Evening Lecture | The Nimitz Graybook Unveiling, feat. lecture by Dr. Craig Symonds

By U.S. Naval War College Public Affairs
NEWPORT, R.I. -- The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) unveiled the public online digitization project of Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz's 4,000 page operational diary, known as The Nimitz Graybook, during an evening lecture, Feb. 24 at NWC in Newport, R.I.
Covering activities and correspondence of the Pacific Command from Dec. 7, 1941 to Aug. 31, 1945, the Graybook is a historical record of operations and planning in the Pacific during World War II and serves as a window into Nimitz's decision making process during the war.
"We can trace the planning process, a lot of which was pioneered here at the Naval War College, for large-scale operations and watch the war unfold almost as if we were in the room," said Craig L. Symonds, U.S. Naval Academy professor emeritus of history, during the evening lecture.
According to Symonds, Nimitz proclaimed that 'the war-gaming experience and education he received here at NWC were central to his success in the Pacific war.'
"Chester Nimitz once declared that he never encountered an event in the entire war that had not been anticipated at some level during the war-gaming practices that they had here at the Naval War College, except the kamikaze," said Symonds.
Following the war, Nimitz's Graybook remained classified for 30 years and even after it was declassified in 1972, scholars had to travel great distances to what is now, the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) at Washington Navy Yard, to access the document.
Following the events of 9/11, scholars not associated with the Department of Defense, now had to leap more barriers in security to access the source.
In 2009, thanks to the generosity of the American Naval Records Society, the Naval Order of the United States and the Naval War College Foundation, the Graybook contents were scanned so that a CD-ROM version became available.
This proved helpful but making copies of carbon paper proved imperfect.
"It was evident that a fully digitized version, the version we celebrate and welcome this evening, was far more desirable and essential," said Symonds.
During the evening lecture, held on the anniversary of Nimitz's 129th birthday, Symonds provided insight to the contents of the Graybook, and Nimitz's leadership and decision making process.
"Reading it pulls aside the curtain of history," said Symonds. "What do we see when we part aside that curtain?
"It becomes evident that one essential key to Allied and American success in the Pacific was Nimitz's personal role as a theater commander and in particular, his calm and even temperament."
"Behind those cool blue eyes was the calculating mind of a man who weighed the odds and made plans accordingly," said Symonds.
Following the Battle of Coral Sea and Doolittle Raid, Nimitz had lost two of his four carriers in the Pacific.
In May 1942, Nimitz learned from his code breaking team that the Japanese were planning an assault of Midway Atoll.
Nimitz was faced with a decision. Wait for repair of his carriers and preserve the only two carriers left in the Pacific, or lay a trap for the Japanese and risk the only thing standing between them and the west coast of the U.S.
"Was Midway, that outpost of coral and sand, worth risking the few carriers he had? Did Nimitz want to bet his career on an unlikely victory?
"Yes he did," said Symonds.
Nimitz believed he could repair the Yorktown quickly and use Midway's airstrip as an immobile fourth carrier that couldn't be sunk.
"Instead of being surprised by the Japanese as had happened at Pearl Harbor, Nimitz could surprise them and send some of their carriers, and as it turned out, all of their carriers to the bottom.
"It's hard today, aware of how this battle turned out, to appreciate what a bold decision that was. It seems like a gamble. But in Nimitz's mind, it was not a gamble. He did not throw the dice carelessly or thoughtlessly. Nimitz fully expected to win and of course he did, spectacularly.
"More than any other single individual, Chester Nimitz was the man who won the war in the Pacific for the Allies. Now, thanks to the public availability of the Graybook, we can see and understand how he did it," said Symonds.
The digitization of the collection is the product of collaboration between the NWC and NHHC, funded generously through the Naval War College Foundation.
"We see this as a pilot program," said Capt. Henry Hendrix, director of NHHC. "The method in which The Graybook was digitized and cross-referenced is going to give us a path forward in making documents together that are accessible to scholars and the American public."
The Nimitz Graybook can be accessed at www.usnwc.edu/graybook.
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Posted by Daniel S. Marciniak, U.S. Naval War College Public Affairs

[@bufatutuagonistes8876]

What a fantastic presentation. Love Craig Symonds. Loved and was touched by the Nimitz speech.

