Need some help here, guys.

[dedalos]

I'm not trying to say that the US was going to be invaded. I was saying that attempts were made to prove that aircraft and troops could be sent and maybe attack the general population or bomb a major city such as New York. Invasion? I don't think it is all that likely, but I was trying more for bombing and attack. I don't even know if I actually said invasion... It was a heated argument.

Ohh, look at your post.  You said invasion  .  And I think we are talking about the main land, not some island that even the US was not occupying  at the time lol

[moot]

winning

Not a great approach to making the most of student-teacher interaction.

[Melvin]

Not a great approach to making the most of student-teacher interaction.

Point taken.

[fbWldcat]

Ohh, look at your post.  You said invasion  .  And I think we are talking about the main land, not some island that even the US was not occupying  at the time lol

Yeah, now that I have been thinking about it, I realize what I said and what I thought I said.

[100Coogn]

Remember this classic?  (classic to me anyways)

                                       

That show always makes me wonder.  What if....
Coogan

[Getback]

Well there was that missile that was launched off California by North Korea.

[fbWldcat]

Remember this classic?  (classic to me anyways)

                                       (Image removed from quote.)

That show always makes me wonder.  What if....
Coogan

Red Dawn. 

Nice movie.

[Imaslipper]

It's interesting and being i just finished my AP History course last semester it's still slightly fresh in my mind! My teacher made it a point that Yes the United States was in jeopardy of attack from the Axis Powers. Now although it wasn't as immediate a threat to the U.S. as it was say Britain. You can use events like Pearl Harbor, the Japs attack PH mostly for the reason to eliminate the American Fleet and make it an easy route in. Although the U.S. was not on the immediate TOP of the invasion list i believe that given the opportunity they would not have hesitated. This is even a reason why the American public supported the US's involvement in the War. It was the first time America had been "attacked" on home soil probably since the Revolutionary War! All in all it sounds like you have a stubborn teacher but, yeah i think if America hadn't invaded Europe and Stopped the German advance, as well as the Japanese aggression the U.S. would be in a bad spot. If we hadn't stopped the German aggression in Europe there would have been no route for America to fight Germany. If Great Britain fell to Germany where would the U.S. deploy troops? This brings about the fact that Germany would be able to build, and possibly cause the U.S. to fight a two front war (what Germany ultimately fell from)!

[SmokinLoon]

"We can not invade America, there is a rifle behind every blade of grass." -Admiral Yamoto

Imperial Japan wanted their oil and free reign in the Pacific.  They did not want to invade the continental US.  They had no need to.  Nazi Germany did not want "room to grow" in North America, they wanted to be free to do as they liked in Europa without risk from their enemies the Communists. 

The United States had such a minimal risk of being invaded that it is hardly worth speaking of.  Not only that, but ultimately none of the Axis powers had legit long term plans to actually invade.  The only hope was that the US would be passive and eventually submissive. 

I have spoken.  Debate over.   

[guttboy]

Actually the Japanese DID invade the U.S. in Southern California.....the video PROVES it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmLAA2r4DlA&feature=related


By the way you gotta love the rearming of the P40 by THE best pilot of WWII!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40t6ys8pgNo&feature=related



PS....Great Movie Coogan....filmed about an hour and a half north of me

[100Coogn]

Actually the Japanese DID invade the U.S. in Southern California.....the video PROVES it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmLAA2r4DlA&feature=related


By the way you gotta love the rearming of the P40 by THE best pilot of WWII!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40t6ys8pgNo&feature=related


PS....Great Movie Coogan....filmed about an hour and a half north of me

WOLVARINES!!

Coogan

  Patrick.

[Dichotomy]

"We can not invade America, there is a rifle behind every blade of grass." -Admiral Yamoto

Imperial Japan wanted their oil and free reign in the Pacific.  They did not want to invade the continental US.  They had no need to.  Nazi Germany did not want "room to grow" in North America, they wanted to be free to do as they liked in Europa without risk from their enemies the Communists. 

