Atlantis and Other Places (16 page)

In addition to the carriers, the U.S. lost a destroyer, a fleet oiler, and 66 planes. Japanese aircraft hit American ships with 58% of the bombs and torpedoes they dropped. Prewar predictions of bombing accuracy were as low as 3%.

Navy sources claim to have sunk a Japanese light carrier, and to have damaged a fleet carrier—possibly two. They assert that 77 Japanese airplanes were downed, and say Japanese casualties “had to have been” heavier than ours. Given how much the Navy exaggerates what it has done in the Atlantic, these Pacific figures also need to be taken with an ocean of salt.

May 15, 1942—
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Vice President Henry Wallace broke ranks with Roosevelt again in a speech in Little Rock, Arkansas. “Roosevelt looked for us to get sucked into this war,” Wallace said. “He was getting ready for it at the same time as he was telling America we could stay out.

“I see that now,” the Vice President added. “If I’d seen it then, I never would have agreed to be his running mate. The USA deserves better. How many women—and men—are grieving today because the President of the United States flat-out lied? And how much more grief do we have to look forward to?”

Stormy applause greeted Wallace’s remarks. Arkansas is a longtime Democratic stronghold, but FDR’s popularity is plummeting there, as it is across the country. After Wallace finished speaking, shouts of “Impeach Roosevelt!” rang out from the crowd. They were also cheered.

Asked whether he thought Roosevelt should be impeached, Wallace said, “I can’t comment. If I say no, people will think I agree with his policies, and I don’t. But if I say yes, they will think I am angling for the White House myself. The people you need to talk to are the Speaker of the House and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.”

A reporter also asked Wallace if he would seek peace if he did become President. “A negotiated settlement has to be better than the series of catastrophes we’ve suffered,” he replied. “Why should our boys die to uphold the British Empire and Communist Russia?”

May 16, 1942—
Washington Post

Beleaguered Franklin Roosevelt called talk of impeachment “ridiculous” in a written statement released this morning. “I am doing the best job of running this country I can,” the statement said. “That is what the American people elected me to do, and I aim to do it. We can win this war—and we will, unless the in-grates who stand up and cheer whenever anything goes wrong have their way.”

Roosevelt’s statement also lambasted his breakaway Vice President, Henry Wallace. “He is doing more for the other side than a division of panzer troops,” it said.

Wallace replied, “I am trying to tell America the truth. Isn’t it about time somebody did? We deserve it.”

House Speaker Sam Rayburn declined comment. A source close to the Speaker said he is “waiting to see what happens next.”

May 26, 1942—
Honolulu Star-Bulletin

A day before she was to put in at Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs, the carrier
Yorktown
was sunk by a Japanese sub southwest of Oahu. The ship sank quickly in shark-infested waters. Only about 120 survivors have been rescued.

The
Yorktown
’s complement is about 1,900 men. She also carried air crew from the
Lexington
, which went down almost three weeks ago in the Coral Sea. Nearly as many men died with her as did at Pearl Harbor, in other words.

The plan was to quickly fix up the
Yorktown
and send her to defend Midway Island along with the
Hornet
and the
Saratoga
. Midway is believed to be the target of an advancing fleet considerably stronger than the forces available to hold the island. Now the two surviving carriers—one damaged itself—and their support vessels will have to go it alone.

If the Japanese occupy Midway, Honolulu and Pearl Harbor will come within reach of their deadly long-range bombers.

May 28, 1942—
Honolulu Advertiser
editorial

Because bullying Navy and War Department censors unconstitutionally closed down our rival newspaper yesterday, it is up to us to carry on in the
Star-Bulletin
’s footsteps. We aim to tell the truth to the people of Honolulu and to the people of America. If the maniacs with the blue pencils try to silence us, we will go underground to carry on the fight for justice and the First Amendment.

From where we sit, the fat cats in the Roosevelt administration who think they ought to have a monopoly on the facts are worse enemies of freedom than Tojo and Hitler put together. In dragging us into this pointless war in the first place, they pulled the wool over the country’s eyes. They thought they had the right to do that, because they were doing it for our own good. They knew better than we did, you see.

Only they didn’t. One disastrous failure after another has proved that. Up till now, the USA has never lost a war. Unless we can wheel FDR out of the White House soon, that record won’t last more than another few weeks.

May 29, 1942—
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Thousands of protesters squared off yesterday in downtown Cleveland. Police were supposed to keep the passionately opposed sides separate. Instead, they joined the pro-FDR forces in pummeling the peaceful demonstrators who condemn the war and, in increasing numbers, call for Roosevelt’s impeachment and removal from office.

Antiwar demonstrators far outnumbered the President’s supporters. Those who still blindly back Roosevelt, however, came prepared for violence. They were armed with clubs, rocks, and bottles, and were ready to use them.

“War! War! FDR! Now the President’s gone too far!” chanted the peaceful antiwar forces. Another chant soon swelled and grew: “Impeach Roosevelt!”

FDR’s supporters attacked the antiwar picketers then. Vicious cops were also seen beating protesters with billy clubs and kicking them on the ground (see photo above this story). Some protesters withdrew from the demonstration. Others fought back, refusing to be intimidated by Roosevelt’s thuggish followers or by the out-of-control police.

“This can only help our cause,” said a man bleeding from a scalp laceration and carrying a NO MORE YEARS! sign. “When the country sees how brutal that man in the White House really is, it will know what to do. I’m sure of it.”

May 31, 1942—
Honolulu Advertiser

America’s two surviving fleet carriers in the Pacific left Pearl Harbor yesterday. Sources say they are bound for strategic Midway Island, about 1,000 miles to the northwest.

With the carriers sailed the usual accompaniment of cruisers and destroyers. The ships made a brave show. But how much can they hope to accomplish against the disciplined nationalism of Japan and the determined bravery of her soldiers and pilots and sailors?

This strike force seems to be Roosevelt’s last desperate effort to salvage something from the war he blundered into. The odds look grim. Japan may be low on scrap metal and oil thanks to FDR, but she is long on guts and stubbornness. If the Navy fails here, as it has failed so often, the outlook for Hawaii and for the west coast of the mainland looks bleak indeed.