[@davidvonkettering204]

I've been trying to spread the word about this massive TREASURE! I cheated and read Volume Eight first (Midway et al.), finishing up Volume Five now, and still fully involved. Would like to thank the Naval War College for this achievement and also for their sterling reputation as trainers of leaders of the greatest Navy in the world. Love, David

[@RemoteViewr1]

I enjoyed Admiral Nimitz speech. How completely appropriate.

[@louisdoss5853]

Wonderful !!!!!!!

[@richardmusante225]

Skip to 15:15 to hear insight about Nimitz from his family; 27:00 to hear about the man and his diary, and don't miss the recreation at 1:15:05 of his speech to Congress towards the end. Hearing his words lets you feel his humility, and understand his greatness.

[@johnferguson7235]

The lecture starts at 27:00

[@WJack97224]

@John Ferguson, Thanks for the heads up. Good on ya mate.

[@MrSimplyfantabulous]

27:10 Speaker Craig Symonds takes the podium.

[@hoppish088]

Credit to Richard Best, two carriers in one day, Akagi and Hiryu.

[@WJack97224]

l don't call sending all those torpedo bomber crews to their deaths at Midway "spectacular."

[@davidvonkettering204]

Have some difficulties with Spruance as carrier commander...he also cause Mitchner to later lose pilots and crews by over caution after the Turkey Shoot.

[@richardmusante225]

WJack: Yes, "tragic" is more fitting, but it's appropriate to view it as the ultimate, heroic sacrifice. The torpedo squadrons were trained well on outdated Devastators, and without a fighter escort they were no match for what they faced. Remember that these men flew with little more than a compass across hundreds of miles of ocean (i.e., no GPS), and that after the first round of major losses, more pilots took off to finish the mission. #TheGreatestGeneration

[@WJack97224]

