Maybe he’s trying to make a comeback. Blow me down! We needsk hem!
Monthly Archives: March 2014
What Did FDR Know? – Part 1
Good day, everyone.
The more frequent readers of this blog, “Masako and Spam Musubi”, likely see that my main focus is on World War II and my family’s involvement on both sides of the Pacific. Although I definitely am not a historian by any means, stories here are based on family records supplemented by tidbits of historical “facts”.
And some of these historical facts are public knowledge…while some are kept or suppressed from public knowledge.
Some were destroyed.
The White House also has perhaps the most insurmountable power over what is written – or how events are presented to or withheld from the public. At times, this leads to the distrust of the very government the people have elected into power. This distrust continues today and arguably, the worst its been in our country’s history.
This is a knotty topic without a doubt…about FDR’s involvement – or even orchestration – in what happened during these critical years. But these factual conflicts have perplexed me for years. Conflicts between what we were taught versus what wasn’t.
I wish to express some facts here and in the next couple of stories about the Pacific war and allow you to come to your own conclusions about FDR. They will center around Pearl Harbor and the interment of my dad’s family in “war relocation centers”. Please note that entire books and research papers have been written on this general topic so my blog will do as best possible to reveal the facts involving FDR – before Pearl Harbor, immediately after and up to his death late in the war.
So… What did FDR know?
Let’s get into it, shall we?
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BACKGROUND
FDR was our only president to be elected to four terms in office. He passed away while serving his fourth term on April 12, 1945, just weeks before the surrender of Nazi Germany. The nation was distracted from the war for that moment. They mourned his passing. Indeed, there was great stress being President of the United States in time of World War. Some general background before I get into it:
- He was a politician.
- FDR was liked by a significant majority of Americans as proven by his being elected to a fourth term.
- He made a statement to America during his 1940 re-election campaign, “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign war.” (1)
- A pre-war Gallup poll disclosed 88% of those Americans polled opposed US involvement in the European war. Britain was fighting for her life. FDR supported isolationism publicly.
- Perhaps the best kept secret prior to Pearl Harbor and up to immediately after World War II ended was that an elite cryptology group (members of the US Army Signal Intelligence Service, or SIS) had broken the Japanese diplomatic code in early 1939. Any intelligence that was gathered was kept secret and under the cover name of “MAGIC”. (One huge single diplomatic source of detailed enemy information was Baron Hiroshi Oshima, Japan’s ambassador to Nazi Germany. Nearly all of Oshima’s messages from Berlin to Tokyo were intercepted and deciphered.) (2)
- Beginning in 1940 and then continuing, FDR and the League of Nations placed an economic embargo on Japan in reaction to their attacks in Asia. Items were added weekly to the embargo list – except for oil.
- In 1940, Tyler Kent, a 29 year old code clerk at the U.S. embassy in London, discovered secret dispatches between Roosevelt and Churchill. These revealed that FDR — despite contrary campaign promises — was determined to engage America in the war. Kent smuggled some of the documents out of the embassy, hoping to alert the American public — but was caught. With U.S. government approval, he was tried in a secret British court and confined to a British prison until the war’s end. FDR approved to carefully associate the term “German spy” to his name in a further coverup. (3)
- FDR authorized British and American military staff members to meet during January through March 1941; the purpose was to plan ahead military strategy in the event the U.S. entered war against Germany. They determined that Germany was to be first defeated, while the U.S. would stand on the defensive toward Japan in the Pacific.
- The Lend-Lease Bill was passed in March 1941, a major shift in FDR’s foreign policy.
- At the Nov. 25, 1941 White House conference, just weeks before Pearl Harbor, Secretary Stimson reported that FDR had said “The President said the Japanese were notorious for making an attack without warning and stated that we might be attacked, say next Monday, for example.” FDR knew historically that on three different occasions since 1894, Japan had made surprise attacks coinciding with breaks in diplomatic relations. (4)
- On November 29th, Secretary of State Cordell Hull secretly met with newspaper reporter Joseph Leib. Hull knew him and felt he was a news man he could trust. The Secretary of State handed him secret MAGIC copies concerning Pearl Harbor. Hull told him the Japanese were planning to strike Pearl Harbor and that FDR planned to let it happen. Due to the incredibility, only one newspaper published the story.
