On December 7, 2024, recalling December 7, 1941 and the Imperial Japanese Navy's successful attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor, and how the newspapers and the radio audience listened especially to Admiral Bill Halsey, who is quoted in legend as having
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 7 December 2024
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
MAY 1942 ENTERPRISE
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is John Batchelor. Here it is Pearl Harbor Day, 2024. It's good to remember the Pearl Harbor |
| 0:08.0 | and how surprised and overwhelmed and threatened America was because it wasn't ready for the Japanese |
| 0:14.6 | Imperial Navy to attack. Here we have comments by Admiral James Stavridis from his book, To Risk It All, Nine Conflicts in the Crucible of Decision. |
| 0:25.8 | This one about Admiral Bill Halsey, who commanded the Pacific Fleet and ran the fast attack carriers right to the end of the war. |
| 0:37.3 | However, he was outspoken from the beginning, from the moment he got back to Pearl Harbor, |
| 0:42.8 | guiding enterprise that had been out. |
| 0:46.3 | Bill Halsey was beloved because he was a tough talker, a straightforward talker. |
| 0:50.7 | America loved him, and here's why. |
| 0:52.8 | Bill Halsey. |
| 0:54.0 | Those early days of World War II, |
| 0:56.4 | the nation is stunned. Our fleet has been destroyed in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. |
| 1:05.5 | We need some wins. We need some victories. And there is a morale issue here. |
| 1:11.6 | And Bill Halsey is perfect for that. |
| 1:14.6 | I've spent a fair amount of time criticizing him, but let me tell you what he is very good at. |
| 1:19.5 | He's very good at projecting confidence. |
| 1:21.9 | He's very good at snappy phrases with the media. |
| 1:25.6 | Your world, John Batchelor, would love to have a Bill Halsey |
| 1:30.9 | today. His motto is hit hard, hit fast, hit often. He leads the Doolittle Raid that strikes |
| 1:38.8 | Tokyo and really gets one back for Team USA. So yes, that's why Nimitz continued to support him |
| 1:47.7 | despite his mistakes over the years. |
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