When Will It Come?

It was time that the public got prepared not to be surprised. Every military man knew that the U.S. mainland could not long escape its first air raid. Last week the government served explicit warning.

Said Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson: "The United States Government . . . administered a stinging, humiliating surprise blow when it bombed Tokyo. . . . This means Japan has suffered a serious loss of face which can be wiped out only by a similar, even larger return blow. We have tried to put our house in order. ..."

Henry Stimson wanted U.S. citizens to expect the blow, to nerve themselves to take it. The Japanese would sneak one or more carriers close to the West Coast--or to the Panama Canal or to Alaska--and take revenge. The Germans could do something similar to the East Coast. The people could only hope that the U.S. defenses were better than Tokyo's--and that the people would not be as frantic as Tokyo's civilians.

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