Second Chance War - 44 Reports and Approval

Major General Hughes sighed as he lay the newspaper he was reading on his desk. The title of the newspaper reads, JAPANESE SURPRISE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR, UNPRECEDENTED DAMAGE TO NAVAL FLEET, there was another newspaper that detailed an exaggerated eighty percent loss of fleet power for the Pacific. They were told to say that of course; They needed to encourage public outrage. Hughes had the actual figures, thanks to the advanced armor plating they installed on some of the ships in haste they only lost an actual fifty percent of fleet power. There was going to be a memorial for the ships that were lost with all hands on deck, and then he supposed they would ready for war.

A list of the ships lost with all hands on deck was also on the desk. It was a grim readout, but not as grim as it could have been.

USS ARIZONA

USS OKLAHOMA

USS CALIFORNIA

USS UTAH

USS NEVADA

Five ships total, over twenty-five hundred crewmen lost, not even counting the number of people lost in the initial bombing of the infrastructure. Reports put the total casualty amount at near five-thousand; wounded at less than a quarter of that number. It could have been much less he mused, as long as Thomas decided to come clean about the attack before it happened. Hughes couldn’t be bothered to go after Thomas, their reasoning was the same at this point. Only forced entry into the war could guarantee them the time they needed. It might even mean extra funds, it would certainly mean that all of the projects would have to be accelerated.

At the very least, it would mean extra time for Thomas, and at this point, that’s all Major Hughes could ask for…

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WASHINGTON D.C., VIRGINIA, WHITE HOUSE DECEMBER 8, 1941

The President of the United States,Franklin Delano Roosevelt, sat in his oval office early in the morning. The weight of yesterday’s attack on Pearl Harbor left him ashamed and angry. Such an attack to have occurred under his watch as President, nothing less than shameful, but that such an attack had happened to his own American citizens…it was truly angering. He called an emergency meeting of his staff after the attack had happened, he demanded to know of the Pentagon why security was so lax in such turbulent times. Excuses! Excuses one and all! No one could give him a straight answer, except of course for his lovely wife, Eleanor. Ah, she always did have an answer for him. Her advice this time was sound. Ignore those old codgers in the Senate, go with your feelings, make the speech you know America is waiting for. Give them the answers they deserve!

Brilliant advice, and now, it was time for him to put such advice into action. He picked up dialed the phone on his desk, it was a rotary phone, quite new in fact. You had to spin the dial to the number and let it go back to the beginning before you could get to the next number. He quickly and with practiced ease dialed the number to the conferencing room where he infrequently held his famous and widely loved Fireside Chats. It was high time to let America know that they would not take this sitting down.

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SENATE COMMITTEE, WASHINGTON D.C. DECEMBER 8, 1941

President Franklin Roosevelt’s voice could be heard echoing the wide and round chambers of the Senate Committee, he was, of course, addressing the entire nation impromptu, most of the Senate members had just made it and all of them were seated when his radio address began.

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message….”

Ten minutes in and the members of the Senate began discussing amongst themselves the same matters they always have. Thought they did like FDR’s “Day of Infamy” touch to his message. Most of them have barely been asleep since the attack the day before. They were working overtime to make the necessary calls and contact the necessary people to get some of the ball rolling for a few secret projects. Not ones all of the Senate knew about, but just a few key ones.

“The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area.”

Thirty minutes into his address and this message had taken the Senate and Congress by surprise. The Japanese had really been thinking this through, if it was just Hawaii then that’s one thing but through the entire Pacific? Some members of Congress and the Senate had business holdings in those areas or were trying various social experiments that they had poured their money into! Unthinkable! The Senate and Congress were riled up now, the President was laying all the facts before them, some of it some of them had known, but the vast majority were in the dark, not privy to the military secrets that some of the wealthier members had their hands on.

“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.”

With that, the radio broadcast came to an end, and the entirety of America was burning with the flames of anger. Enraged by the Japanese onslaught, they wanted nothing more than revenge. The hour-long speech by the President had succeeded in riling up the American Public. Outrage, shame, anger, and hatred. Within that very hour, Congress had unanimously approved a State of War between the United States and Japan. An hour after that, Adolf Hitler of Germany extended his Declaration of War to include the United States as a token of friendship with Japan. The world was burning, but America will be damned if it didn’t jump into the fire this time.

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Major General Hughes got off the phone with the Pentagon, he had a smile on his face. He sat back in his chair as he contemplated his phone call, everything was going according to the plan. Now he had to go and make sure it got done, personally. He got off his chair and stretched his aching limbs. No matter how happy he was, he was still a fifty-year-old man, and his body wasn’t getting any younger. He tossed a letter he had a received just ten minutes ago on his desk, then he exited his office. The letter which he tossed on his desk didn’t really say much, it was all technical jargon, but at the very bottom, stamped in giant print….

APPROVED

End of Book 2