- On December 2, 1941, days before Pearl Harbor, Captain Johann Ranneft, a Dutch naval attaché in Washington, visited the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Two junior ONI officers pointed to a wall map and said, “This is the Japanese Task Force proceeding East.” (He was referring to Admiral Nagumo’s carrier strike force heading towards Pearl Harbor.) The officer had pointed to a spot midway between Japan and Hawaii. On December 6th, Ranneft returned and asked where the Japanese carriers were. He was shown a position on the map about 300-400 miles northwest of Pearl Harbor personally by Admiral Wilkinson, ONI chief. (5)
- The key battles and events during World War II post-Pearl Harbor from the American perspective were (NOTE: I had to center the bullet points below as WordPress does not allow you to use tab stops):
♦ The Battle of Coral Sea
♦ The Battle of Midway
♦ The Solomon Islands Campaign
♦ Battles for Pelileu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa
♦ The shootdown of Admiral Yamamoto.
(Flights to and from the shootdown point occurred before and
continued afterwards, solely to conceal the fact we broke their code.)
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The above tries to give you an at altitude look down on what was happening prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the ensuing stories, I hope to present “things to think about”… Things like secret codes, espionage, internment and even D-Day in a roundabout way. Things that FDR knew then orchestrated actions as a politician should.
I hope you will stay tuned… then come to your own conclusions as to what FDR knew.
To be continued… Part 2 is here.
NOTES:
(1) However, the following comment was not part of his speech: Of course, we’ll fight if we’re attacked. If someone attacks us, then it isn’t a foreign war. – Yale University
(2) There were several codes being used by the Japanese Army and Navy in addition to the diplomatic code mentioned above. All were broken by US cryptologists. The Japanese also had their cryptologists but were nowhere’s near as successful in breaking US or British codes.
(3) It is important to note that CHAMBERLAIN was the Prime Minister of England, not Churchill. Yet, FDR and Churchill were secretly making promises unbeknownst to Chamberlain.
(4) Source: Henry Lewis Stimson diaries.
(5) “Military Intelligence Blunders and Cover-Ups: New Revised Edition”
Natural Blending
Today’s camera phones are just as amazing as nature’s camouflage.
Pixies!
It’s Ojai Pixie Tangerine season, folks!
Chef Cathy Thomas (from whom some of my recipes come from) turned me onto these delightfully yummy tangerines. They are grown in Ojai, California; we are right after the start of the season which may run into late May or early June.
These savory Pixies are:
• Easy to peel
• Sweet
• Juicy – did I say JUICY?
• Seedless
• And my kids love them
Chefs use them in their salads when it calls for tangerines. They are that good.
I obtain mine from Melissa’s Produce, four pounds for about $18. They can be shipped anywhere and will arrive fresh.
They are highly recommended!
Hamburgers and a ’63 Merc
Nearly all Americans would agree that hamburgers are the All-American icon. A simple grilled ground beef patty, salted and peppered, slathered with mayo, mustard and ketchup then sandwiched in a plain bun.
At least that’s how I know them. Oh, hold the pickles, please.
Now, us kids that grew up watching “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” have given birth to a generation that has taken a simple thing and made them into $15 gourmet, fancied-up, mushroom-covered (expensive) cuisine. Do you think I like Elizabeth Montgomery and Barbara Eden? Drool…
But I don’t know if I like the “change”.
Back to this in a minute, folks.
The fancy hamburgers – not the drool.
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Dad had always owned Fords when he could finally afford getting a car. I guess that’s where I get my Ford passion from.
