Offenders to Be Enlightened-Equal Treatment to All : Japanese Propaganda in 1943

I’m a little behind this week since my younger brother passed away on Sunday. He had suffered from cardiovascular disease for quite some time and other complications. But 65 is still too young. His wife and kids will certainly feel his loss as do all of us who knew him. I started working on this […]

USS San Francisco SSN-711 Plank Owner Belt and Buckle… Lost and Found the Backstory

Merry Christmas to all of my readers. This has been a very busy time of year with so much going on at work. A lot at home too which unfortunately keeps me from writing very much. My apologies for that. Mrs. Mac and I are doing pretty well but like many folks have had to […]

December 6, 1942 – The Navy Reveals the True Damage at Pearl Harbor

Within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, news started filtering back to anxious families on the mainland that something horrible had happened to the country. The banner headlines from the eighth of December would forever be changed with news of the encroachment of the Empire of Japan across the vast reaches of the Pacific […]

1909 – the First Torpedo Man and a Revolutionary Change in Submarines

In April 1909, Ensign Kenneth Whiting, a future naval aviation pioneer, became the commanding officer of Porpoise. On 15 April, Whiting and his crew of six took the submarine out for what was to be a routine run. Porpoise got underway, cleared the dock and moved out into Manila Bay. She dove soon thereafter, and […]

The Mighty “B” – Don’t give up the ship… the story of the USS Birmingham CL-62

On March 20, 1942, the cruiser Birmingham was launched at Newport News Virginia. Like so many ships of her generation, she was planned and designed around a model that had been determined during the various naval arms limitation treaties that predated the war she would fight in. In 1942, ships were desperately needed to fight […]

When are those P-40’s going to arrive to “raise hell on the other side of the line?” March 1942

Where are the planes? March 7th In the Philippines, the ever-encroaching forces of the Imperial Japanese Army must have seemed relentless. The under gunned and under-protected American and Philippine forces were subjected to an increasingly powerful Japanese force. Fall of the Philippines Only in the Philippines, almost on Japan’s southern doorstep, was the timetable of […]

The cost of peace is often the next war.

On February 12, 1922, the American fleet began their annual exercises. These exercises had been conducted for a very long time and were designed to test the readiness of the sips and the men who sailed on them. But in 1922, a very different atmosphere hung heavy over the entire fleet. Coming off of […]

“To my fellow soldiers in the Philippines and America:” Manila, January 1942

In January 1942, fighting between the invading Japanese and the America/Philippine Army was raging. Because of the decision made in 1922 by America to limit their growth of military infrastructure in the Pacific, the Allied forces were playing a game of catch up when the Japanese launched their surprise attacks. In 1921-22, the United States […]

Coins of all denominations – The Story of the USS Seawolf SS 197

USS Seawolf (SS 197) When the Japanese attacked the Philippines at the beginning of World War 2, all of the defensive plans that had been painstakingly drawn out before the war fell by the wayside. The tragedy of Pearl Harbor ensured that the relief that was supposed to come and rescue in the aftermath of […]

Christmas in Manila – 1945

Merry Christmas. Simple words of greeting that have been shared all over the world in so many languages. But often the greeting is sent from far away from home. In December 1945, my Dad was working as part of the post war draw down in Manila. He had entered the war on March 8th, 1945 […]