HillcrestBlog by "San Diego News Service" (619) 757-4909

"San Diego News Service" covers hard news, features and reviews for local and national print media, and maintains, "HillcrestBlog." Address: 3907 Georgia St., #15, San Diego 92103-3548. Our editor is Leo E. Laurence, J.D., Copy Ed.: Martin Brickson. Member: Society of Professional Journalists, Latino Journalists of California. Call news tips to (619) 757-4909 (days), Nights: (619) 220-8686 (fax also). leopowerhere@msn.com Copyright 2008 by San Diego News Service

Saturday, December 6, 2008

SECRET OF PEARL HARBOR ATTACK REVEALED

PHOTO SHOWS a Navy carrier entering San Diego Bay. It's twice the size of the ships sunk during the Dec. 7th attack on Pearl Harbor. Imagine it being sunk in the bay during an aerial attack!

An Exclusive Report by our editor . . .

San Diego -- 11/6/08 -- On December 7th, we will Remember Pearl Harbor, as the rallying cry of World War II said so succinctly.

Some believe President Roosevelt knew of the attack in advance, but did nothing because he wanted the United States to get involved in the war in Europe; which was an unpopular idea among Americans at the time.

This special report will not go into that, but will reveal - for the first time - one of the reasons why our major ships (e.g., the U.S.S. Arizona, a battleship that was sunk by the Japanese attack and is now the center of the memorial in Hawaii) didn't get underway during the attack.

One of my classmates in law school was a retired Navy captain.

One of his assignments when he was on active duty was as the commanding officer of the Hawaii Naval Station.

That gave him access to the highly classified archives on the Dec. 7th attack.

He was a history buff, and so he dug into the secret reports and records, "in the performance of his official duties," of course.

He was shocked to discover facts that had never been released, publicly, before.

He learned that most of the senior officers of the major ships docked at Pearl Harbor had been invited to a cocktail party.

The party was located high in the hills above the harbor, so navigating the narrow streets to and from the party's venue was difficult, at best.

The booze flowed very freely.

In a carefully orchestrated maneuver, those senior officers proceeded to get very drunk. Driving back to their ships, from high in the hills, was out of the question once the Japanese attack started.

And, here's a critical factor: the junior officers who remained on duty at the ships back in the port, didn't have the experience or expertise to get their ships underway. Training of Naval officers has subsequently changed.

Had the numerous ships, many of them major, had their senior officers on board; they could have gotten underway and avoided being sunk while moored to the dock.

But, those senior officers were at a cocktail party and got drunk.

And, who was the host of that cocktail party: Japan!

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Phone news tips to (619) 757-4909 or e-mail to leopowerhere@msn.com, Copyright 2008 by San Diego News Service

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