After leaving Japan for the last time in the late ‘50’s after the Occupation ended, my pop bought his first new car stateside in 1963 – he was 44 years old. It was a two door Cascade Blue 1963 Mercury Meteor custom hardtop; a king of obscurity to say the least, but to a kid of about ten, it was Flash Gordon’s rocket ship. Unlike Hillary, it was easy to love this car.
Don’t get me wrong. It wouldn’t get a choice spot if valet parked. I say wouldn’t as my old man couldn’t afford valet, let alone a family dinner out. But to me, the rocket ship had a chrome finish AM push-button radio – turn the dial on the right, find a station, pull out a button, then push it back in to set it. Trouble is I did it a dozen times each time I got into the car. But all I cared about was KFI 640 AM, the Dodgers’ station. The golden voice of Vin Scully… and Fairly, Gilliam, Wills and I forget who played third. They were World Series champs that year.
Six adults could get into this rocket ship with room to spare – eight of us little Japanese folks and a dog. The cargo hold in back swallowed up my Sears JC Higgins bike in one gulp with enough space leftover for Frank Howard. (I saw him hit the scoreboard in right field with a home run.)
Unless my aging grey matter is dissolving at warp speed (maybe it is), there were ash trays with shiny covers in each armrest…and this was for the back seats. It was a favorite depository for my Bazooka chewing gum but I kept the wax covered cartoon that came with it.
Pop kept it for quite some time. I passed my driver’s license test in it on my 16th birthday. I got a 96 only because she claimed I never looked in the rear view mirror. Poppy cock. I always look in the rear view mirror for cops. Even back then.
And as it was the only car we had back then, I also drove my date to one of my senior proms in it (I went to two.). And the answer is, “No,” if anyone was wondering…but I’m sure she was disappointed. Well, maybe not.
The four-wheel drum brakes were spectacular…not. Instead of rubber meets the road, it was like rubber met the world’s supply of Vaseline while fighting the pull to the left… and this was at 25 mph. Steering? An oil tanker’s captain would do well. Turn the wheel a lot; see the slight change in direction a few seconds later. Pat Brady and Nellybelle turned better – and that was out in the desert on sand.
I overhauled the epoch 164 hp 260 cid V8 sometime around 1976 in our garage. At 13 years of age, she had become an old girl. She had become a V6, meaning it had lost compression in two cylinders. I remember setting zero lash, then three-quarters turn of the ratchet for the hydraulic lifters during the overhaul. The distributor was the biggest headache, of all things. It was like extracting an impacted molar and only after using copious amounts of Liquid Wrench in place of laughing gas did it finally come out. “Older” Blue Oval guys know what I’m describing.
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Back to today’s elegant hamburgers and change.
Instead of the push-pull AM radio, my youngest son – who was seven when I bought it – similarly discovered my ’08 Mustang GT had a “My Color” dashboard light feature. Now I know how my pop felt as my son forced me to experience every color of the rainbow while driving at night – every time. It was like being at an all-night disco club.
Bazooka bubble gum and ashtrays are no more but treasure hunters will be pleased after exploring the map pockets. No disappointments there. I promise… especially after my little Cake Boss had sat in the back. Latex gloves are highly recommended before exploring.
Overhaul it? After all, my GT’s got a 281 V8, only twenty-one more cubes than my pop’s…but it pumps out a magnificent 505 hp thanks to her Roush supercharger and Carmen pulley. Hell, I’m afraid to change spark plugs. Who would imagine in 1963 there would be a TSB on just how to R&R spark plugs?
And unlike my pop’s ’63 Merc which ran on simple mechanical principles (but threw physics principles out the window for the so-called braking), the computing power in my Mustang would cause Einstein to strike a pose like Captain Morgan.
And today’s stunning braking power is the true reason for seat belts – it compassionately keeps your head from being continually used to redesign the windshield. The aftermarket Wilwood six-piston disc brakes I installed with slotted and cross-drilled rotors exacerbates the stop-on-a-dime tendencies… which is a good thing.