@@richardmusante225, Politics is violence no matter the make, model or flavor 1-9-2021 As a nation the people in general and in majority have rejected Jehovah God and then they vote. So, the root cause of the “cancer” that afflicts Amerika et.al. is in part the voting in violation of God’s law (See Ted R. Weiland’s messages in link below). Voters have approved of diabolical, manmade, political governments. Satan has a big tent and it covers a lot of territory. The recent election of the commie/socialists, Joe Biden and Kumalla “umballa” Harris, a.k.a. Joe and the Ho, is evidence that ol’ Beelzebub has his hooks in us and we are bound to suffer. Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. - William Pitt, the elder Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious - Oscar Wilde Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel - Samuel Johnson (and condemnation of those who oppose the tyranny of manmade political governments for lack of patriotism is also evidence of a scoundrel) Politics is violence no matter its make, model or flavor and manmade, political governments are the bane and pain of humanity; they are not Christian; they are diabolical. How long will it take for people to realize this simple truth? Yet people persist in voting. It is wrong to sanction politicians to use force to impose one’s opinions, beliefs, views, prejudices, economic dishonesties or “false religion” on those who do not share the same in the alleged “land of the free and home of the brave” for which people ostensibly went off to war to protect free will, freedom to choose, as given us by Jehovah God. Go figure. The hate mongering, economics dishonest, prejudiced, vituperative, duplicitous, commie/socialist, economics dishonest politicians, mostly Democrats but not exclusively, demonstrate neither love of God nor love for their neighbors (Matthew 22:37-40). Politicians are sociopaths and in some cases they are psychopaths. Frankly, I don’t see how Jews can vote for commie/socialist Democrats or any such. Do they not see that commie/socialism and fascism have much in common and are equally bad, equally evil? It was the commie/socialists who murdered the Tsar, his family and aides and it was Jews who were instrumental in the Communist Revolution of 1917. How can commie/socialist Democrats spew the hate speech that was so common in the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s? Do they not see the hypocrisy and duplicity and immorality? Remember that Amerikan politicians have imposed all 10 Planks of the Commie Manifesto on us. www.criminalgovernment.com/docs/planks.html Politics is a false god. Global Cooling, Global Warming and then Climate Change are all false gods that fool and attract the ignorant and many non-Christians, i.e. this troika of deceptions is idolatry/evil. Climate has been changing since forever. When people worship idols such as “false-god-politics,” they get disasters, wars of slaughter, recessions, inflation (theft, ruin and pain) and taxation (theft, ruin and pain), i.e. they get mass murders, economic ruin, theft of wages, debt slavery, welfare “statism” based on looting A to satisfy B and extortion. The “debt bomb” from hell is waiting to annihilate us while politicians and voters “fiddle.” (Economic Nero Syndrome pervades the commie/socialist Democrats in particular but not exclusively). Manmade political government is neo-Feudalism; it is the cleverest scheme of organized crime/tyranny in the history of Earth. Revelation teaches us that the troika of evil, that wicked consort of politics, commerce and “false religion,” will be destroyed in the end. We would be wise to terminate/abandon manmade political government and shed the myths and fallacies that have invaded and infected Christianity; Oh, and BTW, Islam is an example of “false religion” much like “god-politics.” I refuse to be an Ostrich; I will see the simple truth. Lincoln was and is a false god. Lincoln had 4 choices when the southern States freely chose to separate from the Union and he chose the worst one and got nearly a million Americans killed, maimed and wounded. Read about it in Bruce Catton’s Civil War Trilogy. Remember that the colonists would not have immediately put their necks under the heel of a powerful central government the likes of which they had just recently cast off. Remember too that colonists were not anointed by Jehovah God to override His gifts to us of free will, freedom to choose, and neither was Lincoln or any politician. Manmade political government acts in opposition to Jehovah God and slanders Him with its “laws” and manmade constitution. Lincoln chose to provoke the southern States. It was suggested by Winfield Scott that he merely say, Wayward sisters, depart in peace. Imagine what could have been achieved if all those people had not been slaughtered and all the “money” not wasted and all the property not destroyed if Lincoln had chosen wisely and as a true Christian would. Remember that slavery was evaporating as the industrial revolution developed and the need for slave labor was being eliminated by machines. Remind those who condemn technology for eliminating jobs that it eliminated slave labor, too. Worship of Lincoln is worship of a “false god.”

[@WJack97224]

