Bombing of Pearl Harbor

You refer to the attack on Pearl Harbor as “one of the greatest surprises in the annals of warfare.” To refer to the Japanese attack as a “surprise” is to intimate that our armed forces were somehow outsmarted by superior military strategy.

The victims of Japan’s attack were at breakfast or otherwise preparing for a pleasant Sunday. Our countrymen were bombed without a chance to defend themselves. It was a cowardly act by Japan and “surprise” will never supplant “sneak.”

LES CONRAD

Santa Barbara