"The Secret Mission to Kill Yamamoto" Topic

"TThey did it. On April 18, 1943, 16 U.S. Army Air Forces fighter pilots from Guadalcanal flew more than 400 miles to ambush Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as he flew to Balalae airfield in the Solomon Islands. They sent the Japanese Combined Fleet's commander in chief to a fiery grave in the jungles of Bougainville. The United States had exacted revenge against the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack and one of the Imperial Navy's highest-ranking officers—but at what cost?

Behind the scenes, President Franklin D. Roosevelt reacted with glee, writing a mock letter of condolence to Yamamoto's widow that circulated around the White House but was never sent:

Dear Widow Yamamoto:

Time is a great leveler and somehow I never expected to see the old boy at the White House anyway. Sorry I can't attend the funeral because
I approve of it.

Hoping he is where we know he ain't.

Very sincerely yours,

/s/ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Ironically, the success of the mission, aptly named Operation Vengeance, threatened to expose the most important secret of the Pacific War: the U.S. Navy's ability to read the Japanese navy's top-secret JN-25 operational code. If the Japanese suspected a broken code had led to Yamamoto's death, they would drastically overhaul all their military codes and the United States would lose its priceless strategic advantage. As nervous commanders waited to see if there would be a day of reckoning, America's own servicemen would prove to be the gravest threat to this crucial secret…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Given that the purported Yamamoto boast was phony, is this alleged secret FDR prank note legitimate, or also an urban myth? I'd be curious to know. It doesn't sound entirely in character, or what he normally held to be the dignity of his office.

I can't help but feel there is something unseemly about a cold-blooded assassination by ambush and then gloating about it as a stirring victory. Not the conduct I'd expect from the good guys. Tojo should not be our teacher.

I first read about this in an old Reader's Digest!

I'm dubious of the value of making such a big thing of killing Yamamoto who was not such a key figure as they seemed to make out.

Clearly he was a combatant and a valid target but given the risk of blowing the 'MAGIC' secrets I have to say it was probably a mistake.

Propaganda aside, you risk a lot and you gain very little.

Agree with both….

Amicalement
Armand

I would respectfully disagree. A parallel was the Doolittle raid on Japan. Certainly in hindsight it would seem not worth the result which was to encourage Japan to improve its air defenses. Yet the psychological impact on Japan was marked (they were not safe) and the boost to American morale incalculable.

In hindsight the risk of Japan changing its codes may seem to great. At the time though the shoot down of Yamamoto so far behind what was supposedly Japanese lines was profound. It reportedly damaged Japanese morale, especially in the Navy. It raised US military morale and resonated with US public as payback for the man touted to have engineered Pearl Harbor. It mattered little the actual value of Yamamoto but the symbolic value to both sides.

"I'm dubious of the value of making such a big thing of killing Yamamoto who was not such a key figure as they seemed to make out."

Yamamoto was the head of the Combined Fleet. He was a key figure. At this point of the war the ability of the Japanese to stop the Americans was diminishing rapidly. Militarily it probably didn't matter that much. Personal accounts of those involved imply the morale effect was severe.