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So it appears the delicious, basic hamburger of the 1960’s has been brought into the 21st Century. Kids that watched Elizabeth Montgomery and Barbara Eden fooled with the wonderfully simple ground beef and bread formula to give us today’s foodie gourmet burger…and we can still listen to Vinny’s golden voice, to boot. Glorious.
And well, with 505 hp at the crank instead of 164 hp, it’s hard to complain. Neither do my kids when they hear the whine of my Roush supercharger. They like to scream. But it’s a shame my pop’s ’63 Mercury Meteor won’t be swept into anyone’s museum.
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I guess technology has its benefits.
I’ll take a gourmet burger in the end after all.
Pass the Heinz ketchup, please.
At least that hasn’t changed.
Busy Baker
For the first time, this former mechanic and amateur baker attempted TWO desserts within a four hour window.
Success!
Well, at least everyone who ate them are still alive and kicking…so far.
Triple-Chocolate Espresso Brownies
Long name, huh, for brownies? 
Well, my little Cake Boss asked for me, her servant, to make her some brownies. And since I had all the ingredients at the house, I decided to do it from scratch…again.
Wasn’t someone supposed to tell me to stop this non-sense?
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Per my yes-yes beacon, Cook’s Illustrated, the classic brownie should be moist, not “goopy” or dry. The chocolate flavor should most of all be decadent – especially for my little Cake Boss. Gotta raise her right, you know.
Like avoiding the supermarket pre-mixed who-the-heck-knows-what’s-in-it stuff.
Well… it’s really ‘cuz I wanted to avoid the uncomfortable situation experienced after baking the little Cake Boss a classic white double-layer birthday cake. The little Cake Boss almost fired me because I didn’t do as she told me to.
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Some of the easy steps:
After cooling for two hours, lift out the brownies with the foil liner and pig out!
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Actually, this first batch of homemade “triple-chocolate espresso brownies” came out REAL good as the little Cake Boss came back for a second piece.
She must’ve been pleased.
I guess I’m still employed at the house.
Just Some Snapshots 3
(Almost) Pie Crust From Scratch
Making a pie crust from scratch is really pretty easy. Tried it for the first time.
But rolling out the pie dough… Now that’s a bitch. (Pardon my French.)
But I did it… Sorta.
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Yes, the Cook’s Illustrated recipe called for vodka. No sense paraphrasing it so this is what they said:
“The problem is that dry pie dough is impossible to roll out. We needed a soft, pliable dough for rolling—that is, one with plenty of liquid—but a dry dough when it came to baking. The solution turned out to be, surprisingly, vodka. By using a quarter cup of ice water mixed with the same amount of chilled vodka, we could add a high amount of liquid and create a dough that was moist enough to roll out easily, but still tender after baking. While gluten forms readily in water, it doesn’t form in alcohol, and vodka is 40 percent alcohol. The alcohol vaporizes in the oven, so that no trace of vodka is detectable in the finished crust.”
Well, it really worked except when this old former mechanic decided to deviate from said recipe by leaving it in the oven to bake for three extra minutes.
And letting the dough get too warm while rolling it… if you call it rolling. LOL Instead of being circular, it ended up looking more like Patrick Star of Spongebob.
Oh well.
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Let’s get down to the evidence:
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Well, the dough certainly was easy to put together.
This (aging) former mechanic did it…but didn’t follow the instructions at the end. In short:
- Dust the top of the dough before rolling. LOL
- Learn to roll out the dough evenly. Double LOL
- Roll it in the early morning before the granite counter top feels like the Sahara. Duh
The secret is the vodka and keeping the ingredients chilled.
Oh. Don’t burn the crust nor watch Spongebob before rolling.
The Pain of Survival and Aunt Michie – Part 7
“When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing.”
– Vernon McLellan
That was Aunt Michie. She gave all of herself and of her life strength to others because her heart knew no other way.
