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Although the principles of long range attack using aircraft carriers was well known in American military circles, the nation was still stunned by the Japanese. The American's had heard the warnings, but did not think the Japanese could successfully pull off such a daring and secretive attack with enough force to sink a major fleet. They were wrong. The American reaction was near panic. There was widespread fear that the Japanese were going to invade California, even though their offensive abilities are now known to have been stretched just reaching Hawaii. The American reaction was to imprison all Japanese-Americans, an illegal move that still draws criticism. Fears of Japanese bombing reached as far as Kansas. Once the initial confusion and panic settled, the country went quickly about the business of building a giant war machine with which to get 'pay back' on the Japanese. Huge numbers of men volunteered for duty, but not enough for the demands of the war, thus many millions had to be drafted. Industrial plants all over the country that had been idled by the depression were suddenly humming due to military contracts. America was lucky to have two of the great military minds of the era with which to battle the Japanese - MacArthur and Nimitz. These two devised a plan that successfully destroyed the Japanese navy, broke their defensive perimeter, and ultimately cause the entire Japanese Empire to collapse.

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19y ago

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