1942.03.07 “There were many prophets who thought the Japs would be a push-over”
by John Tinney McCutcheon (1870-1949)
16 x 24 in., ink on drawing board
Coppola Collection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._McCutcheon
On the Purdue campus, where he was a student, McCutcheon (class of 1889) is memorialized in a coeducational dormitory, John T. McCutcheon Hall. The lobby displays an original of one of his drawings, a nearly life-size drawing of a young man.
After college, McCutcheon moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked at the Chicago Morning News (later: Chicago Record) and then at the Chicago Tribune from 1903 until his retirement in 1946. McCutcheon received the Pulitzer Prize for Cartoons in 1932.
“The Japs have swiped our best piece of American strategy” … Git there fustest with the mostest men. When, instead, it was Too Little and Too Late.
By March 7, 1942, the situation for the US in the war with Japan was dire. Japan was rapidly expanding its control across the Pacific and Southeast Asia, while the US was still reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack and struggling to mount a strong defense. The loss of key territories like Java and the ongoing battles in the Philippines highlighted the challenges faced by the US and its allies.
Japan was aggressively expanding its empire, seizing territory in the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, and parts of New Guinea. And on March 8, 1942, the Dutch forces in Java surrendered to the Japanese, marking a significant loss for the Allies. General MacArthur had been forced to evacuate the Philippines, leaving behind a force that would eventually surrender in April.
While the US Navy was starting to conduct raids on Japanese-held territory, these were still small-scale operations and did not yet represent a significant challenge to Japanese power.
