Pearl Harbor; Tragedy to Triumph

By Feld

The unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese empire on December 7, 1941, stunned Americans like nothing else had in the history of our nation. An angry nation asked why, how could this happen, and who was responsible for the destruction of our pacific fleet, and the deaths of over 3,000 American fighting men. There were no simple answer

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gerry Feld
• Release date: Aug 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9798218140458

Book preview

PEARL

HARBOR

TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH

GERRY FELD

Copyright © 2023 by Gerry Feld

ISBN Paper Back: 979-8-218-14044-1

ISBN E-Book: 979-8-218-14045-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photo copying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission of the copyright owner.

Pearl Harbor Tragedy to Triumph; is purely a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual person living or dead, or events and locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Ingram/Spark Content Group

Global Headquarters in LaVergne, Tn. U.S.A.

Printed in the U.S.A.

Editing and proofreading by Lori Hawkins

Interior design and Typesetting by Roseanna M. White, through paid agreement with 99Designs.com

Cover design and Art work by JohnBellArt, through paid agreement with selfpubbookcovers.com

OTHER TITLES BY GERRY FELD

A Journey into War

Published in 2017

A Soldiers Final Journey

Published in 2019

Vietnam Honor and Sacrifice

Published in 2020

Sarah Rosenbaum’s Dachau Redemption

Published in 2021

PT Boats; Terrors of the Pacific

Published in 2021

Sister Dominique’s Incredible War

Published in 2023

Preface

On September 23, 1970, the epic movie Tora, Tora, Tora came to the big screen. It’s considered to be the most factual film ever produced about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was derived from the story Tora, Tora, Tora that was written by Dr. Gordon W. Prange in 1963 for the November and December issues of Readers Digest . The material was then transferred to book form under the title of, At Dawn we Slept , which was published in 1981. Doctor Prange added two more books about the attack titled December 7, 1941, The day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor , and Pearl Harbor: The verdict of History . Today, many historians consider these three books to be the most accurate trilogy of Pearl Harbor ever written. They are superb reading.

And yes, for all you skeptics, I have read all the works published by John Toland and Henry C. Claussen that have attempted to rewrite the history of the attack, but none of their writings have ever changed my mind as to the official facts.

Although this is my seventh book, it is the book I always wanted to write, but was not sure how to make it happen. My first try was purely factual, but would have been no different than any other historical account. Then I tried a pure fictional story, but it left me wanting, so both books were relegated to the back waters of my computer.

Eventually, I decided to write a historical account while placing my fictional characters into the overall larger story. It took some time to work out all the details, but eventually it came together.

I did a tremendous amount of research from a variety of sources, to assure the accuracy of my details, and delve into some of the smaller aspects of the attack many people have never known about, but make the story much more interesting.

This manuscript was actually started nearly four years ago. As I worked on my other books, I continued doing new research on Pearl Harbor. I read hundreds of historical documents, dating back to 1921, some I had seen before and others that were new to me. I took stacks of notes and tried to make sure each document was accurate and could be substantiated.

Finally, I decided I was ready to write my story about Pearl Harbor. The longer I worked on the first manuscript, the more I disliked it. So, with nearly 150 completed pages, I shelved it. As I was finishing PT Boats; Terrors of the Pacific, I decided to start over with my Pearl Harbor story, but from a different angle. That effort seemed awkward and I just could never make it work, so with nearly 125 completed pages, I shelved that as well.

As I finished Sister Dominique’s Incredible War, I decided to start again. There were parts from both books that I really liked, so I began the task of cutting and pasting the material around a new base story.

This book contains a tremendous amount of historical information that is needed to tell the true story of the attack. But what we will never know is what took place behind all those closed doors as world leaders fought over tough decisions. After nearly fifty years of reading and studying the attack from both perspectives, I have come to know many of the major players on both sides of the Pacific quite well. I know their quirks, their fears, and how they agonized about their own decisions, and how they felt about other government officials involved in this difficult decision-making process. Due to my extensive study, I feel comfortable taking literary license, in an attempt to add examples of possible conversations that took place in those top-secret meetings in both Washington and Tokyo. I think having some idea of what took place behind those closed doors adds intrigue and drama to the overall story.

