World War 2 has always been my favorite historical subject matter in regards to American and World history. There is always something new to learn or discover that wasn’t taught to me in my school’s textbooks. Whenever I come across something new that I haven’t previously been aware of, I eagerly set off to find out as much information about it as I can. My quest for knowledge is inexhaustible and I relish every moment I spend on learning about the past, especially the war years.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY…………..
On September 9th, 1942, a Japanese Yokosuka E14Y floatplane drops incendiary bombs into Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon. A Japanese submarine had surfaced off the coast of Crescent City, California early in the morning. It was from here that pilot Nobuo Fujita took off for the lightly guarded Oregon coastline. Fortunately for the nearby residents of Brookings, Oregon, no forest fires resulted from the bombing, which was the ultimate goal of the Japanese. They were hoping to create wildfire chaos in the Pacific Northwest to divert resources from fighting the war. It was the one and only attack on the American Mainland during the war. President Roosevelt ordered a news blackout in order to preserve morale, though news of the event did leak out.
According to Oregonencyclopedia.org, the pilot Fujita, regretted the bombing. In 1962 he traveled to Brookings and surrendered his family’s 400 year old sword to city officials in an effort to make peaceable amends.
For The Love of History 