December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor

Part 4: “I Shall Die Only for the Emperor, I Shall Never Look Back”

Part฀IV 255 ฀ p a r t ฀ i v “I Shall Die Only for the Emperor, I Shall Never Look Back” Washington,฀Pearl฀Harbor,฀Tokyo,฀Manila,฀Iba,฀ and฀Clark฀Field:฀December฀7–8,฀1941 part฀IV 4/2/03,฀1:05฀PM 255 Part฀IV 256 part฀IV 4/2/03,฀1:05฀PM 256 Part฀IV 257 IN WASHINGTON ON THE MORNING฀of฀Sunday,฀December฀7,฀ 1941,฀Navy฀and฀War฀Department฀officers฀were฀fretting฀about฀a฀Japanese฀ message฀that฀had฀just฀been฀intercepted.฀The฀Foreign฀Ministry฀was฀instructing ฀Ambassador฀Nomura฀to฀submit฀to฀Secretary฀of฀State฀Hull฀the฀fourteen -part฀message฀received฀earlier฀“at฀1:00฀p.m.฀on฀the฀7th฀your฀time.”฀ The฀ officers฀ feared฀ that฀ a฀ Japanese฀ attack฀ was฀ imminent฀ and฀ wanted฀ to฀send฀a฀warning฀immediately฀to฀all฀field฀commanders฀in฀the฀Pacific.฀ When฀Chief฀of฀Staff฀Marshall฀finally฀arrived฀at฀his฀office฀at฀about฀11:25,฀ he฀read฀the฀strange฀message฀and฀concurred฀with฀his฀anxious฀staff฀that฀it฀ must฀mean฀the฀Japanese฀would฀be฀striking฀American฀bases฀somewhere฀ in฀the฀Pacific฀on฀or฀just฀after฀1฀p.m.฀Washington฀time.฀But฀where?฀Some฀ thought฀it฀would฀be฀in฀the฀Philippines,฀others฀felt฀it฀might฀be฀Pearl฀Harbor .฀It฀was฀decided฀to฀send฀a฀warning฀message฀to฀the฀army฀commanders฀ of฀all฀four฀major฀Pacific฀installations:฀the฀Philippines,฀Hawaii,฀the฀Canal฀ Zone,฀and฀San฀Francisco.1 ฀฀฀฀ At฀12:05฀the฀first฀of฀the฀top-priority฀secret฀messages฀went฀out฀of฀the฀ War฀ Department฀ Message฀ Center฀ Code฀ Room฀ to฀ the฀ USAFFE฀ commander ฀in฀the฀Philippines.2 ฀Radiogram฀733฀informed฀MacArthur฀that japanese฀are฀presenting฀at฀one฀p.m.฀eastern฀standard฀time฀ today฀what฀amounts฀to฀an฀ultimatum฀also฀they฀are฀under฀ orders฀to฀destroy฀their฀code฀machine฀immediately฀stop฀ just฀what฀significance฀the฀hour฀set฀may฀have฀we฀do฀not฀ know฀but฀be฀on฀alert฀accordingly฀stop฀inform฀naval฀ authorities฀of฀this฀communication marshall part฀IV 4/2/03,฀1:05฀PM 257 Part฀IV 258 One฀hour฀and฀eighteen฀minutes฀after฀the฀warning฀message฀left฀Washington ฀for฀MacArthur,฀183฀Imperial฀Japanese฀Navy฀torpedo฀bombers,฀divebombers ,฀and฀carrier฀fighters฀were฀flying฀low฀over฀different฀coastal฀entry฀ points฀on฀the฀island฀of฀Oahu฀in฀the฀Hawaiian฀Islands.฀Elated฀that฀they฀ had฀achieved฀complete฀surprise,฀Comdr.฀Mitsuo฀Fuchida—the฀leader฀of฀ the฀strike฀group—told฀his฀radioman฀at฀7:53฀a.m.฀local฀time฀to฀tap฀out฀the฀ signal:฀“Tora,฀Tora,฀Tora.”฀Those฀code฀words฀informed฀Vice฀Adm.฀Chuichi฀ Nagumo,฀commander฀of฀the฀Pearl฀Harbor฀Striking฀Force฀aboard฀his฀flagship ฀Akagi,฀that฀Fuchida’s฀first฀wave฀had฀caught฀the฀U.S.฀Pacific฀Fleet฀at฀ Pearl฀Harbor฀unawares. ฀฀฀฀ Minutes฀later,฀the฀chief฀code฀officer฀aboard฀the฀Combined฀Fleet฀flagship ,฀anchored฀off฀Hashirajima฀in฀Japan’s฀Inland฀Sea,฀excitedly฀shouted฀over฀ the฀voice฀tube,฀“We฀have฀succeeded฀in฀surprise฀attack!”฀Thanks฀to฀a฀“skip”฀ caused฀by฀atmospheric฀conditions,฀he฀had฀picked฀up฀Fuchida’s฀signal,฀too.฀ The฀Combined฀Fleet฀staff฀officers฀all฀shook฀hands,฀“bursting฀with฀elation฀ and฀relief฀after฀their฀prolonged฀anxiety.”฀To฀an฀emotional฀Yamamoto,฀his฀ insistence฀on฀the฀need฀for฀the฀surprise฀attack฀had฀been฀vindicated.฀Sake฀ and฀dried฀squid฀were฀brought฀out฀to฀celebrate,฀followed฀by฀the฀exchange฀ of฀numerous฀toasts.3 In฀Tokyo,฀a฀relay฀of฀Fuchida’s฀“Tora,฀Tora,฀Tora”฀message฀was฀picked฀up฀by฀ the฀code฀officer฀in฀the฀message฀room฀at฀Imperial฀GHQ/Navy฀just฀after฀ Fuchida฀sent฀it฀at฀3:23฀a.m.฀December฀8฀Tokyo฀time.฀As฀elsewhere,฀it฀occasioned ฀wild฀jubilation฀among฀the฀staff฀officers.฀The฀news฀was฀particularly฀ welcome฀to฀the฀chief฀of฀the฀Planning฀Section,฀Capt.฀Sadatoshi฀Tomioka.฀ He฀would฀not฀need฀the฀revolver฀in฀his฀desk฀drawer฀after฀all. ฀฀฀฀ But฀what฀about฀the฀Malaya฀landings?฀Their฀timing฀was฀to฀be฀synchronized ฀with฀that฀of฀the฀Pearl฀Harbor฀attack,฀originally฀set฀for฀5:45฀a.m.฀ Hawaii฀time฀but฀pushed฀back฀two฀hours฀at฀the฀last฀minute฀because฀many฀ of฀Nagumo’s฀pilots฀were฀worried฀about฀the฀hazards฀posed฀by฀a฀pitch-dark฀ takeoff.฀Unfortunately,฀the฀Malaya฀force฀commander฀was฀not฀informed฀of฀ the฀timetable฀change฀for฀the฀Hawaii฀operation฀and฀thus฀continued฀to฀plan฀ his฀landings฀for฀1:15฀a.m.฀local฀time. ฀฀฀฀ It฀was฀early฀dawn฀when฀Imperial฀GHQ/Army฀received฀a฀priority฀telegram ฀from฀the฀commander฀of฀the฀Malay฀force’s฀2d฀Landing฀Group฀that฀ provided฀the฀anxiously฀awaited฀information.฀It฀informed฀the฀army฀staff฀ officers฀that฀the฀spearhead฀group฀of฀the...