Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942

by Ian W. Toll

Japan had donated $246,000 in disaster relief for the stricken city, exceeding the combined relief pledges of every other nation in the world. When a prominent Japanese seismologist arrived from Tokyo to lend his expertise to the rebuilding effort, he was waylaid in the streets and beaten by a mob.

Correct thoughts and beliefs were hammered into the minds of the Japanese through official slogans: “I won’t desire anything until the war is won”

The subhumans of 1941 had mutated into the superhumans of 1942.

Combat was a hard and unforgiving school, but the U.S. Navy was taking its lessons to heart. If the navy did one thing right after the debacle of December 7, it was to become collectively obsessed with learning and improving. Each new encounter with the enemy was mined for all the wisdom and insights it had to offer. Every after-action report included a section of analysis and recommendations, and those nuggets of hard-won knowledge were absorbed into future command decisions, doctrine, planning, and training throughout the service.