@@richardmusante225, part 2 of my comment: Note that Wilson provoked Germany prior to the US entry to WW I and FDR provoked both Germany and Japan prior to the US entry to WW II. BTW, there are some very interesting facts contained in: Pearl Harbor: The REAL History - Mother Of All Conspiracies rense.com/general10/consp.htm Yes, some knowledgeable people have disputed some of the info in this document but most of the information is supported by multiple sources. Manmade political government is repetition of the same old interventions and failures while expecting a better result, i.e. manmade political government is the very definition of insanity. Lysander Spooner's No Treason No. 6, The Constitution of No Authority and Marc Stevens’ No State Project explain the lack of validity of the manmade, political constitution as a source of force/aggression/violence. Always ask the Spooner/Stevens Question, What factual evidence do you or any judge, prosecutor, politician, IRS agent, policeman or anyone have that the manmade, Satan corrupted constitution and “law” apply to me just because I am or you are physically present in some state such as the commie/socialist, Democrat controlled dictatorship of corruptifornia? It doesn't exist and never has else we would all be stinkin' naggar slaves on the plantation state run by masters/politicians/tyrants/ elitist and their overseers/judges/enforcers in the alleged "land of the free and home of the brave" for which men and women went off to war ostensibly to defend and protect. How ironic is that? I have challenged 7 judges, 6 in their courtrooms in front of bureaucrat witnesses, and not one of those 7 judges could produce proof of their jurisdictions. Why? Why not? Because they don’t have it and never have. Why weren’t the Spooner and Stevens points taught in government schools? Does anyone not see the conflict of interest? Does anyone not see the prejudice? Where is a warning analogous the Miranda Warning that proves the manmade constitution and “law” apply to you? How can educators “bite the hand that feeds them?” No one who is paid out of the tax trough dare speak out that taxation is theft else he would soon find himself in want of a job. How diabolically ironic is it that teachers cannot teach the simple truth about the utter wickedness of manmade political government? (Study Matthew 17:24-27 carefully. Only strangers are taxed by the rulers. If you are a Christian then you are a stranger on the plantation state operated by Satan’s acolytes.) BTW, factual evidence would come in the form of a sworn affidavit of truth stating what, when, where, why, how and by whom one was made subject to the jurisdiction thereof. It was never brought up in any school I attended. I have never heard any commie/socialist, Democrat toady, MSM (Mainstream Media) host or commentator or politician or lawyer produce the aforementioned “factual evidence.” Again, I have asked 6 judges in their courtrooms the Marc Stevens/Lysander Spooner Question and on record to provide the aforementioned factual evidence/proof of jurisdiction and not one of those 6 “judges” produced that factual evidence. In failing to provide proof of jurisdiction these august judges effected a fraud upon me. Why aren’t first year law students provided a little document analogous the Miranda Warning that gives the aforementioned “factual evidence?” Why isn’t that “factual evidence” provided to every law enforcement officer? Ans. It doesn’t exist. Bertrand Russell once said, the intellectual thing to do is only deal with facts, i.e. avoid assumptions, emotions, prejudices, opinions, views. And then he said the moral thing to do was love and don’t hate. The commie/socialist Democrats practice neither as evidenced by their vicious, hate mongering attacks and economics dishonesties. BTW, Jesus mentions that the two great commandments are love God and love one’s neighbors (Mattahew 22:37-40). Nancy Pelosi does not practice these two commandments. [Bertrand Russell’s rejection of faith in Jehovah God and reliance on man’s reason/logic is unfortunately the result of Satan’s corruption.] I recommend Ted R. Weiland’s books: Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective www.missiontoisrael.org/blvc-index.php Law & Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant www.missiontoisrael.org/law-kingdom.php If Christian Americans ever expect Jehovah God to fulfill his half of 2 Chronicles 7:14, then they must first repent of their national idolatry, their love affair with the humanistic, pluralistic, polytheistic, and anti-Christian United States Constitution. I also recommend the Jehovah’s Witness website publications wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=548 The hate speaking, commie/socialist, sociopathic, Democrat politicians, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Antifa, Social Justice Warriors (SJWs), Snowflakes and MSM (mainstream media) and their sycophants/bootlickers/toadies are clearly unethical, immoral. They play the emotions game but most people know that the first casualties of emotions are reason/logic/morality. When politicians, the MSM and educators et.al. resort to emotional pleas, they should be reminded of their errors in appeals to emotions and then they should be gently chastised, especially so in debates, book reviews, commentaries and interviews on TV and radio. Take a look at how Milton Friedman explained to Phil Donahue the fallacy of commie/socialism. This video should be viewed by everyone and then they should be asked why they are voting for any politician that is commie/socialist and why are they voting at all when voting is a act of violence/force/aggression. Recall that the politicians have imposed all 10 Planks of the Commie Manifesto. www.glennbeck.com/2014/01/14/the-blunt-truth-about-greed-and-freedom-was-delivered-over-30-years-ago/?Daily& kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2LPiJ5qiaiYarc “Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” - Milton Friedman [And those who believe in the might-makes-right manmade political governments/politicians also lack a belief in freedom itself and thus demonstrate a lack in the belief that God gave us free will, freedom to choose. Visit the Zero Aggression Project on the Internet and study their short Mental Levers. Especially pay attention to the definition of “Statism.” dev.zeroaggressionproject.org/mental-lever/what-is-statism/ Excerpt: You’re a Statist if you advocate Statism. Statists believe that… 1. Bad means are often needed to achieve good ends (the ends justify the means) 2. The State should initiate force to achieve social goals (Force/aggression/violence is acceptable, i.e. immorality is OK. Typically this describes politicians, especially commie/socialists and particularly Democrats/DemonKraits though not exclusively.) 3. People who work for The State can morally do things that would be criminal for others to do (true for some bureaucrats but not all) Mark Levin is a “statist” but he brings brilliance to analyzing the wickedness, the economics dishonesties of the politicians. Sadly, Levin believes in manmade political governments and political solutions and as Ted R. Weiland explains, the Bible does not approve of manmade political governments. The constitution and the manmade god, We the People, have supplanted God’s law. Thomas Sowell said: “The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best.” [Do you trust politicians to take over decisions on how to conduct your life? By what right does anyone sanction politicians to use force to make anyone abide by anyone’s opinions in “the land of the free?”- JW]