I hope you enjoy this account of the attack that changed the world forever and moved the United States into the atomic era.

**********************************************************

All of the actual historical characters and each of the ships that were involved in the attack in one way or another have an asterisk by their names. That notation is used only once for each ship or individual. Times noted throughout the story are local times.

Dedication

There is no way a book about Pearl Harbor could be written without dedicating it to all the brave men that were caught up in the attack on December 7, 1941. Many of those that were killed so suddenly died without knowing what was happening or why. Those that survived the opening salvo went on to fight back, becoming the backbone of the United States Navy as it rebuilt. They trained new men, and helped devise new equipment that would be needed as the war progressed. Most never received any medals or awards, they just did what they knew had to be done.

Such a book should also be dedicated to all the families, friends, and relatives now gone, that waited for months to receive word of the fate of their loved ones that were stationed at Pearl Harbor that morning in December. Sadly, many men could not be identified, or even found, as in the case of the USS Arizona, USS Utah and USS Oklahoma, so many family members never knew the true fate of the loved one they cherished.

As always, I also dedicate this book to my wife JoAnn, who spent countless hours talking with me about how the book should be put together, and offered me many ideas and suggestions for consideration.

Contents

OTHER TITLES BY GERRY FELD

Preface

Rape of Nanking

The Rainbow Plan

Chapter One – The Bronx, New York City

Chapter Two – Preparation

Chapter Three – The Orphanage

Chapter Four – Montana

Chapter Five – Tokyo, Japan

Chapter Six – San Diego, California

Chapter Seven – Fears of war Deepen

Chapter Eight – 1940 The War Expands

Chapter Nine - The USS Honolulu meets Honolulu

Chapter Ten – The Threat Grows

Chapter Eleven – The Akagi

Chapter Twelve - The Plan is Set

Chapter Thirteen – Things are Heating Up

Chapter Fourteen – Alerts and Confusion

Chapter Fifteen – Final Message

Chapter Sixteen – Where to assign planes

Chapter Seventeen – Tora Tora Tora

Chapter Eighteen - The Morning of Glory

Chapter Nineteen – The Wives

Chapter Twenty – Second Attack

Chapter Twenty-One – Fighting Back

Chapter Twenty-Two – Aftermath

Chapter Twenty-Three - Lady Lex

Chapter Twenty-Four – Battle of the Coral Sea

Chapter Twenty-Five –Battle of Midway

Chapter Twenty-Six – The Return

Addenda

Epilogue – America

Epilogue – Japanese

Government Inquiries

Final Comment

Rape of Nanking,

the first unprovoked attack

against America by Japan 12-12-1937

Many of history’s greatest minds have agreed that World War Two began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937. As usual, they attacked without provocation, waging a war of utter destruction without any regard for human life. By August of 1937, they had run into heavier resistance than was expected as fighting continued around the city of Shanghai. The fighting was brutal and bloody with many instances of hand-to-hand combat, but that did not deter the Japanese commanders who had their eyes set on the city of Nanking. It was China’s Capital city at the time, and was the site of America’s oil assets in the far east.

As the Chinese forces began moving out of the metropolitan area, Japanese forces destroyed what was left of the city and killed an unknown number of civilians. As the Chinese Army continued retreating south, Japanese forces followed close behind, destroying everything in their path. On December 12, 1937, as Japanese General Matsui Iwane,* commander of Japan’s Central China Front, approached Nanking with a force of nearly 100,000 soldiers, he decided the people involved in resistance needed to be taught a lesson that would break their spirit and will to continue fighting. He ordered his men to destroy the city, doing whatever they felt was necessary.

Over the next six weeks, his men looted and burned buildings, committed mass executions, and committed countless rapes of women and girls. When the army left the city, they had killed 150,000 Chinese soldiers that had surrendered, 50,000 civilian males, and had raped and murdered 20,000 females of all ages. It did not take long for the world to refer to it as the, Rape of Nanking.

