that the Soviets would help Japan reach a peace settlement. So he rejected the advice of Konoe. Hirohito remarked “If we hold out long enough in this war, we may be able to win, but what worries me is whether the nation will be able to endure it until then.” Then Japan's intelligence units reported the Soviets were going to break the neutrality pact and join the war once the Germans were done. Meanwhile Tokyo was turned to rubble on March 9th 1945 by 334 B-29's dropping firebombs, 40% of the capital was destroyed, up to 100,000 were dead. Hirohito remained undaunted. 60 Japanese cities were leveled by firebomb campaigns. Europe's war finished. Then the battle for Okinawa was lost, suddenly Hirohito began looking for ways to end the war. On June 22nd Hirohito personally informed the supreme war leadership council his desire to see diplomatic maneuvers to end the war. A special envoy was sent to Moscow, while Hirohito publicly issued an imperial rescript ordering the nation “to smash the inordinate ambitions of the enemy nations and achieve the goals of the war”. B-29's began dropping leaflets with joint declarations issued by the US, UK and China requesting the citizens of Japan demand their government surrender. Prefectural governors, police chiefs and officers began submitting home ministry reports on the rapid deterioration of the nations spirit. Germany signed the unconditional surrender documents on May 7th and 8th of 1945, Japan was alone. Newly installed President Truman declared on May 8th, Japan's surrender would not mean the extermination or enslavement of the Japanese people, but the unconditional surrender principles remained unaltered. The Japanese meanwhile were awaiting word from the Soviets. The Americans unleashed their first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th of 1945 killing up to 140,000 people. Then on August 8th the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and began an invasion of Manchuria. On August 9th the second atomic bomb hit Nagasaki killing around 40,000 people. Thus began the surrender clock as I like to say. After the first atomic bomb, Hirohito said and did nothing about the surrender terms. Hirohito then authorized Togo to notify the world on August 10th that Japan would accept the allied terms of surrender with one condition “that the said declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a Sovereign Ruler.” The next day, Secretary of State Byrnes replied by alluding to the subordination of the emperors authority to the supreme commander of the allied powers. It was ambiguous as hell. The Japanese leaders erupted into arguments, and on August 14th, Hirohito went before a microphone and recorded his capitulation announcement which aired on August 15th to all in Japan, they surrendered. Why did it take so long? The peace talks between the Japanese and Soviets went on through June, July and early August. Japan offered the Soviets limited territorial concessions and they refused to accept the envoy on July 22nd because the Japanese were being too ambiguous in their terms. There was continuous back and forth between the intelligence of Moscow and Japan trying to figure out the stance of the other, but then Stalin heard about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, he was shocked and ordered an invasion of Manchuria in response. In the meantime the Japanese were tossing all sorts of concessions at Moscow, they stated they would allow Japanese to be used as forced laborers in Siberia, a form of reparation as it were, that they would demobilize the military and so on. The response was the invasion of Manchuria. Hirohito knew prior to the bombing of Hiroshima that the cabinet was divided on accepting the Potsdam terms. Hirohito also knew he and he alone could unify governmental affairs and military command. Why then did he wait until the evening of August 9th to surrender? The reality of the matter is its complicated, numerous variables at play, but let me try to pick at it. The people of japan under the firebomb campaigns were becoming hostile towards the military, the government and many began to criticize the emperor. Hirohito was given reports from the Home Ministry from governors and police chiefs all over Japan revealing people were speaking of the emperor as an incompetent leader who was responsible for worsening the war situation. Does that sound like a threat to the Kokutai? People were starving en masse, the atomic bomb is flashy, but what really was killing the Japanese, it was starvation. The home islands were blockaded and the sea approaches mined as pertaining to the optimally named “operation starvation”. Hirohito knew full well how bad his people were suffering but he did not surrender for so long. After Hiroshima was bombed, Hirohito delayed for 2 days before telling Kido at 10am on August 9th “quickly control the situation, the Soviet Union has declared war and today began hostilities against us”. Now here is a piece of Hirohito's surrender proclamation to the citizens of Japan “Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are We to save the millions of Our subjects, or to atone Ourselves before the hallowed spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors? This is the reason why We have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the Joint Declaration of the Powers... The hardships and sufferings to which Our nation is to be subjected hereafter will be certainly great. We are keenly aware of the inmost feelings of all of you, Our subjects. However, it is according to the dictates of time and fate that We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is unsufferable ”. Hirohito wanted to obfuscate the issue of accountability, to prevent expressions of strife and anger and to strengthen domestic unity around himself, to protect and raise the kokutai. Did you know there was a rescript of this proclamation that was made to the entire IJA and IJN? Yes Emperor Hirohito gave out two different proclamations for surrender, here is what the armed forces heard. “ Now that the Soviet Union has entered the war against us, to continue . . . under the present conditions at home and abroad would only recklessly incur even more damage to ourselves and result in endangering the very foundation of the empire's existence. Therefore, even though enormous fighting spirit still exists in the Imperial Navy and Army, I am going to make peace with the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, as well as with Chungking, in order to maintain our glorious national polity”. The proclamation does not speak of the atomic weapons, but emphasizes the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Hirohito was presented as a benevolent sage and an apolitical ruler that had ended the war. Hirohito sought to justify the surrender upon the bombs to the public, but did he believe so, did his armed forces believe so? People debate to this day why the surrender occurred, I love the fact there are two message offered because both are true. Hirohito's decision to surrender was based on numerous variables, the atomic bombs, the invasion of Manchuria by the soviets, but above all else, what really was important to the man, the emperor, the god? The kokutai. The Soviets were more of a threat to the kokutai, thus Hirohito jumped into the arms of the Americans. The language between the Americans and Japanese in the communications for unconditional surrender were ambiguous, but Hirohito and the high commanders knew there was zero chance of the kokutai surviving if the Soviets invaded Japan, perhaps the Americans would allow it to continue, which is just what they ended up doing. The entire purpose of this series would to emphasize how Hirohito definitely had a active role in the war of 1931-1945, he had numerous occasions where he could put the hammer down to stop the situation from escalating. But in the end when his back was against the wall, he did what he did to cling on to the Kokutai. I shall leave you with this. On August 12th, as Hirohito came to inform the imperial family of his decision to surrender, Prince Asaka asked him whether the war would continue if the Kokutai could not be preserved, what do you think he said? “Of Course”.
Japan's nominal unconditional surrender was conditional on retaining Emperor Hirohito, who was deemed helpful for managing troops and legitimizing the US occupation. General MacArthur, haunted by the Bataan Death March, conducted immediate, swift trials via military commissions against two former enemies. MacArthur initially planned a short, six-month trial focused only on aggression at Pearl Harbor.
For this interview I was joined by Mark Stille to discuss his latest book, Pearl Harbor: Japan's Greatest Disaster. https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/pearl-harbor-9781472865311/ Contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to advertise on History of the Second World War. History of the Second World War is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices