On December 7, 1941 — while much of Europe was already embroiled in war — the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy&#8217;s base at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-date-that-will-live-in-infamy-remembering-pearl-harbor-80-years-later" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pearl Harbor</a>, Hawaii.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt <a href="https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/winter/crafting-day-of-infamy-speech.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received word</a> of the attack as he finished lunch that Sunday, and had planned to spend part of the afternoon with his stamp album. (An avid philatelist, FDR&#8217;s stamp collection was once valued at auction to be worth a respectable $80,000.)
Within hours of the attack, however, Roosevelt had begun making plans to respond to the tragedy and to call for a declaration of war — against both Japan and Nazi Germany. A speech that significant would normally have been drafted over a period of 3-10 days, but once the preparations began, FDR had already announced that he planned to speak to Congress the following day.
Since two of the president&#8217;s usual speechwriters — Samuel I. Rosenman and Robert Sherwood — were unavailable, Roosevelt wrote most of his December 8th speech alone. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles submitted a slightly longer speech that touched on events leading up to the December 7th attack, but Roosevelt threw it out and kept his own words.
Biographer Nathan Miller described the scene as Roosevelt dictated the speech — now one of the most famous speeches in American history — to his secretary, Grace Tully.
&#8220;He inhaled deeply on his cigarette, blew out the smoke, and began dictating in the same calm tone he used to deal with his mail,&#8221; Miller wrote. &#8220;He enunciated the words incisively and slowly, carefully specifying each punctuation mark and new paragraph. Running little more than five hundred words, the message was dictated without hesitation or second thoughts.&#8221;
Roosevelt did make a few edits after dictating his first draft — including one change that would go down in history. The iconic first line, calling December 7th &#8220;a date which will live in infamy,&#8221; originally read as follows: &#8220;Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in world history, the United States was simultaneously and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.&#8221;
FDR stood before the House of Representatives at 12:30 p.m. the next day — approximately 24 hours after he had learned of the attack — and delivered his message.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Pearl Harbor A Date Which Will Live in Infamy FDR Speech COLORIZED" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pU1HycD_0p4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Roosevelt&#8217;s <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/afc1986022.afc1986022_ms2201/?st=text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speech</a> began with his response to the attack:
<blockquote>Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives:
YESTERDAY, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.</blockquote>
What followed was a pivot from his assessment of the attack to a request for Congress to move forward with an official declaration of war.
<blockquote>Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong: Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.
As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
But always will our whole Nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces with the unbounding determination of our people we will gain the inevitable triumph so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.</blockquote>
Congress obliged, passing an official <a href="https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/artifact/sj-res-116-declaration-war-japan-december-8-1941#:~:text=On%20December%208%2C%201941%2C%20Congress,388–1%20in%20the%20House." target="_blank" rel="noopener">declaration of war</a> against Japan — S.J. Resolution 116 — that very day. The measure passed in the Senate, 82-0, and in the House, 388-1. Three days later, allied with Japan, Nazi Germany also declared war on the United States. Congress responded with <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/images/documents/sjres119-wwii-germany.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">S.J. Resolution 119</a> just hours later on December 11th. That vote passed the Senate, 88-0, and in the House, 393-0.

Smoke Pours From Battleships At Pearl Harbor

WATCH: President Franklin D. Roosevelt Responds To The Attack On Pearl Harbor

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Responds To The Attack On Pearl Harbor

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

Japan

Pearl Harbor

Readers Pass

WWII

At least one person is dead after a U.S. military Osprey aircraft crashed near the coast of Japan Wednesday, the Japan Coast Guard said. 
Eight people were aboard the aircraft when it went down around 2:47 p.m. local time. Shortly after the crash, the 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters said it dispatched a patrol boat and aircraft to the crash scene, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/asia/us-osprey-aircraft-crashes-japan-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The aircraft crashed into the ocean near the island of Yakushima, which is about 45 miles south of the southern main Japanese island of Kyushu, a coast guard spokesperson <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-military-plane-crashes-sea-japan-osprey-yakushima-rcna127129" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NBC News. 
The Japanese Coast Guard said one man was recovered “unconscious and was not breathing” near the site of the crash. He was given CPR and taken to Anbo Port, which was nearly two miles away, but the Osprey crew member was later pronounced dead. No details were given on the status of the other seven crew members. 
Japan’s Vice Defense Minister Hiroyuki Miyazawa said the incident involved a U.S. Air Force  CV-22 Osprey and called the incident an “emergency water landing.” 
“The U.S. side explained to us that the pilot did his best until the very end, so we’re using the term ‘emergency water landing,’” Miyazawa said. 
The CV-22 Osprey can take off vertically like a helicopter while boasting the long-range flight capability of a turboprop aircraft. Its two rotors remain vertical during takeoff and landing and can rotate 90 degrees once the aircraft is in flight, allowing it to fly like a rotor-powered plane. 
Wednesday’s crash marks the third tragedy in the last two years involving U.S. military personnel flying an Osprey aircraft. In August, three Marines were killed and several more were seriously injured when their MV-22B Osprey, which is similar to the CV-22, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-u-s-marines-killed-several-injured-during-training-exercise-in-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crashed</a> on a northern Australian island while carrying 23 troops. 
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In June of 2022, all five Marines aboard an MV-22B Osprey died after it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-5-u-s-marines-confirmed-dead-in-military-aircraft-crash-in-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crashed</a> in California, a few miles north of the U.S./Mexico border. A few months before that crash, four Marines were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/four-u-s-marines-killed-in-norway-nato-training-identified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> in Norway during a NATO training exercise after their MV-22B Osprey went down in the Arctic Circle. 
This article has been updated after officials said there were eight, not six, crew members on board the aircraft.

CV-22 Osprey

At Least One Dead After U.S. Aircraft With Eight On Board Crashes Into Sea Near Japan

Airplane crash

Military

U.S. Air Force

World

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/north-korea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Korea</a> launched what it claimed was a spy satellite into orbit on Tuesday, an operation that drew a rebuke from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House</a> and alarm from U.S. allies in the region.
State-run media reported a Chollima-1 rocket launched from North Korea&#8217;s west coast and it &#8220;accurately&#8221; placed the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit, per South Korea&#8217;s <a href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20231122000600315" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yonhap News Agency</a>.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un himself reportedly observed the launch, which followed two failed attempts earlier this year. Pyongyang cast the latest operation as being part of its &#8220;legitimate&#8221; right to strengthen &#8220;self defense&#8221; and vowed more satellites would follow in &#8220;a short period of time.&#8221;
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House</a> issued a statement saying the United States &#8220;strongly condemns&#8221; North Korea&#8217;s use of ballistic missile technology in &#8220;brazen violation&#8221; of multiple United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson added that the launch &#8220;raises tensions&#8221; and &#8220;risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond.&#8221;
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South Korea&#8217;s military said it detected the launch from the Tongchang-ri area in the evening local time and that the rocket flew over waters west of the border island of Baengyeong, <a href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20231121010052315?section=nk/nk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which according to Yonhap</a>, came hours before a 10-day launch window North Korea gave to Japan as a safety warning.
South Korean officials believe North Korea was able to make progress with the help of Russia after the technical issues mired the prior two launches this year, as reported by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/world/asia/north-korea-russia-rocket-launch-spy-satellite.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
North Korea has fired what it claims is a military spy satellite, the South&#39;s armed forces said on Tuesday, hours after Japan confirmed that Pyongyang had warned it of an imminent launch ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/D5pSChSekv">https://t.co/D5pSChSekv</a> <a href="https://t.co/5ztZVX3NYA">pic.twitter.com/5ztZVX3NYA</a>
&mdash; AFP News Agency (@AFP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1726998518467101054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Japan as well as South Korea had <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-20/japan-warns-north-korea-after-getting-notice-of-satellite-launch?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> North Korea to halt the launch. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned North Korea against the use of ballistic missile technology in violation of U.N. resolutions and said it would pose a &#8220;serious threat that affects the safety of our people.&#8221;
Indeed, following the launch on Tuesday, the Japanese government issued a J-Alert missile warning urging residents in Okinawa to take shelter for a short time, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-spy-satellite-japan-5e16266707e0e4034eca022fde44ffa7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted the Associated Press</a>.
Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-20/japan-warns-north-korea-after-getting-notice-of-satellite-launch?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that officials in South Korea&#8217;s capital of Seoul believe North Korea&#8217;s satellite would be relatively primitive, but the report said it could help foster &#8220;target lists&#8221; as North Korean continues development of missiles meant to carry nuclear warheads.  Meanwhile, South Korea is <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-11-06/south-korea-plans-to-launch-its-1st-military-spy-satellite-on-nov-30" target="_blank" rel="noopener">planning to launch</a> its first home-built satellite to assist with surveillance efforts at the end of November using one of SpaceX&#8217;s Falcon 9 rockets, with more to follow.
President Joe Biden and his national security team are &#8220;assessing the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners,&#8221; Watson said in her statement on Tuesday.
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The U.S. urges &#8220;all countries to condemn this launch and call on [North Korea] to come to the table for serious negotiations,&#8221; she continued. The door has not closed on diplomacy but Pyongyang must immediately cease its provocative actions and instead choose engagement. The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and the defense of our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies.&#8221;

North Korea launch

North Korea Claims It Launched Spy Satellite Into Orbit

North Korea Claims To Launch Spy Satellite Into Orbit

Air and Space

Global Politics

Kim Jong Un

National Security

North Korea

South Korea

Space

U.S.

4Chester_Nimitz_as_CNO_(cropped) copy 2

America’s Top 11 Generals: #6 Admiral Chester Nimitz

America's Top 11 Generals: #6 Admiral Chester Nimitz

American General

Pacific Ocean

U.S. Military

U.S. Navy

World War II

Over the years, the United States has produced many remarkable generals and admirals, but only a few have stood out as world-class strategists and leaders of troops. As Veterans Day approaches on November 11, let’s remember and celebrate them. Here is my list of America’s finest 11 commanders.
<h2>Curtis E. LeMay, 1906 &#8211; 1990 (World War II)</h2>
Cold, calculating, and brutally efficient, few American commanders have so understood not just the power of a weapon at his disposal, but the proper way to deploy it to the most effect as did Air Force Major General Curtis LeMay. The weapon was the strategic bomber. 
As commander of the USAAF 305th Bombardment Group in Europe, then-Col. LeMay was once faced with a problem of crews prematurely aborting their missions. He figured it had to do with will more than anything else. So he issued an order: “I will be in the lead plane on every mission. Any plane that takes off will go over the target, or the crew will be court-martialed.” According to Robert McNamara: “The abort rate dropped overnight. Now that’s the kind of commander he was.”
<div id="attachment_645503" style="width: 441px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645503" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-645503" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192-431x576.jpg" alt="" width="431" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192-431x576.jpg 431w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192.jpg 767w" sizes="(max-width: 431px) 100vw, 431px" />Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images</div>
In the summer of 1944, the veteran and driven LeMay was sent to the Pacific Theater where he eventually was placed in overall command of strategic air operations against Japan. Upon arrival, the airman faced a dilemma. He was presented with America’s most advanced weapon to date: the massive B-29 Superfortress bomber. It was a quantum leap in airborne technology, and far more advanced than its B-17, B-24, and Lancaster stablemates. In fact, the U.S. had spent more money developing the B-29 than even the atomic bomb. And by late 1944 it was looking to be a colossal waste of money.
Although the pressurized high-altitude Superfortresses could fly above most Japanese fighters, the newly discovered jet stream at those heights made accurate precision bombing impossible. When flying into the jet stream, the bomber streams’ real airspeed was dangerously slow making them easy targets; when flying with it, the formations were hurled across the sky at too high an airspeed to properly set up targets. And the high winds sent bombs scattering. The B-29 program was in serious trouble.
<div id="attachment_645543" style="width: 756px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645543" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-645543" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-746x576.jpg" alt="Major General Curtis Lemay, head of the bomber command against Japan, stands in front of a group of B-29 bombers at a base in the Mariana Islands. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)" width="746" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-746x576.jpg 746w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-300x232.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-768x593.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px" />Major General Curtis Lemay, head of the bomber command against Japan, stands in front of a group of B-29 bombers at a base in the Mariana Islands. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)</div>
The adaptive LeMay decided to take a chance. He ordered his bombers stripped of all armament save a tail gunner so they could carry more payload, filled them with thousands of pounds of incendiaries rather than high explosive bombs, and ordered that the bombers go in at a mere 5,000 feet, and in the dead of night to avoid fighters and accurate anti-aircraft fire. Pilots thought him insane, and believed he had signed their death warrants, but the confident LeMay understood that with Japan’s cities constructed mostly of wood and paper, the effects of firebombs would be catastrophic.
<div id="attachment_645493" style="width: 737px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645493" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-645493 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-727x576.jpg" alt="(Original Caption) With cigar in mouth, Major General Curtis E. LeMay, the commander of 21st Bomber Command, listens as B-29 Navigator Lt. Nelson McDowell (R), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, describes run of target after a Superfort raid on Nagoya, Japan. At left is Captain Waldo Timm, of Portland, Oregon, and second from right is Brigadier General Thomas Power, who commands B-29s on Guam." width="727" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-727x576.jpg 727w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-300x238.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-768x608.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" />(Original Caption) With cigar in mouth, Major General Curtis E. LeMay, the commander of 21st Bomber Command, listens as B-29 Navigator Lt. Nelson McDowell (R), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, describes run of target after a Superfort raid on Nagoya, Japan. At left is Captain Waldo Timm, of Portland, Oregon, and second from right is Brigadier General Thomas Power, who commands B-29s on Guam. Getty Images.</div>
On the night of March 9, 1945, he put his theory to the test, sending over 300 B-29s from the Marianas to firebomb Tokyo with over 250,000 incendiary bombs filled with napalm, a fiery gel that sticks, spreads, and burns out all it touches. The result was an utter holocaust. Fourteen square miles of the Japanese capital city were burned out and over 100,000 civilians were killed — making it the most lethal single act of war in history — while hundreds of thousands more were made homeless. These devastating results came at the cost of just 14 B-29s downed and 96 crew lost.
LeMay had his template. From March to August 1945, his B-29s would firebomb Japanese city after city to the point that had the war lasted much longer there would have soon been no more worthy targets remaining. Estimates range from 200,000 to over 500,000 Japanese died in LeMay’s relentless onslaughts, along with some 5 million made homeless. At least 40% of over 60 Japanese cities were burned out; her war-making ability ceased to exist.
Now, with the addition of fleets of heavy bombers from the USAAF and RAF in the just concluded war on Germany, and with the much closer aerodrome on Okinawa, LeMay believed he could compel Japan to surrender by aerial bombardment alone. This, however, was rendered moot by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that effectively ended the war.
<div id="attachment_645517" style="width: 753px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645517" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-645517" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-743x576.jpg" alt="circa 1962: American president John F Kennedy (1917 - 1963), wearing dark sunglasses, sits next to US Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay (1906 - 1990, L). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" width="743" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-743x576.jpg 743w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-300x233.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-768x596.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 743px) 100vw, 743px" />Circa 1962: American president John F Kennedy (1917 &#8211; 1963), wearing dark sunglasses, sits next to US Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay (1906 &#8211; 1990, L). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</div>
After the war, LeMay would go on to serve in several high-ranking positions, including head of Strategic Air Command and USAF Chief Of Staff. His hostility to the Johnson administration’s policies in Vietnam, and his personal animosity towards McNamara, led to his retirement from the military in 1965. As with so many great military leaders, however, the instincts that served LeMay so well in war abandoned him in politics.
In 1968, LeMay would end up as Alabama governor and presidential candidate George Wallace’s running mate on the American Independent Party ticket. Among the party platforms was continued racial segregation. Whether or not LeMay shared Wallace’s racist sentiments is up for debate, but in the end it didn’t matter. Soon considered to be politically “tone-deaf” by Wallace’s staff, LeMay turned out to be a liability. In particular, his suggestion that the U.S. could <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2019/Sep/26/2002187168/-1/-1/1/LEMAY%20ON%20VIETNAM.PDF">use nuclear weapons</a> on North Vietnam to “bomb them back into the stone age” came across as far too bellicose for a population growing increasingly anxious and disillusioned about the war.
<div id="attachment_645521" style="width: 830px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645521" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-645521 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-820x576.jpg" alt="(Original Caption) General Curtis E. LeMay, retired U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff is seen here speaking to the press after American Independent Party presidential candidate George C. Wallace named him as his running mate." width="820" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-820x576.jpg 820w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-300x211.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-768x539.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" />(Original Caption) General Curtis E. LeMay, retired U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff is seen here speaking to the press after American Independent Party presidential candidate George C. Wallace named him as his running mate. Getty Images.</div>
The grim image of death from above that “Bombs Away LeMay” projected became the stuff of legend. He was the model for USAF Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Peter Sellers’ 1964 Cold War satire “Doctor Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb.”
Art can imitate life. And whatever one thinks of LeMay — either as a victorious visionary of aerial warfare, or cold-blooded killer — not many American commanders have had so direct a hand in defeating an enemy as did this cigar-chomping bomber jockey. The omnipresent cigar was not a prop but rather a way to manage the Bell’s Palsy that partially paralyzed his mouth, giving him his trademark scowl.
LeMay is the personification of firebombing, the morality of which continues to be debated to this day. LeMay himself candidly admitted: “I suppose had we lost the war, I’d have been prosecuted as a war criminal.” But it was Japan that lost and in no small measure due to the rain of hellfire from the air at the hands of this modern god of an angry sky.
* * *
<h4>America’s Top 11 Generals</h4>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-10-matthew-ridgway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #10 Matthew Ridgway</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-9-nathanael-greene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #9 Nathanael Greene</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-8-george-patton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #8 George Patton</a>
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, columnist, and author of two acclaimed novels. His newest book, the fact-based <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1331509151681009&amp;hvadid=83219665089301&amp;hvbmt=bp&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=97755&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=p&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83219680392082%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=18892_13467888&amp;keywords=brad+schaeffer&amp;qid=1698162015&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> will be published in December and is currently available for pre-order. You can also find more of Brad&#8217;s articles on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/">Substack</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire

Major General Curtis LeMay

America’s Top 11 Generals: #11 Curtis E. LeMay

U.S. Army

The White House has reportedly chastised U.S. Ambassador to Japan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-police-chief-ryan-saavedra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rahm Emanuel</a>, warning him against mocking China in social media posts.
According to an NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/rahm-emanuel-mock-china-ambassador-rcna105982" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published on Wednesday, the White House has asked Emanuel to stop posting social media messages that can be seen as &#8220;taunting&#8221; Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Among the apparently problematic posts was one in which Emanuel compared President Xi&#8217;s cabinet to a famous Agatha Christie mystery — clearly suggesting that there was something nefarious behind their sudden absences.
&#8220;President Xi&#8217;s cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie&#8217;s novel &#8216;And Then There Were None,'&#8221; Emanuel posted via X. &#8220;First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn&#8217;t been seen in public for two weeks. Who&#8217;s going to win this unemployment race? China’s youth or Xi&#8217;s cabinet? #MysteryInBeijingBuilding.&#8221;
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President Xi&#39;s cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie&#39;s novel And Then There Were None. First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn&#39;t been seen in public for two weeks. Who&#39;s going…
&mdash; ラーム・エマニュエル駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAmbJapan/status/1699991846804390046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
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A second post invoked Shakespearean twisted political tragedy &#8220;Hamlet&#8221;: &#8220;As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, &#8216;Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.&#8217; 1st: Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen or heard from in 3 weeks. 2nd: He was a no-show for his trip to Vietnam. Now: He’s absent from his scheduled meeting with the Singaporean Chief of Navy because he was placed on house arrest???&#8230; Might be getting crowded in there. Good news is I heard he’s paid off his mortgage with the Country Garden real estate developers. #MysteryInBeijingBuilding.&#8221;
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As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” 1st: Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen or heard from in 3 weeks. 2nd: He was a no-show for his trip to Vietnam. Now: He’s absent from his scheduled meeting with the Singaporean Chief of Navy…
&mdash; ラーム・エマニュエル駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAmbJapan/status/1702493699966484830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
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NBC&#8217;s report said that according to several sources, the Biden administration is less than pleased with Emanuel&#8217;s comments. One official told the outlet that Emanuel&#8217;s posts were &#8220;not in keeping with the message coming out of this building.&#8221;
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President Joe Biden appeared to reinforce that notion during his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-promises-china-partnership-aimed-at-accelerating-the-climate-crisis-and-other-u-n-flubs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent remarks</a> before the United Nations General Assembly, saying that the United States intended to partner with communist-controlled China in efforts to combat climate change.
&#8220;When it comes to China, let me be clear and consistent. We seek to responsibly manage competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict. I’ve said we are for de-risking — not decoupling — with China,&#8221; Biden said, signaling that the U.S.&#8217; prevailing policy position might be one of deference toward Beijing.
According to the NBC report, Chinese officials were ruffled by Ambassador Emanuel&#8217;s posts — a report that has not been confirmed by the Chinese Embassy and that Emanuel&#8217;s spokesperson told the outlet was &#8220;absolutely not true.&#8221;