President Roosevelt was stunned when the British Embassy called the White House around midnight on December 12, to inform him of the Japanese attack on American forces near Nanking. The ambassador told Harry Hopkins,* the president’s chief aide, that the information had been verified through the British Consulate in Singapore. During the attack on Nanking on December 12 at 1330 hours, the American gunboat Panay* and three American Oil Company tankers were anchored in the Yangtze River near the American Oil Company Terminal. The Panay had two assignments, first to provide protection for the tankers as they moved up river, and secondly, to help evacuate the balance of American Embassy workers and journalists from Nanking. Most of the rescued Americans were already on the Panay, when at 1337 hours, a lookout on the stern of the boat reported Japanese bombers approaching from the south. As the first two planes began strafing the ships, the third plane dropped a hundred-pound bomb that crashed through the roof of the Panay’s Control House, seriously wounding Lt. Commander Hughes*, the skipper of the Panay. Several more bombs struck the vessel as machine gun bullets ripped into the thin hull. It was impossible for the crew of the Panay to return fire at the aircraft, since all their guns were positioned in place to strictly fire at shore batteries. Immediately, the call to abandon ship was given by the Panay’s executive officer, Lt. Arthur Anders.* However, that made no difference to the pilots of the aircraft that then dove in low, strafing the survivors in the water.

During the air attack, a small Japanese gunboat arrived on scene, adding machine gun fire to the already chaotic situation. With the Panay sunk and the oil tankers burning, the only safe place for the survivors to take refuge was back on land in the oil terminal.

Several days before moving up river to the oil terminal at Nanking, the crew of the Panay had taken extra time to paint large American flags on the top deck and sides of the boat. Additionally, Lt. Anders, XO of the gunboat, stated emphatically that he had notified the Japanese command of what their mission was, and where they would be anchoring near the oil terminal.

Colin McDonald,* a New York Times reporter, was aboard the Panay during the attack. He stated that he watched a Japanese patrol boat continue strafing people in the water, as the damaged Panay sank into the river. He stated the American flag on the hull of the boat was clearly visible to the crew of the Japanese patrol boat.

Two days later, three rescue gunboats arrived. One was the USS Oahu,* the other two were British boats, the HMS Ladybird* and HMS Bee*. All three boats had sustained moderate damage from Japanese shore batteries as they sailed up the Yangtze, but were still in operable condition.

All the embassy workers and journalists were spread out among the two British boats, as the Oahu took on the wounded and dead. In all, three American sailors and eleven civilians were killed, while forty-three sailors were wounded, along with five civilians. All of the wounded were taken to the closest hospitals in Shanghai. There is no way of knowing how many other civilians were killed by machine gun fire and sank into the depths of Yangtze.

After inquiring a second time to make sure all the details had been confirmed, President Roosevelt looked coldly at Harry Hopkins and said, Set up a meeting for 0900 hours with my war council.

At 0900 hours, the president was wheeled into his second-floor office where Secretary of War Henry Stimson,* Secretary of State Cordell Hull,* Chief of the Army Gen. George C. Marshall,* Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox,* and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William Leahy,* stood patiently waiting.

After positioning himself near the fireplace, the president began. Well gentlemen, you have all been briefed on the Panay incident, what the hell are we going to do!

Henry Stimson shook his head. This is bad, Mr. President, but we are not ready to go to war with Japan. It would be a drastic mistake for us to attack over this incident. We must find another way out.

Cordell Hull nodded his head in agreement. Sir, we need to send an immediate cable to the Japanese, telling them this kind of behavior must stop, or military action will be required!

General Marshall scoffed at Hull’s statement. What military action would we take, Mr. Secretary? We don’t have the planes to bomb Japan, nor do we have the forces to attack the Japanese in China. Tell me, sir, what kind of action do we take?

Before Secretary Hull could respond, Admiral Leahy spoke up. General Marshall is right. There is no place we can militarily go after Japan, without creating an international incident larger than the Panay issue. We need to be careful here.

Walking closer to the president, Frank Knox said, Mr. President, I think we should send the Japanese a stern message. The news is already out on the street, and people in New York are protesting in favor of military action. We need to let the Japanese know we will not allow this incident to go unpunished. You must get a message to them today!

