Strange War Stories, A Stream of Consciousness Production

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Most people seem to know that, during World War 2, American code-breakers were able to read secret Japanese radio messages.  The ability to do this helped the US Navy to locate and sink many enemy ships, thereby saving American lives.

What fewer people know is that many of the American code-breakers were musicians.  After the disaster at Pearl Harbor, the Navy decided that it did not need so many members of its bands.  So, they reassigned most of the musicians to other duties.  The chief American code-breaker knew that musicians have a talent for detecting subtle nuances of rhythm.  This skill is very important for code-breakers, and so he requested and got a large number of them, with good results.

One such former musician was Howard Tyler.  Howard was given a folder of un-decoded Japanese secret messages, and told to decode them.  To do so, he began listening to Japanese secret radio messages, and soon identified the one whose folder he had been given.

He was able to single out one particular Japanese radio operator, among many, because as all code-breakers know, each radio operator has his own unique style, based on rhythm, and other characteristics that I am not at liberty to disclose, mainly because I have no idea what they might be.  This rhythm is called, a “fist.”  That’s secret code-breaker talk.  Don’t tell anyone.

In any case, Howard soon identified this particular Japanese radio operator’s fist, and quickly discovered that he held an important position in the enemy navy.  He even found out that the radio operator’s name was Takahashi.

Takahashi worked in a Japanese port facility.  Howard quickly knew that this was important, because Takahashi transmitted reports of ship movements.  Not only that, but Howard was able to detect whenever the Japanese navy was about to launch an attack, because when Takahashi was busy sending lots of messages, that meant that there were lots of enemy ships about to be sent into battle.

Over time, Howard got to know a lot more about Takahashi than just that.  He could detect Takahashi’s moods.  Some days, Takahashi would come to work in a good mood, ready to kill as many Americans as he could.  But, on other days, Takahashi was in a foul mood, and would rather have killed his own supervisors.

Then, one day, matters reached a crisis point.  Howard went to his commander, and broke the bad news.  “I’ve been getting really worried about Takahashi lately.  He seems really depressed.  I’m worried that he might harm himself.”

The commander said, “What do you suppose the problem is?”

“It’s his wife, Michiko.  She doesn’t know that Takahashi works in a secret message facility, and she’s been bugging him to get a job with more status.”

“Well, what does Michiko think Takahashi does?”

“He told her, sir, that he’s a bagger at a grocery store.  Sir, I think that if something isn’t done soon, Takahashi might just kill himself.”

The commander said, “You know Howard, I think you’re right.  Here, come with me.”

Together, the two men went to the armory, and the commander handed Howard a rifle.  “Take this, he said, and go kill Takahashi.”

“Kill him?  But sir—”

“Do as you’re told, sailor.  This is war, and in war, we don’t feel sorry for the enemy.  We kill him.  That’s an order.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

Weeks later, Howard returned, looking refreshed.

“Well?” The commander said.  “Did you kill Takahashi?”

“You bet I did, sir.”

“See?  I knew you’d feel better once you killed an enemy.”

“It’s not that, sir.”

“Then, what is it?”

“Sir, I found out that that low-life was cheating on his wife.  He was afraid she would find out about it, and that’s why he was depressed.  I don’t understand, sir.  How could he have cheated on her?  Michiko is a good-looking woman.  Here is a photo I took of her.”

“I see what you mean.  But she doesn’t look like a grieving widow.”

“Not after I told her what he had done.  We got to talking, and darn it commander, I married her.  I brought her back to the states.  We made a quick stop in Vegas and got married, then came back to Hawaii.  Michiko got a job at the Hickam control tower, watching out for any more Jap airstrikes.  No one is better than her at identifying Jap planes.”

“Okay,” the commander said.  “Well, now that you’re back at work, what does Michiko think you do for a living?  I hope you haven’t told her any secrets.”

“Heck no, sir,” Howard said.  “I told her that I’m a bagger at a grocery store.”

“Darn,” the commander said.  “I smell trouble.”

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That concludes this week’s episode of Strange War Stories, a Stream of Consciousness Production.

Here is a preview of next week’s Strange War Story, a Stream of Consciousness Production.

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“Okay, Howard, here is your next assignment.  You are to de-code messages sent by an enemy radio operator whose name is Heinrich Schmidt.  He’s been going on about some secret attack that the Krauts have planned, something they call, the Battle of the Bulge.  Look into it.”

“Yes sir, I will.”

“Oh, and by the way, Howard.  If Heinrich starts having trouble with his wife, just stay out of it this time.”

“Aye aye, sir, I will.”

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