Episode 17: Atarimashita!

As the Japanese loaded their bombs and fueled their planes American officials continued to decipher japanese cables and wonder what exactly they were up to. Late on December 6th, eastern standard time, the first installments of a fourteen part message began arriving in Washington. Intelligence deciphered them in real time and delivered them to President Roosevelt who read them silently. He knew the japanese intended war but no one yet knew how that war would start. Many expected the conflict to begin with an invasion of the Philippines. That seemed the most likely course of action. The Philippine archipelago offered the United States a massive naval and airbase in the western pacific and provided an ideal staging area. Regardless, he must have tossed and turned that night waiting for the rest of the cable to come in and be deciphered.