Re: [LoGH] Pearl Harbor (off-topic about war movies)
Michael Mikulis (mmikulis@hotmail.com)
Tue, 29 May 2001 18:05:15
>Ummm, there WERE Japanese that WERE acting as spies. There were a few
>Japanese-American spies, but as the film did point out the Pearl Harbor
>leadership were unrealisitically worried about Japanese saboteurs and
>ironically deployed in an easy-to-destroy configuration.
We simply didn't expect the Japanese to attack Hawai. guam, Wake Island,
the Philippines, and even alaska were easier to reach targets.
>There WERE 29 planes shot down, which isn't a ringing American victory
>by any means but they did fight back. I don't think the film portrayed
>Pearl as a victory- way too many dead bodies and torn up battleships for
>anybody to get that impression. Yup the Japanese squashed a bunch of
>slow 21-knot battleships that would prove to only be good for shore
>bombardment, but didn't destroy the logistical infrastructure that made
>Pearl Harbor a valuable base.
>
>Yeah, Hollywood always makes movies to satisfy their need, which is to
>make money. The US brass want to regain pride and save face by making a
>propagandistic film? Hmmm, if anything the US brass would want to put
>out a film saying that we should rebuild the US Navy so there WON'T be
>anymore Pearl Harbors.
There can't be anymore Pearl Harbors since the capital of the U.S. Pacific
Fleet has been moved back to San Diego. Roosevelt moved it to Pearl Harbor
in order to send a message of strength to the Japanese and effectively put
it in striking range. also, the U.S. keeps most of its fleet out of port
now anyways.
If the U.S. military wanted to make a propaganda film, they would have made
Midway: 3 U.S. carriers (plus crusiers and destroyers) verses 4 Japanese
carriers and 10-12 battleships and four small carriers (plus alot more
cruisers and destroyers). We only lost one carrier (and alot of fighters)
and destroyed four of the best Japanese carriers and several heavy cruisers.
Actually, the Japanese made several major errors at Pearl Harbor. They
failed to destroy the sub, fueling, or reapir facilties. four of the eight
battleships hit were repaired. and the Japanese commander Nagumo tended to
defer to his aide whom was extremely cautious. And the Japanese carrier
squadron didn't try to find the american carriers.
In LOGH terms, you give a surprise attack to an aggressive commander like
Mittermeyer or even Bittenfeld and not a cautious commander.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
