Ace of Spades HQ

February 25, 2012

Feb 25 1942: The Battle of Los Angeles
— Dave in Texas

When people are freaked out they do freaky things.

Shoot first and ask questions later becomes official policy of War Dept.

Shortly after the Japanese submarine I-17 successfully shelled an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, fear moved from the depths of the sea to the heights of the sky. First put on edge after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and then frightened two-fold by the ability of the Japanese to reach our coast as proven with the bombardment of Ellwood, the jumpiness of the military and civilians alike was more than reasonable. When Army radar spotted a blip 120 miles off the coast of southern California, an alert was sounded and shortly thereafter a blackout was ordered.
The varying reports of the morningÂ’s events represent the mass confusion and paranoia of the time. Some reported there were just a few planes, while others claimed to have seen several dozen aircraft. There were even reports that planes were shot down, when in reality, nothing was hit by the AA gunsÂ—except three civilians killed and a few buildings damaged by friendly fire. Guns fired at the flying object for more than an hour between 3:15 and 4:15 a.m. on 25 February 1942.

I guess that silly movie 1941 was more historically accurate than I thought.

via twitter feed WWII Today

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:16 AM | Comments (62)
Post contains 234 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Mutha ship?

Posted by: Cast Iron at February 25, 2012 06:33 AM (EL+OC)

2 Can we haz Cheerleaders plz?

Posted by: billygoat at February 25, 2012 06:33 AM (ASdeo)

3 It was actually the late great Lt. Wild Bill Kelso in his souped up P-40 chasing a Jap Betty. Actually it was Tim Matheson getting it on with Nancy Allen in a twin-engine Beech, but hey, why debunk a legend?

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 06:33 AM (Af3Wg)

I see where a Major and a Colonel were killed inside of the interior ministry building in Afghanistan. Obama will be apologizing shortly to Karsai.

Posted by: Velvet Ambition at February 25, 2012 06:34 AM (mFxQX)

5 Yep - the movie was true, but it never connected to the audience. They like you thought an unarmed American defense structure unrealistic. CA at the time was woefully unarmed and knew it. Further, the question of 5th columns (Japanese) was a real issue - as was the case in HI.

Posted by: Sub-Tard at February 25, 2012 06:35 AM (ursbV)

6 http://tinyurl.com/6u7n5xr

What the hell...it is NBA's All-Star weekend....

Posted by: billygoat at February 25, 2012 06:36 AM (ASdeo)

7 HAH.. I was just thinking that JJ Sefton (with the ironical WII nickname). Added a clip.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at February 25, 2012 06:36 AM (PjVdx)

8 If you're firing at an overseas enemy's flying object for over an hour... damn, how much algae can those things hold?

Posted by: t-bird at February 25, 2012 06:38 AM (FcR7P)

9 Shoot first and ask questions later becomes official policy of War Dept. As it should ALWAYS be. We should be mowing down these bastards in Afghanistan. And that's how it should have been since right after 9/11. When you go to war, the objective is not just to defeat nations militarily, but to make sure that the ideology that drove them to war in the first place is utterly destroyed. That means destroying a medieval fascistic totalitarian ideology that seeks our subjugation or death, i.e. ISLAM. Whatever you feel about the merits of going into Iraq or Afghanistan, the fact is is that is how we should have fought this thing from the get go. There would have been a lot less American casualties. When Moses came down from Sinai with the 10 Commandments and saw the people worshipping the golden calf, he not only killed the worshippers, but he killed their families and their neighbors. Now that's a strategy for total victory, my friends.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 06:41 AM (Af3Wg)

10 I was about to suggest you add a clip.

I love that stupid movie.