Rahm Emanuel

White House Scolds Rahm Emanuel For Mocking China On Social Media: Report

Communist China

Executive

Joe Biden

Politics

Sunday, August 6th, marks the 78th anniversary of the use of an atomic weapon on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days hence we will commemorate the obliteration of Nagasaki in the same manner. The success of the film “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oppenheimer-review-the-amazing-christopher-nolan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oppenheimer</a>,” about the mercurial physicist who headed up the Manhattan Project that brought forth the nuclear age, has prompted rethinking on the subject. This is a good thing.
Much time has passed since these two seminal events not just in World War II, but the history of the human race. It marks the moment when the world saw the power our scientists at Los Alamos had unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. The power to destroy an entire city with one bomb was inconceivable before 1945. Now, nuclear weapons are glibly accepted as just another arrow in the quiver of our and other nations’ national defense. And yet, such a sublime anniversary and how it has shaped the post-war world, should be contemplated more than it is, regardless of how much time passes.
Of course, the key question remains: Was the use of nuclear weapons on Japan necessary? It is a question that haunts us to this day. For me, I must answer this by placing myself in the position of then-President Harry Truman, who made the decision to go forward with the missions. And as such, I must ask myself: what other choices did he have?
To answer this, let us first remember the situation in which Truman found himself in the summer of 1945. It is easy for us today, comfortable in the eighth decade of our Pax Americana, to forget just how devastating and violent the war had been. By July 16, 1945, when the Trinity test in the New Mexico desert detonated the first atomic bomb, Germany had surrendered and Europe lay in quiet ruins. But on the other side of the world in the Pacific, Japan, though battered and bloodied and with its empire greatly reduced, appeared far from willing to capitulate.
 On the contrary, the closer the U.S. armed forces got to the home islands, the more ferociously the Japanese resisted. From September 1944 to June 1945, the U.S. Marines, Navy, and Army had fought a series of battles that were bleeding them dry: Peleliu, Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Each battle had been weeks-long slugfests that saw U.S. casualties steadily mounting at an alarming rate. Indeed, Okinawa, the final and largest battle of the Pacific War, had also been the bloodiest. Some 12,500 US soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines had been killed with four times that wounded. And tellingly, the highest number of “battle fatigue” diagnoses (what we now call PTSD) were reported on top of the physical wounds from seemingly endless and exhausting combat with a foe who was determined to sell his life dearly for his god emperor. Reports from Okinawa also showed morale was crumbling, and the replacements fed into the meat grinder were often poorly trained and bewildered. Many didn’t even survive long enough to have their names included in the unit rolls. To be sure, Okinawa was a victory, as the island was eventually secured after 72 days of combat, but at a horrific cost; even the U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, Jr., was KIA. And as bloody as it was for the U.S. and Allies, it was worse for the Japanese. Figures are hard to verify, but over 110,000 Japanese troops and probably an equal number of Okinawan civilians if not more perished in what one Marine described as “Hell’s cesspool.”
So the agonizing dilemma that Okinawa and other ferocious fights prompted in the White House when considering the use of the atomic bomb was this: If the Japanese would fight so fiercely for these tiny dots of land in the Pacific, what would be the price to take Japan itself? Planners grimly predicted anywhere from 250,000 to one million U.S. and Allied losses. These would be stacked on top of the already 400,000 plus American dead the war had cost us. And who knew how many Japanese would eventually perish as every man, woman, and child would have been turned into warriors steeled to defend Dai Nippon from the Western barbarians? In fact, one U.S. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVXxPmpfhcU&amp;t=1765s">Marine veteran offered</a>: “I would hate to have been involved in the landing on the mainland of Japan. I doubt we could have pulled it off. We didn’t have the personnel.”
So it was while contemplating this disquieting prognostication that Truman was presented with a means to hopefully convince Tokyo that further resistance was futile. One must imagine, as were Truman’s advisors, how the American people would have reacted if, after burying anywhere from a quarter million to a million more of their sons, husbands, and fathers, they learned that Truman had had in his possession a potential war-ending weapon, but declined to use it. Indeed, impeachment would have been the least of his problems.
For Truman, therefore, there really was no choice. Some historians today — as did some of the more militant Japanese leaders at the time — argue that the losses at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were no worse than those of the firebombings of cities like Tokyo, in which 14 square miles of the capital had been burned out and some 100,000 Japanese civilians with it — making March 10, 1945, the deadliest one-day wartime death toll in history. And what finally tipped the balance was the U.S. backing away from its demand for “unconditional surrender” as that would have meant ending the imperial reign, and perhaps trying Hirohito for war crimes. Although Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who would be Japan’s de facto ruler during the occupation, understood that as the Japanese viewed Hirohito as a god and would obey any imperial edict, his survival and assent to an orderly occupation was indispensable to transitioning Japan into a peaceful and productive nation. We can never know.
Still, there was something awesome and sinister about the idea of just one B-29 with one bomb being able to inflict the same carnage upon a nation as one thought required hundreds. Hirohito and others who saw the handwriting on the wall understood that the war had entered a new, apocalyptic phase never before seen in human history. Hiroshima, they thought, may have been a fluke. A one-off to be endured and ignored. Indeed, no response to Truman’s ultimatum for surrender was forthcoming in the days after August 6th. But when on August 9th, the B-29 “Bock’s Car” dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, it became clear to the Japanese that Truman’s promised “rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth” was not just bravado. True, we had no more bombs at the ready yet, but, of course, Tokyo didn’t know this. So they finally yielded to reason and agreed to “endure the unendurable” as Hirohito instructed his subjects.
As for the world the bombings ushered in, it is still too early in the new age of the “after” in the historical timeline to tell whether setting loose the nuclear genie meant the end of such global cataclysms given Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) or, more ominously, simply began the denouement of the human race as the Damoclean sword of annihilation hangs above us, just waiting for a moment of global instability, or an empowered madman with access to a nuclear arsenal, to end us all. What we can say, however, is that if one were to graph the escalation of global war dead and suffering from ancient times until the end of 1945, the line moves inexorably from the lower left to the upper right. After 1945, though there is still war, the line drops precipitously. Perhaps, as Truman had intended, the use of atomic weapons as a deterrent to continued and future aggression has saved countless lives over the years. Whether this is just a breather before the final mass extinction of the human race, or an ushering of a less deadly epoch, only time will tell.
But in 1945, Truman made the right — indeed the only — choice available to him. And as the only nation to ever use nuclear weapons in combat (so far) it gives us much to think on … but nothing to be ashamed of.
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, author of two novels, and columnist. His writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, NY Daily News, National Review, The Federalist, The Hill, Zerohedge, and Daily Wire. His newest book, <a href="https://posthillpress.com/book/life-in-the-pits-my-time-as-a-trader-on-the-rough-and-tumble-exchange-floors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time As A Trader In The Rough-And-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> comes out in December and is available for preorder. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Harry Truman Speaking at Press Conference