The United States had such a minimal risk of being invaded that it is hardly worth speaking of.  Not only that, but ultimately none of the Axis powers had legit long term plans to actually invade.  The only hope was that the US would be passive and eventually submissive. 

I have spoken.  Debate over.   

debate not over till either Widewing, Murdr, Simaril, Jherne, or Ack Ack, chimes in in my NSHO 

[curry1]

I had to school my AP US History teacher this year when she stated that the first Gulf War was unnecessary and Kuwait didn't want us to get involved...  I guess just because you have a masters in History doesn't mean you know basic things anymore.  I was disappointed that she didn't understand the differences between the two wars which were fought while she was in high-school and college especially since I wasn't even alive when the first one was being fought.  Now I listen more and find that she is actually extremely inept regarding history in general.  It really does worry me as I can only pick out errors with facts that I have learned on my own and know to be true, I wonder how many other things she has stated about things I do not know that were actually false.

Other examples:

1. She was complaining about how the US didn't use any resources to liberate Auschwitz and "ONLY" fought in France and Italy and only liberated concentration camps when it was convenient.  She then went on to state that we could have dropped troops into Germany to liberate the Jews.  Really? I think when I was in first grade I knew that you cannot just drop troops into the heart of an enemy nation and expect anything to happen.  I tried to explain this to her that:
A. Our transports would have been shot down and dont have the fuel to get that far.
B. Our troops would be cut off from all supply and most certainly be all killed or captured.
C. Even if the Airborne could rescue ALL of millions of Jews where would they go?  Just walk out of Germany?

2. Stated that Americans didn't trade with the USSR in the 1920s and early 1930s at all.  Even though it is well known that Ford created factories in USSR and Ford cars were extremely popular in the USSR.

3. She believes that the Atomic weapons dropped on Japan were unnecessary and did not save lives.

[Motherland]

Okay, me and an old teacher of mine got into a minor argument today. SHE said that the US homefront was different than the homefronts of Germany, Britain, France and Russia (Outbreak of WWII) because the US had no chance of being invaded. In contrast, I said that the US had a LEGITIMATE chance of being invaded or at least attacked. She said I was crazy. I said that Japan had intent to bring the fight to America, as well as capture the Pacific Islands. Several Japanese ships drew near the US Pacific Coast. My other bit of reasoning was that Germany sent a prototype bomber towards America and got within 12 miles of New York (Junkers Ju 290) before returning to France.

My question is, who is right?
I think my argument is valid, and if anyone can come up with a source such as a site that I could use to shoot down her theory, it would be much appreciated. I told her SPECIFIC examples and she still called bull.  I just want the community's help with this, as I will apparently need all the resources possible to fix this. 

Thanks in advance.

Whether or not you could say that the US had a chance of being invaded (you have to admit that it's a bit of a stretch), you can in no way compare the situation at home in the US to the situation in Germany, Britain, the USSR, France etc., where people had war literally on their doorsteps (or crashing through their roofs) as opposed to (save for the negligible percentage of Americans who lived in overseas territories, which even Alaska and Hawaii still were at the time) separated from them by thousands of miles of ocean.
That's really what you're supposed to take from that- civilian Americans have experienced the abstract idea of 'war' a lot over the past century, but at no time have we really felt the collateral impact of having war waged on our soil, or even having a significant portion of our population lost in combat.

[vonKrimm]

It's interesting and being i just finished my AP History course last semester it's still slightly fresh in my mind! ..... It was the first time America had been "attacked" on home soil probably since the WAR of 1812!

Guess you were absent that day from your vaunted AP History class......no Harvard crimson shall you wear!

Back to the OP's point:  The homefront for the vast, vast majority of Americans only concerned the possibility of invasion of the contiguous 48 states, not what happened on remote islands (barring Hawaii).