Posted by: Andy at February 25, 2012 06:41 AM (XG+Mn)

11 Shooting first and asking questions later may not be the best policy but it is definitely the best comedy.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 25, 2012 06:42 AM (TVvXc)

12 10 Posted by: Andy at February 25, 2012 10:41 AM (XG+Mn) "Let me hear your guns!!!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 06:43 AM (Af3Wg)

13 Thanks Dave. What an amazingly good failure of a movie. Some great moments throughout but for whatever reason it never gelled. Oh well.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 06:44 AM (Af3Wg)

14 Now that's a strategy for total victory, my friends. You forgot the "but first, you will blow me" part.

Posted by: Lao Tzu at February 25, 2012 06:45 AM (FcR7P)

15 Ironic how SCOAMF/T has succeeded in crippling our oil production more than the Axis ever dreamed they could.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 06:48 AM (Af3Wg)

16 Posted by: Lao Tzu at February 25, 2012 10:45 AM (FcR7P) Consider me chastised.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 06:48 AM (Af3Wg)

17 I heard after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, we let them build a Nazi Party headquarters a couple of blocks away.

Posted by: I gave my love a cherry, that had no stone at February 25, 2012 06:51 AM (IYaZO)

18 Those idiots. But we a new and very real enemy now! Loopholes and rich people.

Posted by: Jimmah at February 25, 2012 06:56 AM (845uI)

19 Irony has got nuthin' to do with it.

Posted by: Le petit SCOAMF, reading from Saul's "Rules For Radicals" at February 25, 2012 06:58 AM (FcR7P)

20 In b4 (oZfic).

Posted by: I gave my love a chicken , that had no choke at February 25, 2012 07:00 AM (IYaZO)

21 We lived in L.A. at the time. For weeks after the "attack", we kids were reminded to watch out for Japs sneaking around.

The Block Warden would come around to pass whatever "the word" was every night, if I am remembering correctly.

Posted by: Hammersmith Police at February 25, 2012 07:02 AM (Onw8c)

22 Ancient Aliens. Duh.

Posted by: alexthechick at February 25, 2012 07:05 AM (Gk3SS)

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan wants NATO to put on public trial those who burned copies of the Koran at a NATO base, President Hamid Karzai's office said on Thursday, after a third day of bloody protests over the incident.

It said NATO had agreed to a trial, but that could not be immediately confirmed.

Posted by: Elephant Liberation Front at February 25, 2012 07:05 AM (mP3uM)

24 Reminds me that we also had submarine watch bunkers during WWII. I used to explore one as a kid down at Cape May Point. You can still see it on Google maps.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at February 25, 2012 07:10 AM (P5xNV)

25 Was that the movie where Akroyd had oranges on his eyes and nylons over his head and he's screaming, "I'm a bug! I'm a bug!"

Posted by: USS Diversity at February 25, 2012 07:10 AM (0s0CT)

26 Maybe those ghosts in "Alcatraz" (always said in a Bugs Bunny accent).

Posted by: dagny at February 25, 2012 07:10 AM (u50z0)

27 Maybe if Obama lies down and kisses Karzai's feet, and cries on camera for Al Jazeera, then the muzzy psychos will stop murdering Americans. Yes, let's press another Reset button.

Posted by: Kortezzi at February 25, 2012 07:11 AM (dQBqW)

28 Jan Brewer just announced on FNC that she will make an endorsement before tuesday AZ primary, didn't say who

Posted by: Jose at February 25, 2012 07:12 AM (srIqv)

29 IIRC a Japanese balloon carrying a bomb killed some unfortunate picnickers in Northern CA.

Posted by: navybrat at February 25, 2012 07:12 AM (x2vHF)

30 Ron Paul proven right AGAIN - Ace hardest hit

Posted by: Gerry at February 25, 2012 07:13 AM (8vgpw)

31 Slim Pickens. Nuff said.

Posted by: Phelps at February 25, 2012 07:20 AM (JPfO+)

32 Slim Pickens and Toshiro Mifune....

Major Kong meets Yojimbo.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living.... at February 25, 2012 07:22 AM (V++we)

33 CHEMTRAILS !!!!

Posted by: OWS of Southern California at February 25, 2012 07:23 AM (Y+DPZ)

34 Japanese Balloon Bambs:

http://tinyurl.com/7usnnwj

Posted by: Hammersmith Police at February 25, 2012 07:29 AM (Onw8c)

35
IIRC a Japanese balloon carrying a bomb killed some unfortunate picnickers in Northern CA.

Posted by: navybrat at February 25, 2012 11:12 AM (x2vHF)

I used to have a book about those balloons. They had two designs, both carried mainly incendiary bombs meant to start vast forest fires. But they also carried a small HE bomb. IIRC a teacher and her class, on an outing, found one that had malfunctioned and started poking it with a stick. They were the only American casualties on the mainland caused by the Japanese.