Why Truman Made The Right Decision In Dropping The Atomic Bomb

Movies

Nuclear war

Nuclear Weapons

Australian swimmer Cate Campbell trashed the United States after last week&#8217;s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, saying that not hearing the American national anthem on the first day of competition made her &#8220;happy.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/australian-swim-star-rips-us-world-aquatics-championships-stop-sore-losers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Campbell</a>, who <a href="https://swimswam.com/cate-campbell-drops-out-of-aussie-world-championship-trials/#:~:text=Four%2Dtime%20Olympian%20Cate%20Campbell,forgoing%20this%20summer%27s%20World%20Championships." target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not even compete</a> in Fukuoka after sitting out the trials in Melbourne in mid-June, took several swipes at the United States in an interview that aired on Australia&#8217;s Channel 9. She claimed that the American swimmers were &#8220;sore losers&#8221; and said that even though China bested both the U.S. and Australia in the total gold medal count, she was just happy to see the Americans take a back seat.
&#8220;Australia coming out on top of the world is one thing, but it is just so much sweeter beating America. The first night of competition, we did not have to hear ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ ring out through the stadium. I cannot tell you how happy that made me,&#8221; Campbell said. &#8220;If I hear that song again it will be too soon. Bring on Paris (2024 Olympics). That’s all I have to say to the U.S. Stop being sore losers.&#8221;
Campbell went on to complain about another U.S. team tradition — a cowbell that they ring as team members walk out for their events.
&#8220;The U.S. have this internal cowbell they ring. As someone leaves to go to the competition pool, they ring out, &#8216;USA, USA,'&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have never wanted to punch someone more and steal the cowbell. I really hope someone did.&#8221;
American Olympian Lilly King (breaststroke) fired back at Campbell in a tweet, saying, &#8220;Sorry we aren&#8217;t so uptight we can&#8217;t cheer for our teammates as they walkout for events. See you in Paris.&#8221;
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Sorry we aren’t so uptight we can’t cheer for our teammates as they walkout for events👀 See you in Paris🥰 <a href="https://t.co/wnt9Qe46GJ">https://t.co/wnt9Qe46GJ</a>
&mdash; Lilly King (@_king_lil) <a href="https://twitter.com/_king_lil/status/1686403473154113536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The 2023 World Aquatics Championships marked the <a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/world-aquatics-championships-2023-women-4x200-free-relay-australia-result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first time since 2001</a> that the United States did not top the <a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/world-aquatics-championships-fukuoka-2023-medallists-full-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gold medal count</a>: China finished with 20, Australia with 15, and the United States with seven. The U.S. won the overall medal count, however, with 44 (seven gold, 22 silver, 15 bronze) — China finished with 40 medals (20 gold, eight silver, 12 bronze), and Australia finished third with 30 medals (15 gold, nine silver, six bronze) in total.
As for the Americans being sore losers, if veteran world champion Michael Phelps is any indication, Campbell has it all wrong.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/katie-ledecky-ties-michael-phelps-record-at-world-champs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Phelps</a>, who sat in the commentators&#8217; booth during the event, was on a live mic when one of his own personal world records was shattered by 21-year-old French swimming champion Leon Marchand.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Underwater cam: Marchand breaks Phelps&#039; 400IM world record at Worlds | NBC Sports" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xCIrFi9meoU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In addition to cheering for the younger swimmer — who bested his 400 Individual Medley world record by more than a full second — Phelps was on hand to present Marchand with his gold medal and congratulate him in person.
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Australian Paris 2024 Olympic Games Team Processing Media Opportunity

Aussie Swimmer Snipes At U.S. After World Championships: ‘So Much Sweeter Beating America’

Aussie Swimmer Snipes At U.S. After World Championships: 'So Much Sweeter Beating America'

General

Sports

Swimming

A Japanese man who reportedly spent $14,000 on a collie dog costume to realize his dream of &#8220;becoming an animal&#8221; stepped out for his first walk in public wearing his new custom-made get-up.
&#8220;Toco,&#8221; as he is known online, shared a video last month of the outing on his YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@I_want_to_be_an_animal/videos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">channel</a>, which has more than 42,000 subscribers and is called &#8220;I want to be an animal.&#8221;
The YouTuber filmed himself playing on a lawn, rolling around on the street, playing fetch, and even playing with other dogs, all while dressed in his hyper-realistic dog disguise.
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Japanese man who identifies as a dog goes for a walk in public and enjoys being stroked by strangers. 
The man spent over $15,000 on a custom made realistic collie dog costume. 
Weird or cool? <a href="https://t.co/rifdAtp4Jo">pic.twitter.com/rifdAtp4Jo</a>
&mdash; Oli London (@OliLondonTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1684860721731977216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“Do you remember your dreams from when you are little? You want to be a hero or a wizard,” Toco <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/28/toco-the-human-border-collie-steps-out-for-first-ever-walk-in-public/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in the video. “I remember writing in my grade school graduation book that I wanted to be a dog and walk outside.”
The viral video of the human &#8220;collie&#8217;s&#8221; outing has racked up six million views so far.
The detailed collie costume was manufactured by the company Zeppet, which said it took 40 days to make and cost about $14,161 or $2 million Yen.
Zeppet <a href="https://www.zeppet.com/ja/dn/?p=8377" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> detailed pictures of the collie costume on the company&#8217;s website.
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&#8220;At the request of a customer, we made a model of a dog suit,&#8221; Zeppet <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1381747/youtuber-who-spent-s14-000-to-transform-into-dog-takes-first-walk-in-public" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on its website. &#8220;Modeled after a collie, it reproduces the realistic appearance of a real, quadrupedal dog.&#8221;
In the video of the dog costume making its first public appearance, onlookers stare at Toco in the dog suit as they pass by on the busy street. Other dog owners even stop to take pictures with him and their dogs.
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Japanese content creator goes viral after fulfilling his dream of becoming an animal. 
Known as Toco, the man spent a reported 2,000,000 Japanese Yen on his border collie fursuit. <a href="https://t.co/vUnEH5ptZ2">pic.twitter.com/vUnEH5ptZ2</a>
&mdash; Pop Crave (@PopCrave) <a href="https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1685189022162030592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The video was filmed last year when he was interviewed by a German television station, Toco said in the caption.
&#8220;I became a collie, fulfilling a dream I had since I was a little child to be an animal!&#8221; Toco said in one of his other videos showing him in his collie costume.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve wanted to be an animal ever since I can remember,&#8221; the YouTuber said in one video posted in June of last year in which he answers several questions about his desire to be a collie.
In that video, he says he would like to go outside as a collie, but does not have the &#8220;courage&#8221; to do so yet.
He also says he decided on being a collie because that is his favorite breed and because collies are not too different in size from humans.
&#8220;Sometimes it is reported that I am tired of being human, but I have never said that,&#8221; he said in the video.
He acknowledges that his desire would likely be viewed as odd by people and says he usually hides it from his acquaintances.
&#8220;For example, if I told the people I work with that I wanted to be an animal and I became a collie, they would look at me funny wouldn&#8217;t they?&#8221; he said. &#8220;I feel a bit of inferiority complex about it so I rarely talk about it with others.&#8221;
&#8220;If anyone notices who I am, please don&#8217;t tell anyone around me!&#8221; he pleaded.

