The Missing Message

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in World War II magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

I enjoyed reading the November 2000 “Undercover” regarding the “East Wind Rain” message. I found the department interesting but I feel you missed a point. You say the East Wind Rain message was received and that it meant war with the U.S. What the message did not say, however, was where the attack would take place. There was no indication that Pearl Harbor was the objective; it could just as easily have been the Philippines.

The real mistake was not putting a real war warning to Pearl and the Philippines and keeping these warnings up-to-date.

Leslie Hulkower
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Europeans Honor American Veterans

I read with much interest your January 2000 editorial reflecting on the unique privilege that we have as keepers of World War II history. My father served, as did my uncles. At one point, every living male of fighting age in my maternal grandmother’s family was in harm’s way. Her youngest brother was in the Navy in the Pacific, her only son was at Guadalcanal and my father was in Europe.

This past September, my husband and I went to Europe with my father and his WWII outfit, the 30th Infantry “Old Hickory” Division. We met entire towns full of children who were waiting to walk and talk with their liberators, real live veterans who sacrificed months and years of their own lives to free these children’s parents and grandparents from occupation. From the first encounter with Europeans to the taxi driver on the last day of our trip, we found people to be genuinely appreciative of the American veterans’ contributions.

I applaud your efforts to capture and recount history for those who follow us. I am attempting to collect my dad’s stories and memories and write them down in some form. I regret not starting sooner; at age 85, my dad enjoys blessedly good health. I hope time will stand still while I try to catch up!

Mrs. Edward J. Zatopek
Via e-mail

Heroic Army Chaplain

I found “Tough Time for the ‘Tough Hombres’” (February 2000) very interesting. I joined Company H, 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, on Utah Beach and stayed with the division all the way to Sascise, Czechoslovakia.

It was most striking to see Army Chaplain Edgar H. Stohler’s name. I greatly admired that man. Once, I went on a reconnaissance mission I will never forget with him and a jeep driver named Homer Conoda. The regiment had been caught in a trap and could not get out. We had suffered a lot of wounded from enemy artillery fire. Since we were unable to supply the trapped men, our planes came in low and dropped medical supplies in an artillery-riddled field. Stohler wanted those much-needed medical supplies, so despite the enemy artillery fire, we took a beat-up jeep and went out and got them. I have never forgotten him after all these years.

Howard D. Anderson
Pickford, Mich.

In Defense of the F4U

Regarding your March 2000 issue and the article “Greatest Fighter Aircraft of WWII,” by Jon Guttman: How you could not note the Vought F4U Corsair at or near the top of the list is beyond me.

I flew both F4U and F6F with the 4th Marine Air Wing, and the U was superior in speed, range, ability to absorb punishment, etc. Truly a great plane with a combat record second to none.

Lloyd R. Flynn
Edina, Minn.

I refer to your March 2000 issue and the Jon Guttman feature, “Greatest Fighter Aircraft of WWII.”

I have no argument with nine of Jon Guttman’s 10 picks. But the Japanese Zero? The most formidable foe the Zeros faced was the Marines and the F4U Corsair. The Navy’s Grumman F6F Hellcats fought with Zeros in short but intense battles between aircraft carriers. And I know the Army Air Corps was in the Pacific and fought against them too, but the greatest number of one-on-one dogfights was between the Zero and the Corsair. In dogfights between Corsairs and Zeros, it was no contest.

I am now 75 years old and no longer remember the kill ratio, but my faint recollection is about 10-to-1 in favor of the F4U Corsair.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to