After several more rounds of discussion, the president raised his hand. Alright, gentlemen. I can see everyone wants some sort of message be sent to Tokyo, and I concur. But I do not think bringing up military action right now would be the proper thing to do. I believe the Japanese might look at that as a declaration of war, and we would have a larger mess on our hands than we are prepared for. I will have Harry write up a message and get all of you copies before I send it. If you do not agree, let me know immediately.

About 1300hours on December 13, FDR send a stern message to Tokyo regarding the attack and loss of American lives. Now it would be a waiting game to see how they would react.

December 14, at 1000 hours, a message arrived at the State Department from Tokyo. The Japanese Government apologized for the incident, stating things had gotten out of hand, and they were not fully aware of what was taking place. They added that neither the pilots or the crew of the gunboat had seen the American flags before starting their attacks. Tokyo promised the United States slightly over two million dollars in reparations, which they did pay. Most newspapers in the United States felt nothing more could be done over the issue, and published stories that the Panay issue was properly dealt with and closed.

Although the issue over the Panay was closed, it gave the Japanese war council a good indication as to how unprepared the United States was for a war that was lurking over the horizon.

The Rainbow Plan

In 1890, the United States first decided to construct a series of war plans they could have on file, for any nation that decided to attack. It was called the Rainbow Plan, as every nation they thought might be belligerent toward the United States was given a color to identify the specific plan.

Japan was given the color orange, so the battle plans for a war against Japan was labeled War Plan Orange. The original planners felt the United States would need to pull back from any islands they held in the far Pacific, while pulling all warships into their respective ports from which they could be directed to go out to sea and defeat Japan.

The plans provided intricate details on how each phase of the war was to proceed. Over the years the plan was changed and modified, becoming more complex until 1906, a year after the devastating defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. Everything now needed to be re-examined.

Immediately, the United States began planning for an all-out war with Japan, which required a complete rewrite of the entire plan of organization. After World War One, Japan became more prominent on the world stage, and had the desire to build a large navy, such as those of the United States and the European victors. Additionally, the League of Nations confirmed Japan’s right to hold the islands they had taken from Germany during World War One. It was becoming more obvious that Japan was planning to be a major player on the world stage, despite what anyone wanted because of their militaristic background.

In 1920, the United States began to realize they could be caught up in a two-ocean war and changes to the plan were essential. By 1924, the United States decided Japan would be a probable enemy, attacking the Panama Canal, Hawaii and possibly the west coast. The revised plan took the position that any war with Japan would be limited mostly to an all-naval affair, as planners felt there was no chance Japan could attack, seize and occupy these targets without full naval support. In order to have American sea power in the western Pacific, it would be essential for the United States to have a large naval base in the region. It was decided the base would be at Manila Bay in the Philippine Islands. The new Orange Plan now had a contingency to hold and reinforce the Philippine Islands as soon as possible, in the event of a war with Japan.

Planners decided it might even be necessary to invade Japan to bring the war to an end, but no further action was written into the Orange Plan on that matter.

By 1938, the plan had been changed and rewritten nearly a dozen times, giving both the Army and the Navy their own set of Orange directives. The final plan in 1938 removed the possibility of invading the Japanese homeland. The plan stated if Plan Orange could not bring Japan to its knees, they would have to take, Such further action as may be required to win the war.

As Japan’s war with China was going well, and they were expanding their island holdings, once again the plan was rewritten. Now the United States wrote specifically which islands they would seize to form a secure line of communications to the western Pacific.

By 1940, planners decided Japan would send a force of 100,000 men to capture Manila and its harbors, severing its line of communications with the United States. The plan also stated Japan might move forward with this plan before a declaration of war was made. Planners felt it would happen in either December or January, after the rice crop was harvested, and that there would be multiple landings.

Every effort would be made to fight off the Japanese ground forces before withdrawing to the Bataan Peninsula. This new plan stated that within six months, the American Fleet would be able to resupply the forces on Bataan while taking control of the western Pacific.

However by April of 1941, most American war planners were convinced such a battle would never take place, but if it actually did, most likely it would take the United States navy two years to fight its way back to the Philippines. Army leaders woefully stated all supplies on Luzon would be exhausted within six months, and the garrison would go down to defeat.

