Beginning with Wakipedia for some background-
So, this navy man and Pearl Harbor hero had some serious navy pedigree. He had his leg chopped off and decided to turn up to work anyway. We are talking tough guy material.Joseph Knefler Taussig Jr. (May 28, 1920 – December 14, 1999) was a United States Navy officer during and after World War II
(...)
He was the son of Vice Admiral Joseph Taussig, and the grandson of Rear Admiral Edward David Taussig (...)
Taussig was the officer of the deck of USS Nevada and senior officer in charge of her anti-aircraft batteries during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Taussig was severely wounded but refused to leave his station until the crew carried him away. He ended up having his leg amputated, then returned to duty three days later. He received the Navy Cross for his actions that day.
When he retired from active duty in 1954, at age 34, he was the youngest captain in the Navy.
Now about that pedigree, the father, a very seasoned campaigner:
https://theleansubmariner.com/2020/12/0 ... -imagined/
Now relying on this source that is quoting the "Southern Jewish Weekly"was a vice admiral in the United States Navy. He served in the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, China Relief Expedition, Cuban Pacification, World War I, Second Nicaraguan Campaign, and World War II
https://theleansubmariner.com/2022/01/3 ... rl-harbor/
Father Joseph knew what was going on. He reportedly warned Roosevelt about the Japanese:
This was reportedly an unwelcome opinion.In May 1940, Taussig again locked horns with now-president Franklin D. Roosevelt, (...) at Senate hearings on plans to expand the navy. Taussig advocated the building of (...) battleships and offered testimony to the aggressive, imperialistic designs of the Empire of Japan that planned to annex China, the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. He warned of the superiority of the Japanese Merchant fleet to that of the US, and the need to replenish U.S. bases in the Pacific Ocean and prepare for defense of the Philippines, stating, “I cannot see how we can escape being forced into war based on the present trends of events."
This theatre had a familial precedent. Rear Admiral grandpa had made a similar warning in his time!
Now, the father is an unsung hero who got nothing but trouble for telling the truth that others were not brave enough to say.Edward David Taussig, scion of a St. Louis Jewish family, (...) urged the immediate establishment of an “impregnable” naval base in the Philippines, the strengthening of the Navy and agreement with the English, the Dutch and the French guaranteeing the safety of the Pacific.
Well, he did not actually specifically predict the attack. But what an amazing coincidence that his son became a decorated hero of the event!As it is, the Jewish navy man can take credit for the fact that the defenses at Pearl Harbor are stronger than they would have been had he not testified at the committee hearing; because it was only through his efforts that more money was finally appropriated for Pearl Harbor.
For it was Admiral Taussig who predicted the Pearl Harbor attack. In the spring of 1940 he warned that the Japanese sought virtual domination of the Far East and would even go to war to attain their aim.
Saving the best for last, in the linked podcast old Joe (Jnr) makes a very interesting admission. https://evergreenpodcasts.com/warriors- ... arl-harbor
From 11:50
A war game you say? 5 years earlier?My family was rather intimately involved in the preliminaries to Pearl Harbor. My father had been the head of the department of strategy and tactics at the naval war college and the chief of staff at the naval war college. And in 1936 when I was 16 years old I cruised with my father, who was then commander of a battleship division, out to Pearl Harbor in the summer of 1936. And they did a war game, which was basically a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Could it be that the very men warning about an attack were planning said attack?