[@WJack97224]

@@richardmusante225, Part 3 of my comment: But since God gave us free will, freedom to choose, then those who argue against free markets are really deniers of Jehovah God, i.e. they are Satan’s acolytes! Wish it were otherwise but I refuse to be an Ostrich; I refuse to conceal the facts. Friedman was a monetarist, i.e. he believed in inflation and taxation which are used by politicians to loot A to satisfy B and thus he refuted his own observation (Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson and also see The Inflation Crisis and How to Resolve It). This theft via inflation is orchestrated by politicians with the willing assistance of the central bankers and voters et.al. So, Friedman did not respect one’s God given free will, freedom to choose, else he would not have approved of government orchestrated use of force/power to effect theft/inflation or taxation/theft for that matter. Friedman was at odds with his own words. Tariffs are taxation, too. Remember that there is no such thing as a “good” excuse. Friedman erred; the honest response would have been to reject the use of political force to loot people via taxation (yes, I know the income tax is a tax based on corporate profits that are measured by using wages paid by the corporation to compute and exact the tax; yes, the income tax is a corporation tax but it effects indirectly the looting of people as the funds to pay the income tax are then deprived of company owners and thus cannot be distributed in wages). Where have all the freedoms (flowers) gone, long time passing? Where have all the freedoms (flowers) gone, long time ago? Where have all the freedoms (flowers) gone? Voters trashed (Young girls have picked) them everyone. Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn? (remember the song?) The time has come,' the Walrus said, To talk of many things: Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax - Of cabbages - and kings - And why the sea is boiling hot - And whether pigs have wings.' (remember the poem: The Walrus and The Carpenter?) As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man -- There are only four things certain since Social Progress began -- That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire, And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire -- And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return! (Do you remember the Kipling poem: The Gods of The Copybook Headings?) And I am two and twenty and Oh ‘tis true, ‘tis true. (remember the poem?) "The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can't get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods." ~ H.L. Mencken Franz Oppenheimer identified the two basic means by which people can acquire wealth in the world: [1] the “economic means,” and [2] the “political means.” The “economic means” consists of relationships in which individuals voluntarily engage in transactions for the exchange of goods and services. The “political means” involve the forced taking of wealth belonging to one person and bestowing it upon another. [People make the mistake of assuming that without taxation we would not have education or services that are currently provided by manmade political government. This assumption is simply ludicrous as people always find a way to acquire that which they need or want. How did the people learn for thousands of years in the absence political government control of education? Horace Mann got America on the wrong road with public schooling. Education needs to be privatized and then manmade political governments need to be abolished. - JW]