Plan Orange always maintained that attacks would come in the western Pacific, especially in the Philippines before Hawaii would be attacked. Planners felt if Japan attacked Hawaii, it would be on a weekend, most likely on an early Sunday morning, and without a declaration of war. That was the one piece of Plan Orange that turned out to be accurate.

Right up to Dec7, 1941, military leaders in the War Planning Department still held as fact that if war broke out in the Pacific, America would be prepared.

When you arrive at the WAR WARNINGS section of the book, you will notice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold Stark refers to the Orange Plan as WPL46 (War Plans) section 46, while Chief of Staff George C. Marshal refers to Rainbow 5, which was Japan’s color section in the Rainbow Plan.

Chapter One –

The Bronx, New York City

From the late 1800s through 1940, many Italian immigrants settled into a community known as Little Italy in the Bronx. They were hard working people that took care of each other and attempted to handle their problems without intervention by the police or outsiders.

Because of the skills they brought with them from Italy, many people opened small shops, restaurants, and other facilities any normal town would need to function.

Frederico Santucci and his wife Maria were no different than any other Italian immigrants when they arrived at Ellis Island. They were sponsored by Maria’s aunt and uncle that had arrived in the United States five years earlier. Maria was a well-qualified seamstress that actually owned her own sewing machine, and Frederico was a machinist by trade. It did not take long for either of them to find jobs in businesses owned by Italian entrepreneurs.

With a modest income, they soon moved out of Maria’s aunt and uncles apartment into a small but adequate apartment of their own. To fulfill their dream, Maria soon became pregnant with their first child. They were proud parents when their daughter Dierdra was born. She was a healthy happy baby that Maria could take to work, ensuring the families income would continue to pay the bills. Eighteen months later, Maria delivered a strong healthy boy named Carmine. After his birth Maria quit her job, and began offering custom sewing out of their apartment.

Although Dierdra was rather quiet and reserved, Carmine was a rough and tumble boy with olive skin and a bushy crop of dark curly hair, that appeared to need cutting all too often. He was a likable lad and quickly made friends with a group of Italian boys from the neighborhood with similar families to his own. Carmine’s favorite part of the week was Saturday’s, when his mother took the children to the theater to watch Gary Cooper Westerns. The rest of the week Carmine would play out the movies with his friends, and reenacting many shootouts on Belmont Ave. Sometimes the boys would draw an audience of older people, just to see who was going to survive the shootout. But bedtime came early on Saturday nights as Carmine was always expected to be an altar boy at St. Raymond’s Church on Sunday morning, just a few blocks from their home.

Father Vincent loved having Carmine as an altar boy, as he never left without making sure everything was put away properly after mass, while chastising the other boys for being lazy and trying to skip out without finishing their tasks.

Both Carmine and Dierdra were good students and enjoyed going to school. At night they would work with their parents, teaching them English, as neither of them had a very good grasp of their new adopted language.

Attending high school was hard on the children of Little Italy, as they had to travel by bus to a school several miles away that was mostly attended by white children. Fights often broke out among the boys, especially if an Italian boy gave special attention to a white girl. It did not take long for Carmine to learn the art of street fighting, and he was very good at it, partly because of his size.

When Carmine turned fourteen, Maria became very sick. She could no longer work so Frederico needed to work extra hours to assure the family was well taken care of. Frederico took Maria to several doctors in Little Italy, but none of them could figure out what the problem was. After Maria collapsed one evening and could not be revived, she was taken to a hospital in the lower Bronx. Three days later the doctors told Frederico she had some sort of brain tumor. No one knew much about her condition, they simply told Frederico she was going to die, and two days later she passed.

Frederico and the children had an extremely hard time with the loss of Maria. Now Frederico began spending time in bars and coming home drunk. He became abusive to the children and began missing work because he was too drunk to do his job.

After being fired from the machine shop, Frederico took a low paying job as a street sweeper. Although he was making much less money, he was able to get handouts from market owners that felt sorry for his plight. Nevertheless, after showing up drunk one morning and hitting another worker, he was fired once again.

