How would you carry out...
Illustration
"How would you carry out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor?" It was a question on a Naval Academy exam, the final examination every cadet had to pass before graduation to become an officer in the Navy. It was on the exam for ten years, the ten years from 1931 to 1941. And the naval academy was the one in Japan.
When the movie Pearl Harbor came out last summer, reviewers had different reactions. Some thought it in poor taste, even racist, to revive bad feelings between the U.S. and Japan. One was rather surprising. The reviewer seemed to think it was okay to portray a "surprise attack," but not good to show the machinations of a "sneak attack." That seems to be a distinction without a difference.
But it is history. It happened. It took planning and preparation, perhaps ten years' worth. And maybe one of the cadets hoping to graduate from the Naval Academy provided some ideas for the actual attack. Who can know?
When the movie Pearl Harbor came out last summer, reviewers had different reactions. Some thought it in poor taste, even racist, to revive bad feelings between the U.S. and Japan. One was rather surprising. The reviewer seemed to think it was okay to portray a "surprise attack," but not good to show the machinations of a "sneak attack." That seems to be a distinction without a difference.
But it is history. It happened. It took planning and preparation, perhaps ten years' worth. And maybe one of the cadets hoping to graduate from the Naval Academy provided some ideas for the actual attack. Who can know?
