December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor

Part 1: “By God, It Is Destiny That Brings Me Here!”

Part฀I 33 ฀p a r t ฀ 1 “By God, It Is Destiny That Brings Me Here!” Washington,฀Tokyo,฀Manila,฀and฀Singapore:฀ September,฀1940–June,฀1941 part฀I 4/2/03,฀1:03฀PM 33 Part฀I 34 part฀I 4/2/03,฀1:03฀PM 34 Part฀I 35 REACTING TO THE JAPANESE INCURSION฀into฀northern ฀French฀Indochina,฀Secretary฀of฀State฀Cordell฀Hull฀called฀a฀press฀conference ฀on฀September฀23,฀1940.฀In฀understated฀diplomatic฀language,฀Hull฀ indicated฀the฀State฀Department’s฀“disapproval”฀of฀the฀upsetting฀of฀the฀status฀ quo฀in฀Indochina,฀which฀he฀alleged฀had฀been฀accomplished฀“under฀duress.”฀ Three฀ days฀ later,฀ President฀ Roosevelt฀ retaliated฀ by฀ ordering฀ a฀ complete฀ embargo—effective฀ October฀ 16—on฀ the฀ export฀ of฀ scrap฀ iron฀ and฀ steel฀ except฀to฀Great฀Britain฀and฀Latin฀America,฀a฀step฀viewed฀as฀the฀strongest฀ sanction฀to฀date฀against฀Japan,฀which฀was฀almost฀totally฀dependent฀on฀the฀ United฀States฀for฀such฀material฀for฀its฀war฀machine.1 ฀฀฀฀ Although฀ senior฀War฀ Department฀ officers฀ were฀ equally฀ concerned฀ about฀the฀threat฀posed฀by฀the฀newly฀signed฀Tripartite฀Pact฀linking฀Japan฀ with฀Germany฀and฀Italy฀and฀the฀Japanese฀occupation฀of฀northern฀Indochina ,฀they฀did฀not฀view฀such฀developments฀as฀necessitating฀a฀revision฀of฀ long-standing฀War฀Department฀policy฀toward฀defense฀of฀the฀Philippines.฀ On฀October฀10,฀the฀War฀Plans฀Division฀chief฀addressed฀a฀memo฀to฀Chief฀ of฀Staff฀George฀C.฀Marshall฀recommending฀that฀the฀United฀States฀adopt฀ the฀second฀of฀three฀alternatives฀regarding฀defense฀of฀the฀Philippines:฀withdrawing ฀American฀forces฀from฀the฀islands฀as฀soon฀as฀possible฀and฀establishing ฀a฀new฀defense฀line฀along฀the฀180th฀meridian,฀just฀west฀of฀Midway฀ Island.฀The฀three฀options฀in฀the฀policy฀paper฀were฀the฀same฀as฀those฀put฀ forward฀on฀August฀21,฀1939,฀that฀Marshall฀had฀failed฀to฀act฀upon.2 ฀฀฀฀ Secretary฀of฀War฀Henry฀L.฀Stimson฀met฀with฀Marshall฀in฀mid-October฀ to฀discuss฀the฀question฀of฀the฀defense฀of฀the฀Philippines.฀The฀seventythree -year-old฀Stimson,฀who฀in฀1927–29฀served฀as฀governor฀general฀of฀the฀ Philippines,฀had฀only฀recently฀been฀appointed฀to฀his฀new฀post,฀and฀thus฀ was฀a฀newcomer฀to฀War฀Department฀policy฀toward฀the฀islands.฀However,฀ part฀I 4/2/03,฀1:03฀PM 35 Part฀I 36 his฀views฀on฀the฀subject฀were฀similar฀to฀those฀of฀his฀naval฀counterpart,฀ Navy฀Secretary฀Frank฀Knox,฀with฀whom฀he฀had฀discussed฀the฀Far฀East฀situation ฀on฀October฀2.฀Stimson฀and฀Knox฀agreed฀that฀“soft฀methods฀would฀ be฀no฀good฀at฀this฀time”฀for฀dealing฀with฀Japan.฀Abandoning฀the฀Philippines ฀ran฀counter฀to฀their฀views฀on฀the฀Far฀East฀situation.฀Knox฀and฀his฀ Navy฀Department฀were฀particularly฀concerned฀about฀the฀weak฀defenses฀ for฀the฀naval฀base฀at฀Manila,฀where฀the฀Asiatic฀Fleet฀would฀be฀stationed฀ beginning฀in฀mid-October฀after฀shifting฀from฀Shanghai.3 ฀฀฀฀ As฀early฀as฀February,฀1940,฀the฀navy฀had฀argued—in฀opposition฀to฀the฀ War฀Department฀position—that฀“even฀a฀minor฀increase”฀in฀army฀aviation฀ strength฀in฀the฀Philippines฀would฀suffice฀to฀deter฀Japan฀from฀attacking฀the฀ islands.฀Under฀pressure฀from฀both฀the฀navy฀and฀Maj.฀Gen.฀George฀Grunert฀ in฀the฀Philippines฀to฀provide฀some฀of฀the฀modern฀fighter฀planes฀Marshall฀ had฀ promised฀ the฀ Philippine฀ Department฀ commander฀ in฀ early฀ October,฀ Marshall฀and฀Stimson฀developed฀a฀plan฀to฀take฀over฀a฀shipment฀of฀sixty฀ Seversky฀ EP-1฀ pursuits฀ that฀ had฀ been฀ contracted฀ for฀ Sweden฀ and฀ send฀ forty-eight฀of฀them฀to฀the฀Philippines฀instead.฀On฀October฀18,฀Stimson฀ secured฀the฀president’s฀approval฀of฀the฀plan,฀despite฀the฀fact฀that฀the฀decision฀ ran฀counter฀to฀national฀policy฀not฀to฀reinforce฀the฀Philippine฀garrison.4 ฀฀฀฀ But฀who฀would฀fly฀the฀aircraft,฀which฀had฀been฀redesignated฀Republic ฀P-35As,฀a฀modification฀of฀the฀ships฀currently฀assigned฀to฀the฀Army฀Air฀ Corps?฀In฀October,฀1940,฀there฀were฀only฀nine฀pursuit฀pilots฀stationed฀ in฀the฀Philippines.฀The฀Army฀Air฀Corps฀chief,฀Maj.฀Gen.฀“Hap”฀Arnold,฀ initially฀resisted฀Marshall’s฀call฀for฀two฀of฀his฀few฀stateside-based฀pursuit฀ squadrons฀to฀be฀transferred฀to฀the฀Philippines,฀but฀on฀October฀16฀reluctantly ฀ directed฀ his฀ own฀ Plans฀ Division฀ to฀ prepare฀ a฀ plan฀ for฀ assigning฀ pilots฀from฀two฀pursuit฀squadrons฀in฀the฀General฀Headquarters฀Air฀Force฀ (GHQAF)฀to฀the฀Philippine฀Department.฀Arnold฀in฀turn฀asked฀Marshall฀ to฀authorize฀a฀compensatory฀increase฀in฀GHQAF฀strength.฀Two฀days฀later,฀ the฀1st฀Pursuit฀Group’s฀17th฀Pursuit฀Squadron,฀based฀at฀Selfridge฀Field,฀ Michigan,฀and฀the฀35th฀Pursuit฀Group’s฀20th฀Pursuit฀Squadron,฀based฀at฀ Hamilton฀Field,฀California,฀were฀ordered฀to฀depart...