Of Fog and War: A Comparative Analysis of Two Japanese Bombing Attacks on the United States during WWII
Warfare, unfortunately, is an essential part of mankind. It has been witnessed since time immemorial. What is comforting to know, however, is that it does not always end with blood baths, or similar devastation. Sometimes warfare ends with two enemy forces forgiving one another. This happened years after the Lookout Air Raids, when the Japanese bomber who carried out a series of bombings over the Siskiyou Mountains in Oregon, returned there years afterwards to apologize.
During the early stages of World War Two, the Japanese engaged in warfare with the United States numerous times. Two of these engagements had many similarities to each other in terms of failed outcomes to damage America. One of these attacks was called Operation K. This mission ended on a rather dark note, compared to a similar bombing mission, called the Lookout Air Raids, which became a war story with a happy ending. Both of these attacks were air raids by the Japanese on America. These events both took place during WWII and, furthermore, both these attacks ended in failed missions for the Japanese. And finally, both of these operations resulted in no American casualties.
Operation K
Operation K was a second Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, just 4 months after they bombed it on Dec. 7th, 1941, which officially brought the United States into World War Two. The mission was an air raid attack on the U.S., which had dual purposes: Firstly, they wanted to assess the damage they inflicted during the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese also intended to bomb Pearl Harbor again, and figured the mission would be a good time to test their new flyin...
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...town’s newly built library.
This story overwhelms me. I love hearing about people forgiving past mistakes. The story begins so very similar to Operation K, but flourishes into a peaceful resolution. It amazes me that this historical event is not prominent in history books. More people need to know about the happy endings in history.
These historical accounts remind me of a quote by the late Prussian military strategist and soldier, Carl Von Clausewitz: “War is an area of uncertainty; three quarters of the things on which all action in war is based are lying in a fog of uncertainty to a greater or lesser extent.”
Warfare has been and always will be a slippery slope whose aftermath almost always culminates in disaster, but it is a wonderful feeling to know that the proverbial battlefield can sometimes lead to a fount of forgiveness, instead of a bath of blood.