The book had diagrams of the balloons and they were pretty clever devices.

Posted by: Ed Anger - Certified Kos Kid at February 25, 2012 07:34 AM (7+pP9)

36 "Actually it was Tim Matheson getting it on with Nancy Allen in a twin-engine Beech, but hey, why debunk a legend?"

I was 11 years old in 1979, and Nancy Allen getting turned on by an airplane was the hottest thing I'd ever seen in my life.

Posted by: Kensington at February 25, 2012 07:42 AM (uaEZS)

37 Since I arrived that day in 1942, I assume it was the "Stork". Glad they missed!

Posted by: Jack at February 25, 2012 07:43 AM (D2dn/)

38 "Was that the movie where Akroyd had oranges on his eyes and nylons over his head and he's screaming, "I'm a bug! I'm a bug!""

Yes! It's not a great movie, but I'll always love it.

Posted by: Kensington at February 25, 2012 07:43 AM (uaEZS)

39
Posted by: Hammersmith Police at February 25, 2012 11:29 AM (Onw8c)

Good link -- it has the illustrations that were in my book. There was also a rubberized silk balloon, but it was more expensive, used precious war supplies and actually leaked more than the paper balloons. They only made a couple hundred of them.

Posted by: Ed Anger - Certified Kos Kid at February 25, 2012 07:51 AM (7+pP9)

40 36 Posted by: Kensington at February 25, 2012 11:42 AM (uaEZS) If you want a, er, "thrill," check out Nancy Allen in "Dressed to Kill," by the king of America-hating misogynists Brian DePalma. All I will say is white lingerie...

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 07:53 AM (Af3Wg)

41 And it was directed by little Stevie Spielberg after he just came off of "Jaws" and "Close Encounters." Klunk.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 07:55 AM (Af3Wg)

42 "If you want a, er, "thrill," check out Nancy Allen in "Dressed to Kill," by the king of America-hating misogynists Brian DePalma."

---

Yes, yes, I'm well aware that she's a gloriously attractive woman, even still at 60+ years old, but for me she was never sexier than in "1941."

Posted by: Kensington at February 25, 2012 07:58 AM (uaEZS)

43 My father was born in Santa Monica Feb. 24, 1942. He and my grandma spent the blackout under the bed in her hospital room. It was a pretty interesting first day for my dad.

Posted by: Dirt Knuckle at February 25, 2012 08:03 AM (clOTS)

44 Do not... foot trigger... Boom

Ned Beatty's home remodeling service.

Posted by: DaveA at February 25, 2012 08:03 AM (2eUbq)

45 Do a search on Wikipedia and extensive info about the Japanese balloon bombs comes up. And yes, the fatalities were in Southern Oregon, not CA. I stand corrected.

There were more than 9 thousand launched from Alaska to San Diego.

Some of the bombs made it as far as Iowa and Michigan!

Posted by: navybrat at February 25, 2012 08:10 AM (x2vHF)

46 1941 is one of the funniest movies ever, the only problem was that most people don't have the patience to sit through it and absorb all the references that make it hilarious. I had to watch it 2 or 3 times to catch it all.

Posted by: Rick in MB at February 25, 2012 08:12 AM (2ocJB)

47 "Hiya, Stretch!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at February 25, 2012 08:30 AM (Af3Wg)

48

Hearts and minds.....

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at February 25, 2012 08:32 AM (i7XZk)

49 I always wanted that BoFors in my front yard. Geez, Nancy Allen is just about ready for Social Security. Don't look it up.

