Fuck
Me
No. He didn't.
That was from a movie.
That’s just Hollywood he never said that…….but it’s true none the less…..
There is plenty of ink devoted to say there is no corroboration that Yamamoto made the following statement:
"You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."
Well then, how did it get started? Supposedly it was written in the writings of Gordon Prange, the Chief Historian on MacArthur's staff. However, that statement cannot be found in Prange's documents.
It must have got started somewhere. It is likely that was Yamamoto's sentiments. After all, he spent some time in the United States. He attended Harvard from 1919 to 1921. Then he attended the US Naval War College in 1924. He was reputed to have traveled the US extensively in those years. Although I doubt he would have time to travel while attending the War College.
Nevertheless, he had to have known of the fondness Americans had for firearms. This would have been at a variance to the culture he was brought up in. The
"gun culture" for lack of a better characterization would have made a deep impression on him.
There are plenty of writings and eyewitness accounts of him expressing his disagreement with attacking the United States. Not only were his misgivings a result of seeing the military-industrial might of the US but knowing that Americans have been raised to be
"bitter-clingers" since childhood.
So while I don't disagree with you completely, I will say that even though we can't find proof that was a direct quote from Yamamoto, his sentiments were such that he could have said it.
I read that MacArthur never said,
"I shall return." The first time he said this it was,
"I will return." The War Department felt that
"shall" had more impact than
"will." After that he always said,
"I shall return."
What cannot be disputed was MacArthur's resolve in get back to the Philippines.
Napoleon is often quoted as saying,
"Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake." That wasn't a direct quote either. If I recall correctly, it was in a much longer discourse with one of his cavalry commanders. Nevertheless, that dictum is one which Ole Boney lived by. It's one that all good military commanders should abide by as well.
Nathan Hale supposedly never said,
"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." This is based on the writings of a British Officer who witnessed Hale's execution. The line came from a play that was popular in the early 18th century.
Being an educator, Hale would have been familiar with the play and famous quote. I have no doubt that it could have been made up and embellished by Colonial journalists who wanted to whip up the anger of freedom loving Americans. It worked.
Maybe before starting out on his spy mission, Hale made the statement to a friend. Maybe he told a captor or another witness this before he was led to the noose. We won't ever know. What we do know, from everything else is that this is the way Nathan Hale felt.
The gospel writers attributed many statements made by Jesus. We would put those statements in quotation marks today and even cite chapter and verse from the New Testament epistles. The gospel writers, given the way the Kone Greek was written more or less encapsulated all of his statements into what looks like direct quotes to us today. One can say the same thing over and over again in many different ways.
So my statement was not meant to be a direct quote but to capitalize on Yamamoto's very accurate assessments of US capabilities at that time and tie it in with the fact that we enjoy the felicities of freedom backed up by a shit load of guns and ammunition in light of the unrealistic attitude of those that want to put us in concentration camps.
Even Yamamoto expressed a lack of temerity on attacking the US with rifles behind every blade of grass. Let them try that and watch millions of "Huckleberries" sprouting in lawns and gardens throughout America.
www.cnn.com
www.snipershide.com
www.thegatewaypundit.com
thepostmillennial.com
notthebee.com