Collie

Man Who Spent $14k To Become Collie Goes For First Walk In Public

Animals

Gender

Olympic champion <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/katie-ledecky-michael-phelps-swimming-world-championships-record" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katie Ledecky</a> delivered the goods during this past week&#8217;s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, tying a record set by her former Olympic teammate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greatest-olympian-all-time-michael-phelps-swims-michael-qazvini" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Phelps</a> in the process.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-good-and-the-bad-katie-ledecky-exits-tokyo-on-a-high-note-simone-biles-withdraws-from-vault-uneven-bars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ledecky</a> sealed the deal with a decisive win in the 1500-meter freestyle, marking her 15th individual world title. Phelps may still be the most decorated Olympian in history &#8212; he has 28 medals: 23 gold, three silver, and two bronze &#8212; but he also holds 15 individual world titles.
WATCH:
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THAT&#39;S KATIE LEDECKY!<a href="https://twitter.com/katieledecky?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@katieledecky</a> is the first person to win five world titles in two different events AND she ties Michael Phelps for the most individual world golds in swimming (15).
And she won this 1500m free world title by 17 seconds. 🤯 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AQUAFukuoka23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AQUAFukuoka23</a> <a href="https://t.co/y6WeHj99IJ">pic.twitter.com/y6WeHj99IJ</a>
&mdash; NBC Olympics &amp; Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/1683805410673799175?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Ledecky, 27, clocked her third best time ever in the event — 15:26.27 — and she finished with a 17-second lead on her closest competitor, Italy&#8217;s Simona Quadrella.
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Katie Ledecky just won the 1500m freestyle World Title by so much that she was the only person on camera when she touched the wall.
Once again, Katie swimming so fast that she looks like she&#39;s the only one swimming.
Greatest freestyler of all-time, no contest. <a href="https://t.co/xSUg7M6gJX">pic.twitter.com/xSUg7M6gJX</a>
&mdash; Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylesockwell/status/1683802643083190273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It hurt a lot, but I am really happy with the outcome,&#8221; Ledecky said just after the race finished. &#8220;The secret is just a lot of hard work and having really great people around me, including my coaches over the last 10-plus years.&#8221;
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1500🥇Pretty pumped about that one if you can’t tell 😂 Thank you all for the support &amp; Go USA 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/2UH4ijWTkb">pic.twitter.com/2UH4ijWTkb</a>
&mdash; Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky) <a href="https://twitter.com/katieledecky/status/1683976083409104898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Ledecky responded to the news that she had tied Phelps&#8217; record, noting that she had looked up to him long before they were teammates — Phelps&#8217; Olympic career began in 2000, while hers did not take off until 12 years later.
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&#8220;I&#8217;ve known Michael for many years now, looked up to him as a little kid,&#8221; Ledecky said later in a press conference. &#8220;Just never really imagined I would be in this position. It&#8217;s always an honor to win a medal for Team USA, especially gold.&#8221;
Ledecky could yet <a href="https://www.si.com/olympics/2023/07/25/katie-ledecky-matches-michael-phelps-record-swimming-world-championships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">topple the record</a> entirely, with her 800-meter race still to go on Friday and Saturday.
Phelps, who has seen a number of his records fall since his retirement after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, seems unbothered &#8212; and even excited &#8212; about the prospect.
Phelps <a href="https://swimswam.com/livebarn-race-of-the-week-marchand-erases-phelps-last-world-record-in-400-im-402-50/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">celebrated</a> alongside 21-year-old Leon Marchand, a French swimmer, who took down his &#8220;untouchable&#8221; record in the 400 Individual Medley. Phelps initially set the world record in 2002 with a time of 4:11.09, breaking it again in Beijing in 2008 with a time of 4:03.84. All told, Phelps held the world title in that event for 20 years and 342 days &#8212; until Sunday.
When Marchand dropped a full second off that time, finishing with a time of 4:02.50, Phelps was on hand to congratulate him — and award him his gold medal.
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Phelps even provided commentary throughout the race, cheering Marchand as he raced to victory and a new world record &#8212; and saying that he believed the 21-year-old had the potential to break four minutes in the grueling event.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Underwater cam: Marchand breaks Phelps&#039; 400IM world record at Worlds | NBC Sports" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xCIrFi9meoU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships: Swimming – Day 3