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At the moment Aunt Michie watched the ugly mushroom cloud rise from her field that day, her older siblings – my dad, Aunt Shiz and Uncle Yutaka – were all imprisoned in the “war relocation centers” scattered about the United States. These were truly prisons and the popular view is that FDR imprisoned them “for their protection” because they looked like the enemy.(¹)
Life within these “camps” was “sub-standard”. They were forced to live in small, shoddily built wooden barracks covered only with tar paper with little or no privacy. No running water inside their barracks – they had to go wait in line outside, whether it be rain, snow, dust storm or searing desert sun to use public latrines or showers. Food was served in mess halls on pot metal plates at specific times, just like in the military. The food was miserable according to Dad and worse yet, they had to wait in line again. For the first month or so of imprisonment, he said all they had was liver, powdered eggs and potatoes.
But then again, he said it was food.
Aunt Michie and her family were near starving in Hiroshima while dad was imprisoned in the good ol’ US of A.
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It is assumed like for the rest of America, Dad and his older siblings heard the news of the atomic bombing but while in the camps on or about August 8th… that one enormous bomb had wiped out Hiroshima. There must have high anxiety and anger as many of the inmates in Dad’s camp (Minidoka) were from Seattle; they had family in Hiroshima as their parents had immigrated from there.
My cousins tell me that sometime after war’s end, Michie’s “American” siblings – my dad, Uncle Yutaka and Aunt Shiz – managed to re-establish contact with Grandmother Kono and Michie. With the Japanese infrastructure destroyed, it was a miracle. And it was no easy task as letters to and from Japan were not only prohibited, it was impossible. There was no telephone in the villages where Grandmother and Michie lived.
But her American siblings somehow managed to send much needed clothing to them. When my father finally reached Hiroshima while a sergeant in the US 8th Army, he carried two duffle bags full of C-rations, candy and Spam. They said it was a feast for them after years of hunger.
Sadako (who savored the white rice Michie made them on the day of the bomb) told me at a farewell dinner two years ago that she fondly remembered my dad taking them to a market of some kind where he bought her a little coin purse. She remembered Dad gave her the money to buy the little purse and was told she could keep the change. She remembers then handing the change – which was a LOT of money back then – to Michie who humbly accepted it. Sadako said she cherished that little coin purse for years.
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EPILOGUE
From exhaustive laboring on her farm… to taking precious sashimi to her brother Suetaro… to walking ten miles with children in tow to care for Grandmother Kono after her stroke… to the pain of learning of her brother being killed in action… to being thrown onto the ground and watching a huge mushroom cloud rise over a small hill… to pulling a wooden cart over a hill… to tirelessly aiding the victims… and most of all, sacrificing her own health for the sake of others…
She never gave up in those thirty years. Would you have? I don’t believe I would have had the fortitude.
But because her soul would not quit, she got everyone to tomorrow… but in doing so, her own tomorrows dwindled.
Michie is still here. The fruit of her sacrifices can be seen today in her six children, all of whom have lived – and are still living – full, joyous lives.
They have their mother, Michie, to thank and they cherish that… and that they were all there at the farmhouse when she looked at each one of them intently one last time before leaving this world.
A most grand mother.
And yes…
They all love food to this very day.
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I wish to deeply thank my Hiroshima cousins for sharing their memories of their life with Michie with us.
Like all Hiroshima citizens I have met, they simply pray for peace.
NOTES:
(¹) There are declassified US intelligence documents which show that a small number of Japanese and Japanese-Americans were performing espionage. Intelligence was able to determine this by intercepting and decoding secret Japanese communications. This information was given a cover name of MAGIC and these documents were typed up for FDR and a very small number of trusted officials. However, rounding up the spies would clearly indicate to the Japanese that their code had been cracked. These documents present another view contra to the widespread belief that FDR imprisoned the Japanese and Japanese-Americans from discrimination and war time hysteria. In other words, FDR used that hysteria as a cover story; by doing so, he was able to remove the “spies” from the West Coast without alerting the Japanese. FDR also stated in communications that there would be “repercussions” from such action.
Masako and Spam Musubi 