I know this article is a day late, but it is amazing. In 1941, God was watching over America. I pray that He continues to do that today.<\/p>\n
Received in my email from a friend:<\/p>\n
On Christmas Day, 1941, Admiral Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked.\u00a0 As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, “Well Admiral, what do\u00a0you think after seeing all this destruction?”\u00a0
Admiral Nimitz’s reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice.\u00a0\u00a0Admiral Nimitz said, “The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America.\u00a0 Which do you think it was?” \u00a0\u00a0
Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, “What do mean by\u00a0saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever\u00a0made?\u00a0
\u00a0
Nimitz explained:<\/p>\n
Mistake number one<\/u>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. \u00a0Nine out\u00a0of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. \u00a0If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk–we would have lost 38,000 men instead\u00a0of 3,800.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mistake number two<\/u>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a\u00a0row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed\u00a0our dry docks opposite those ships.\u00a0 If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired.\u00a0 As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be\u00a0raised. \u00a0One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mistake number three<\/u>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. \u00a0One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0That’s why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or, God was taking care of America.\u00a0 …The first attack wave consisted of 183 planes. Army radar picked up the incoming planes but presumed they were the scheduled arrival of six U.S. B-17 bombers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n U.S. servicemen on the ground identified the invading planes as Japanese because of the \u201cmeatballs,\u201d what they called the large, red circle (the Rising Sun) on the bottom of Japanese planes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Japanese traveled 3,400 miles across the Pacific to execute their attack on Pearl Harbor. Ships and aircraft carriers were stationed approximately 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The United States’ aircraft carriers, the primary target of the attack, were not at the base at the time. Because of this, the Japanese canceled a planned second attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n There were eight battleships at Pearl Harbor that day, which included all the battleships of the U.S. Pacific fleet except for one (the Colorado). All eight U.S. battleships were either sunk or damaged during the attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The USS Arizona exploded when a bomb breached its forward magazine (i.e., the ammunition room). Approximately 1,177 U.S. servicemen died on board.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The day before the attacks, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel, nearly 1.5 million gallons. According to the History Channel, the Arizona continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil a day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After being torpedoed, the Oklahoma listed so badly that it turned upside down. A total of 429 crew died when the ship capsized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n To aid their airplanes, the Japanese sent in five midget subs to help target the battleships. The Americans sunk four of the midget subs and captured the fifth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The attacks came in two waves. At 7:53 a.m., the first bomb fell at the foot of the seaplane ramp at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese withdrew around 9:45 a.m.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When Japanese Commander Mitsuo Fuchida called out, \u201cTora! Tora! Tora!\u201d (\u201cTiger! Tiger! Tiger!\u201d) upon flying over Pearl Harbor, it was a message to the entire Japanese navy telling them they had caught the Americans totally by surprise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning. It led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim Dec. 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Of the eight battleships targeted during the attacks, all but two were eventually repaired and returned to the U.S. Navy\u2019s fleet. The USS West Virginia and the USS California had both sunk completely, but the Navy raised them, repaired them and reused them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I know this article is a day late, but it is amazing. In 1941, God was watching over America. I pray that He continues to do that today. Received in my email from a friend: On Christmas Day, 1941, Admiral … Continue reading
I’ve never forgotten what I read in that little book. \u00a0It is still an inspiration as I reflect upon it.\u00a0 In jest, I might suggest that because Admiral Nimitz was a Texan, born and raised in Fredericksburg, Texas — he was a born optimist.\u00a0
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But any way you look at it–Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n