Katie Ledecky Ties Michael Phelps Record At World Champs

Olympics

China’s top diplomat urged South Korea and Japan to form a race-based alliance with Beijing to “revitalize East Asia.”
Wang Yi, the head of the Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Commission and former foreign minister, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/04/china/wang-yi-china-japan-south-korea-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Japanese and South Korean guests at the 2023 International Forum for Trilateral Cooperation that Americans can’t tell the three countries apart.
“Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans are all viewed as &#8216;Asians&#8217; by Americans. They cannot tell the differences between us, and it’s the same in Europe,” Wang <a href="https://twitter.com/statecraftdaily/status/1676502046164516864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “No matter how you dye your hair blonde, or if you lift your nose tip, you can never become a Westerner.”
“We need to remember where we came from,” Wang continued, calling for China, Japan, and South Korea to “prosper together, revitalize East Asia, revitalize Asia and benefit the world.” 
Wang then appeared to take a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-japan-korea-race-controversy-b1fb99824d31b3f88a0893cacf6f54f0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swipe</a> at the United States, stating that “some major countries outside the region deliberately exaggerate ideological differences, weave various exclusive small circles, and try to replace cooperation with confrontation and unity with division.”
The racialized comments might have been brushed aside in Seoul and Tokyo, given their troubled relationship with Beijing and close military partnership with Washington. 
Both countries’ partnerships with the U.S. center on countering China’s rising influence and the security threat posed by North Korea. Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. have conducted several trilateral military operations, and the U.S. <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-270" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stations</a> more than 80,000 military personnel between the two countries.
“Both have made it clear they feel safer with the US around, and have no interest in abandoning their alliances to instead rely on Beijing’s goodwill,” said Joel Atkinson, a professor of international politics at Hankuk University in Seoul.
Japan and South Korea moved to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/15/asia/south-korea-yoon-japan-visit-regional-security-int-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mend</a> their troubled relationship with each other earlier this year after North Korea <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/26/world/north-korea-launches-ballistic-missile/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fired</a> two long-range ballistic missiles into the sea between the two American allies. The two countries have also released joint statements emphasizing their major security interests in the Taiwan Strait, drawing ire from China.
Experts criticized Wang’s statement, noting the major differences China has between the two countries and the fact that Japanese and South Koreans regularly become American citizens.
“The irony of &#8230; Wang Yi telling Japanese and Koreans ‘you can never become an American,’ is that Japanese and Koreans become Americans every day,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-japan-korea-race-controversy-b1fb99824d31b3f88a0893cacf6f54f0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> Jeff M. Smith, director of the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, “They’re part of the fabric of America. What they can’t become is Chinese. Tone deaf.”
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Bonnie Glaser, Asia Director of the George Marshall Fund of the United States, <a href="https://twitter.com/BonnieGlaser/status/1676265570986074130" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>, “This message will not land well with Japan and South Korea. Does Wang Yi really think that national interests are less important than appearance?”
One person from South Korea <a href="https://twitter.com/Joel_P_Atkinson/status/1676461568220090368" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to Wang on Twitter by tweeting, “If aliens invade, we will join hands with the aliens and attack you.”
According to the Associated Press, Wang brushed over several historical differences between the three Asian countries that exacerbate tensions to this day, including China’s involvement in the Korean War and Japan’s harsh occupation of China during World War II.

2023 Munich Security Conference

China’s Top Diplomat Urges Race-Based Alliance With Japan, South Korea

China's Top Diplomat Urges Race-Based Alliance With Japan, South Korea

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Some people in Japan reportedly became so used to wearing face masks during the COVID pandemic that they are taking classes to teach them how to smile again.
Instructor Keiko Kawano said that students in her classes hold mirrors up to their faces and use their hands to stretch their mouths up and outward, forcing themselves to smile.
Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japanese-get-trained-hollywood-smiles-masks-slowly-come-off-2023-06-05/?utm_source=ground.news&amp;utm_medium=referral">reported</a> that Kawano has seen an uptick in demand at her business Egaoiku, which means &#8220;smile education,&#8221; for her smile classes now that the pandemic is over. Mask use in Japan was nearly universal during the pandemic, the report said.
&#8220;Culturally, a smile signifies that I&#8217;m not holding a gun and I&#8217;m not a threat to you,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I think there&#8217;s a growing need for people to smile.&#8221;
A 20-year-old student who took the class said, &#8220;I hadn&#8217;t used my facial muscles much during COVID so it&#8217;s good workout for my face.&#8221;
&#8220;When you are alone at home, it&#8217;s normal not to be facially expressive,&#8221; Kawano told German broadcaster DW News. &#8220;If this is the case, then not moving (parts of) your face becomes the norm. I think there were a lot more such cases during the COVID pandemic.&#8221;
Students use tablets with apps installed that help them regain their smiles. The app captures their smile and gives them a score.
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Did COVID mask restrictions make you forget how to smile? A course in Japan helps one rediscover that old pre-pandemic grin 🙂 <a href="https://t.co/HIlKuByfbe">pic.twitter.com/HIlKuByfbe</a>
&mdash; DW News (@dwnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1665680760869625856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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A 79-year-old who took the class said it has proven to be valuable.
“I didn’t have opportunities to see people during the coronavirus crisis and didn’t smile in public,” she <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/16/grin-and-bare-it-as-mask-mandates-end-japan-turns-to-tutors-to-relearn-how-to-smile">said</a>. “This has reminded me of how important smiling is.”
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Kawano said that she tries to convey to students that it does not matter how they feel on the inside because &#8220;a smile is only a smile if it’s conveyed.&#8221;
“Even if you’re thinking about smiling or that you’re happy, if you have no expression, it won’t reach your audience,” she added.
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Japan To Declare A State Of Emergency To Contain Coronavirus Outbreak

People In Japan Are Signing Up For Classes To Teach Them How To Smile After Wearing Masks For Too Long

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