My Father told of the story of his time in Hawaii and how a lost map
caused the world war 2 invasion of the island of Yap to be bypassed.
The story goes as follows..
Maps were made up in the mountains by the Army and each Friday someone would drive the jeep
with the maps in it down to the navy. This was a job everyone wanted to do and they all took turns
driving the maps because once the maps were delivered the driver could enjoy a night on the town.
One week after delivering the jeep full of maps one tube was turned in by a local
of Japanese descent. Upon opening the tube it was discovered that one of the 14 maps that was
supposed to be in the tube was missing. The tube said that there were 14 maps inside only 13
were present. Either a mistake in count was made and All the maps were there OR one map was
missing! The officer swore that his count was correct so the solider that drove the jeep was
court marshaled. Because the person who turned in the lost maps was of Japanese descent
and they could not be sure that the Japanese military was not in possession of the lost map
the decision not to invade the island of Yap was made. History recorded that Yap was bypassed
in the Island hopping strategy of the Pacific war.
The solider that was court marshaled broke out of the stockade, (Jail) got a gun, and was
going to kill the officer but He was cornered by the MPs before he could find the officer
and Shot dead.
Because of the war this was all declared secret and no one was to speak of it.
This was the story that My father told of his time in the army while station in Hawaii during World War 2.
WW 2 invasion of Yap bypased due to lost map.
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radiomanpj
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