Unable to find a job because of his drinking, Frederico decided it was time to move away from Little Italy and start fresh. Years earlier he had met a young man that had come to New York to sell livestock from his father’s ranch in Montana. After Frederico repaired his trailer, the man told him if he ever needed a job, he should come work on the ranch in Montana, as there was always repair work to be done.

So, Frederico decided to take Carmine on a road trip to Montana to find a job and begin a new life. He took Dierdra back to Maria’s aunt and uncle, telling her when he found a place to live, he would send for her. Although Dierdra was upset about not going along on the trip with her father and brother, she was happy so see Federico happy and excited about life again.

With a small loan from Maria’s aunt and uncle, Frederico packed all he could into the family station wagon, then headed west with Carmine. All was going well until the car broke down in Madison, Wisconsin. A mechanic was able to get it back on the road again, but the repair bill sucked up a tremendous amount of money. By the time they reached St. Cloud, Minnesota, there was not a penny left for gas or food. Sitting in a park along the Mississippi river, Frederico pondered the idea of getting a job. But he knew by the time they would have enough money to continue their journey, the winter snows would be blowing across the great plains and it would be too dangerous to cross the Rocky Mountains.

That night as they slept in the car, Frederico gave serious consideration to robbing a bank and heading west immediately so they would never get caught. When he had enough money saved up, he could send it back to the bank to repay them. The more he thought about the idea, the more sense it made.

The following morning Frederico drove around St. Cloud looking for a bank that appeared to be an easy target. Finally, he decided the Granite Bank on the east side of town was exactly the right place as there was little traffic in the area.

Turning off the car in the parking lot, Frederico looked at Carmine. Son, I’m going into this bank to get some money. You stay right here unless the police show up, then run as fast as you can.

Feeling scared, Carmine looked at his father. Is there no other way to get some money? I don’t want anything to happen to you. We also must think of Dierdra.

Patting his son on the head, Frederico replied. Everything will be alright, son. We will be on our way in just a few minutes, and soon you will be riding horses on the ranch.

Carmine nodded his head. I will do as you say. Be careful.

Entering the bank, Frederico placed his hand in his jacket pocket and took hold of a pistol Carmine knew nothing about. Walking up to a teller, he pointed the gun at the young woman saying, Please do not cause me any trouble. Just fill that green bag with money from your drawer, then everything will be fine and I will leave.

The terrified woman immediately cleaned out her cash drawer, filling the bag as she had been directed. Handing the bag to Frederico, she said. That is all I have, please do not shoot me.

Nodding his head, Frederico began backing away from the counter, turning toward the door. A tall man with a long beard yelled out at him. Drop the bag and your gun. No body will get hurt, and you can go free.

Turning around, Frederico looked at the pistol in the man’s hand. I have a child to feed, and I need gas to get to my new job. Please do not cause me any problems.

The man did not reply, he simply pulled back the hammer on his pistol, glaring at Frederico.

You won’t shoot me, Frederico said, as he turned once more toward the door.

A second later the old man pulled the trigger, sending a bullet across the lobby of the bank, striking Frederico in the left side. Instantly, Frederico spun around and returned fire, striking the old man twice. As the man fell to the floor, Frederico stumbled out the door toward the car where Carmine screamed in horror as he saw the blood on his father’s jacket. One of the tellers ran toward the door getting a good description of the car as it sped from the parking lot.

Frederico fully understood that he was about to die, leaving his son all alone in a strange city where he knew not a soul, but there was nothing he could do now to change the situation. Driving into a wooded area, Frederico turned off the car. Handing the green bag to Carmine, he said, You must run now. Keep thinking about Montana, you can get there if you try. Get a job and send for your sister as we planned. She needs to be with family.

As blood ran out of his father’s mouth, Carmine said, No Papa, you cannot leave me like this. I do not want to go on without you, I need you!

Coughing up more blood, Frederico said. This is all my fault, son, your mother would never have wanted me to rob a bank. This country has been good to us, go now and be proud you are an American. Make a good life, Carmine.

Just as Carmine was going to respond, his father took his last breath. For nearly half an hour, Carmine sat in the car as his mind swirled in several directions. Part of him wanted to return to Little Italy, as it was all he ever knew. Part of him wanted to forge on to Montana, as his father asked him to, but it was so far away and he was all alone. He was only fifteen years old, and now the world was against him.