Posted by: TheSev at February 25, 2012 08:35 AM (iHeMr)

50 My grandparents left me a 2" long piece of shrapnel that fell in their front yard in Burbank during that period.

Posted by: snopercod at February 25, 2012 09:24 AM (vqx/l)

OT, sorta. Just finished reading "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". I am afraid I will never think of Germans quite the same way again. Author Wm. Shirer lived among them as a (real) journalist through it all, and he knew how to call a spade a fucking shovel.

Next time some liberal know-it-all tells you about how the West made the krauts suckers for Hitler, tell them to buy this book and then shove it where the Sun don't shine, because they sure as hell won't be able to read it without their head exploding.

Posted by: sherlock at February 25, 2012 09:38 AM (8ra42)

52 WTF with all the run-together words in my comments??? Anyone else get that?

Posted by: sherlock at February 25, 2012 09:40 AM (8ra42)

53 55 WTF with all the run-together words in my comments??? Anyone else get that?

Posted by: sherlock at February 25, 2012 01:40 PM (8ra42)

It has something to do with the backspace negating any new spaces. Try not to use backspace.

What about the book makes you think differently about that history? Im interested in the way societies rot apart, seems like its happening everywhere.

Posted by: lesbian seagull at February 25, 2012 09:58 AM (xXhWA)

54 One thing awesome about LA when I was a kid were all the surplus WWII searchlights. They were used for movie premiers, but also for car dealers and grand openings etc. So you'd see a bunch of the beams sweeping back and forth across the sky at night all the time, esp around the big car dealers in Norwalk and Downey.

Do they even let them do that anymore? I guess it was viewshed pollution, or something.

Posted by: jeanne! with two N's and an E at February 25, 2012 11:41 AM (DcQQA)

55 Posted by: navybrat at February 25, 2012 12:10 PM (x2vHF)

Yes, the Japanese incinerating balloons are one matter, released nearer the end of the war, though, than the onset. Nonetheless, the paranoia along our West Coast was justified after Pearl Harbor. Japanese submarines were sighted off our Pacific coastline just as German subs were sighted off our Atlantic coastline. And something triggered our Military to repel with all available arsenal what they considered an attack by the Japanese on Los Angeles. Quite a show.

Posted by: panzernashorn at February 25, 2012 11:46 AM (lpWVn)

56 It's easy to circle LA for hours when you're based out of a secret airstrip in the alfalfa fields of Pomona.

Posted by: Darth Tokarev at February 25, 2012 11:46 AM (wf+DP)

57 If NATO hands those soldiers over to the Afghans, the Army should mutiny and hang Obama.

Posted by: Trimegistus at February 25, 2012 12:51 PM (8+t26)

58 The, ahem, "History" Channel repeatedly runs a program claiming those searchlights are illuminating an alien UFO.

Posted by: farsighted at February 25, 2012 04:20 PM (5t2L3)

59 "Except three civilians killed" Well, carry on, then! But seriously, if that happened nowadays, can you imagine the uproar... not that a little uproar wouldn't be appropriate, but then, then as now we had an enemy determined to kill us.

Posted by: The Chap, etc. at February 25, 2012 05:03 PM (9fiMP)

60 1941 was one of Grandpa's two favorite WWII movies. He said no one else ever quite captured the paranoia and disorganization of the first weeks after Pearl Harbor. All that was too easy to forget and too easy to sweep under the rug after V-J Day.

And a couple buddies of mine who went EOD told me they STILL cover the Japanese balloon bombs. Damned things still turn up from time to time in the Pacific Northwest and no one knows how many are unaccounted for. Numbers at the time were REALLY lowballed by the War Department. The threat that firebombs posed to American timber reserves (this in an age of wooden barracks, wooden pallets, wooden crates, wooden railroad cars, etc) made the deployment of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion to backstop the Forest Service Smoke Jumpers make a hell of a lot more sense in hindsight.

Posted by: SGT Dan at February 25, 2012 05:44 PM (0Yr25)

www.genset-china.com

Posted by: kadin at February 25, 2012 07:08 PM (cZh/D)

62 www.parts-machining.com

Posted by: kadin at February 25, 2012 07:37 PM (cZh/D)

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