One of my favorite quotes from WWII, and one that I saw oft-repeated in the early wake of Sept. 11th, was Yamoto’s line following the attack on Pearl Harbor in which he said, “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve.”
While I’ve always found the quote to be very prophetic, I’ve often wondered about it’s authenticity. Yamoto didn’t survive the war to confirm it being spoken, and for that matter, I have always had a hard time beleiving that, assuming he really did say it, any of his staff officers to survive would have repeated or confirmed it.
Does anyone know the source of this quote, is it actually genuine? And if so, when did Americans first learn of it?
For that matter, Yamoto is also said to have said he could only guarantee six months of victory, another prophetic statment given the disaster at the Battle of Midway six months later. Was this a real statement as well, or the invention of westerners?
That basically confirms what I thought, that he probebly had the general concept implied in the quote in his head, but probebly never said it in those words.
Yamato: The largest battleship in the Japanese fleet, unless you count her sister ship, the Musashi
Yamamoto: Surname of Admiral Yamamato Isoroku, Japanese naval commander and something of a military genius.
No relation between the two names exists, just a freaky coincidence that the Admiral and the ship have names that are so very similar.
I read a couple of biographies of Yamamoto in college, and in both he was quoted as stating something along the lines of “I will run wild in the Pacific for six months, but beyond that I can make no promises” when ordered to draw up attack plans against the US. The Pear Harbor quote was also stated as fact by both authors. 'Fraid I don’t have cites - it was 10 years ago that I read the books.
What makes me believe that he said both is that he was educated in the USA (I don’t remember which university he attended) and was the Japanese naval attache for a while in Washington well before the war. He witnessed Gen. Billy Mitchell’s demonstration that aerial bombardment could sink a battleship along with the American brass that Mitchell had intended to prove his theory to - and urged the Japanese to develop a strong Naval air force. He was in a definite minority among the Japanese commanders in that he understood the American military and industrial potential, and based his opinions on observation and experience rather than arrogance and prejudice - most of the Japanese commanders clung to the idea that surely no gaijin could defeat the Japanese Empire.
“Oops.” Well, lets not hope that no future commanders cling to the idea that surely no force can defeat the American Empire. :-p
Whether he said the words on the bridge or not will never be known - I would think it more likely had he said them, he would have said them in a letter or speech, for them to be recorded, which would mean there would be a reference somewhere - not very likely for an Admiral during a surprise attack to say something on his bridge and have it be picked up by the enemy 20 years later with no reference in between.
Given that lack of evidence, I would venture to agree it was a quote attributed to him reflecting his known sentiments.
Admitted that I’m not anything close to an expert on Japanese language or culture, This simply doesn’t seem like anything an Japanese Admiral of that era would say, and certainly not when anyone else would be in earshot. If nothing else, expressing doubts in public would bee a major faux pas. It’s a great line though.