Finally, Carmine removed the billfold from his pants and stuffed it into the green bag along with the money. After kissing his father on the cheek one more time, Carmine slid out of the car, removed the license plates, and ran deeper into the wooded area. Picking up a sharp stick, Carmine dug a hole in the ground big enough for the green bag and the New York license plates. After removing fifteen dollars, he placed the bag in the hole, covered it with dirt and tamped it down with his foot. After spreading leaves and grass over the area, he pitched the stick into a pond several yards away.

Now he had to come up with a plan to get to Montana. As he sat on a log, he heard a train whistle in the distance. He had read stories about men jumping on freight trains and riding cross country. Listening to the wail of the far-off whistle, Carmine decided that was the perfect way to get to Montana, no matter how long it took him.

He had walked about a mile when he heard sirens heading east out of town. He knew that somebody had found the car and now the police were heavily involved. Coming to a railroad track, Carmine followed it across a large bridge over the Mississippi river. Minutes later he was walking through a large rail yard where switch engines were building trains from cars that were parked on several side tracks.

Knowing he had found the place to find a train heading west, Carmine knew it would be a good idea to stay away from the woods until the next day before going back after his money. Having had nothing to eat in nearly two days, Carmine was starved. Seeing a small hotel with a restaurant near the rail yard, Carmine walked in and sat down at a booth. What he did not see, was the bank teller that had run to the door of the bank. She was seated at a table on the far side of the restaurant with her parents.

Standing up slowly, the bank teller walked over to a phone booth, turned her back toward Carmine and called the police. Just after Carmine ordered a hamburger, mashed potatoes and a glass of milk, three officers came into the restaurant and walked over to where he was seated.

An officer wearing sergeant stripes looked down at Carmine. Stand up young man, you need to come with us.

Carmine looked up at the officers. I just ordered a meal, I haven't eaten in two days. Honestly, I haven’t done anything wrong!

The sergeant shook his head. Son, we know who you are. Your Pa robbed a bank today and shot a man. Someone saw you in the car as your Pa drove off. Please don’t make this any harder, just get up and come with us.

Knowing there was no way out, Carmine stood up and closed his eyes as an officer placed hand cuffs on his wrists. Arriving at the police station, Carmine was placed in an interrogation room that had a long table, three worn out chairs and a dim light bulb overhead.

Moments later, a large man wearing captain’s bars came into the room sitting down across from him. Your father got you into a bit of trouble today, son. Tell me what your name is?

Carmine was quiet for a moment before responding, Cooper.

The captain nodded his head, Cooper what? What is your last name?

Carmine sat quietly, not saying a word. After several moments, Captain O’ Conner said, You were not in the bank, so we can’t charge you with that. But we can charge you as an accessory. Your car doesn't have plates on it, are you from another state, what are you doing in Minnesota? Where were you going?

Once again, Cooper sat quietly without saying another word. Leaning back in his chair, Captain O’ Conner said. You were ordering food when my men arrested you. Are you hungry?

Carmine just looked at the table refusing to talk.

Fine! Captain O’ Conner said. We’ll place you in a holding cell over night and see if you want to talk in the morning. What happens next is totally up to you.

After laying on the bunk for about an hour, an officer opened the cell door. He handed Carmine a white bag that smelled pretty good. The captain had a chicken dinner brought over for you, and I brought a magazine you might want to look through.

After the cell door was closed, Carmine tore open the bag, devouring the food faster than he had ever eaten a meal before. Laying back on his bunk, he paged through the magazine slowly until he came to an advertisement for Dodge cars. Smiling, he decided the next day he would tell the captain his name was Cooper Dodge. After repeating the name several times, Carmine smiled. He thought it was a proper name for an old west gun fighter. A name even Gary Cooper would be proud of.

The following morning a social worker named Gus Admore was assigned to talk to Carmine. So, how did you like your chicken last night?

Carmine replied, I’ve had better.

Someone went to a lot of work to get you that meal last night, you know. You should be grateful, Mr. Admore replied.

