Correct, Yamamota did not say the blade of grass statement. He was shot down by P-38s sent to intercept his A/C as the message regarding his flight was intercepted and decoded as the US had broken the Japanese code several years before.
To be fair I think I said it was alleged attributed or supposed, not said for sure. it is probably as you say apocryphal like the 'sleeping giant' statement, but it certainly reflected the situation of widespread gun ownership in the US. The rifles the alleged quote was referring to were not issued army rifles in the hands of deployed troops, but the privately owned rifles that hung over the fireplaces and in the gun cabinets of American civilians at home; workers, farmers, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, housewives, and sundry other citizens on the home front.
In contrast, when Russia recently invaded Ukraine, it did so knowing that Ukrainian policy imposed strict gun controls and the civilian population was largely disarmed. As a result the world was treated to videos of desperate senior citizens, women, and children being handed rifles by the Ukrainian government and instructed on their use in rushed, last minute attempts to make up for a lifetime of gun control – when it was too late.
Similarly, compare Australia with America. Australia, which some years ago imposed sweeping gun confiscation, had during the height of covid hysteria, soldiers in the streets assaulting civilians and imposing authoritarian edicts, and even imprisoned innocent people in camps without trial. America resisted the Australian-style gun confiscation proposed by politicians such as Hillary and Obama, and so as bad as government overreach during covid authoritarianism was here, it never rose to that level. There were some steps our government was still afraid to take.
No doubt some wanted to act thusly; the infamous Rasmussen poll showing nearly 60 percent of Democrats favored putting science- and freedom-minded Americans under house arrest by force for not obeying irrational edicts, or the Salt Lake City newspaper editorial calling for using the national guard against Americans who refused to cower at home, make this clear. The CDC even had a plan to detain people forcibly, called the ‘shielding approach’ (
High-risk individuals would be relocated to safe or “green zones” established at the household, neighborhood, camp/sector, or community level depending on the context and setting. They would have minimal contact with family members and other low-risk residents.”
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/global-covid-19/shielding-approach-humanitarian.htm l
"One entry point is used for exchange of food, supplies, etc. A meeting area is used for residents and visitors to interact while practicing physical distancing (2 meters).
No movement into or outside the green zone."
the CDC adds that “Isolation/separation from family members, loss of freedom and personal interactions may require additional psychosocial support structures/systems.”) but it was never imposed. we can thank the founders' 2nd amendment for that.
The Japanese admiral's quote may be a historical myth, but the value or arms as deterrent it supposedly referenced is proved daily