Not my problem, Carmine replied, looking down toward the floor.

Gus Admore nodded his head. So, tell me, what’s your last name? They told me your first name is Cooper, is that accurate?

Looking directly at Gus, Carmine replied, To be honest, I never really had a name, at least one I really liked.

Shaking his head, Admore said, Everyone has a name, son. It won’t kill you to tell me who you are. My name is Gus Admore. So tell me, who might you be?

Carmine laughed. Your name sounds phony, like you just made it up. Am I supposed to be excited that I’m sitting with the great Gus Admore, advocate for the poor and wretched? Because if that’s the case, I’m not.

When Carmine had finished speaking, Admore slapped him across the face and pulled his dark hair. Look punk, that is not how you treat an adult. Now, let’s try this one more time!

Carmine glared at Gus Admore and said, So, that’s how you were taught to treat another human being? Is this how you get your kicks? Bang around some poor defenseless kid, pull his hair and yell at him. Now I’m supposed to have respect for you, is that how this works?

Captain O’Conner opened the door to the interrogation room, looking sternly at the angry social worker. Put him back in his cell and let him cool off a bit. We’ll talk with him later. Maybe by then he’ll decide that cooperating with us might be the best thing to do.

Two hours later, Carmine was walked into the interrogation room once more. Looking at the captain he said. If I tell you my name, what happens next

Captain O’Conner smiled. "Well, I can’t make a deal with a boy with no name. So, if you work with us, there is quite a bit I can do for you. It’s all in your hands. In fact the guard at the bank will pull through alright from his wounds, so you have that in your favor.

Looking frustrated, Carmine stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "Cooper Dodge is my name, and no I don’t know what my real name is. I was living on the streets of the Bronx when those people took me in. They thought I should be called Cooper, so I figured that would be a good name for me. The people that took me in had the last name of Dodge, so I just started using their name. I have been Cooper Dodge most of my life. Where I came from, I have no idea. I lived with a lot of people when I was a little kid, so I don’t know who my parents were.

Nodding his head, the captain looked compassionately at Cooper. How old are you, son?

Cooper laughed and slapped the table. Cut me in half and see if I have rings like a tree, then you and I will both have an answer to that question.

Captain O’ Conner chuckled as he sat back in his chair. So, the man you were with is not your father?

He and his wife took good care of me for a few years, so I kind of adopted them. He was an alright guy, and he generally treated me well.

Looking sternly at Cooper, the captain asked. Now son, where is the money he took from the bank? You were in the car, so where is it?

Cooper laughed, How the hell should I know? We were speeding down one street after another and he tossed the bag out the window. Someone must have picked it up when they saw what was inside.

Slamming his fist on the table, Captain O’Conner yelled. Cooper, or whatever your damn name is, you are nothing but a damn liar and a juvenile delinquent. I’m tired as hell of dealing with you, and I know you know where that money is. So here is my best deal. You tell us your real name, your father’s real name, and where the money is, or I’m going to send you to the orphanage here in town and have them hold you until you are ready to cooperate. If you think you can snowball me you are sorrily mistaken, boy. And if in one month you aren’t ready to cooperate, I’m going to have a judge send you to the reform school in Sauk Centre. Maybe then you’ll wish you had been straight with me.

Cooper sat quiet, wishing he was back in New York and they had never started out on this trip. Now he was alone and in the biggest mess of his life, and he could see no way out of it.

Chapter Two –

Preparation

As a child, Keisuke Mori loved standing on a hill overlooking the gravel airstrip west of Tottori Japan watching the colorful bi-planes. His heart would almost skip a beat every time he watched the pilots do wild turns and then zoom toward the earth at an incredible speed before once more reaching for the sky. When he was in middle school, he made a deal with the owner of the airfield to do maintenance work in exchange for flying hours. Soon Keisuke mastered the owners bi-plane and was able to attain his license. Now he began seeking out a career where he could fly and get paid for it, and he knew his answer was at the new navy airbase at Kyoto.

The staff at the base were impressed with Keisuke’s flying skills but informed him he would need to attend Etajima Military Academy* if he wanted to be a pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

With the blessing of his parents Keisuke applied for a