Nazis Invade Long Island, 1942
By Joseph J. Sabia
Published 11/2/2001
ITHACA—The American Left supports the war on terrorism as long as no one dies (except maybe a few Israelis), no one is racially profiled, and Americans repent for their oppressive foreign policy during the last 225 years. Consider the following outrageous statements made by college professors since the September 11th Massacres, made public last week by the Young America’s Foundation.
Rutgers University Professor Barbara Foley wrote that "whatever its [the terrorist attacks] proximate cause, its ultimate cause is the fascism of U.S. foreign policy over the past many decades."
Professor George Wright of Chico State University alleges that President Bush wants to "kill innocent people," "colonize" the entire Arab world, and secure "oil for the Bush family."
Evergreen State College Professor Larry Mosqueda wrote, "If we multiply by 800-1000 times the amount of pain, angst, and anger being currently felt by the American public, we might begin to understand how much of the rest of the world feels as they are continually victimized [by the United States]."
Fortunately for America, Leftists in the academy have not crafted our nation’s anti-terrorist policy. In fact, the most prominent Leftist to ever step foot in the White House, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was quite adept at rooting out and destroying terrorists. During the Second World War, Roosevelt ordered the secret military trial and execution of Nazis who attempted to terrorize America from within her borders. The 1942 saga is one of the most intriguing in modern American history.
Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the German government was violently angered by the United States’ furnishing of war supplies to Great Britain. In response, the Nazi high command—and most likely Adolf Hitler himself—determined that sabotage would be the most effective method to retard the American armaments industry. Following Germany’s declaration of war on the U.S., Lieutenant Walter Kappe was tapped to train terrorists near Berlin. Kappe was an ideal choice as he was a former resident of the United States, an active member of the pro-Nazi German-American Bund, and a former official at the fascist Ausland Institute. Kappe’s students were Germans who had left America to return to their homeland.
According to FBI intelligence, Kappe trained the saboteurs in “chemistry, incendiaries, explosives, timing devices, secret writing, and concealment of identity by blending into an American background.” They were taken to German industrial plants and railways where they were taught the best methods of sabotage.
Two German U-boats containing eight terrorists left the German base at Lorient, France on May 26, and May 29, 1942, respectively. The saboteurs were armed with explosives and $175,200 in American currency. One of these submarines, The Innsbruck, was headed to the shores of Long Island. The second U-boat made its way toward Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. These eight terrorists were sent to cripple America from within.
The Innsbruck approached the shores of Long Island on the foggy night of July 12, 1942. The four Nazis—Richard Quirin, George Dasch, Ernest Burger and Heinrich Heinck—disembarked, unloaded rafts from their submarine, and paddled ashore. They ended up on Amagansett beach, where they buried a metal box , containing a shovel, explosives, a German army cap, and a fountain pen (commonly used to detonate explosives) in the sand. Their plan was to travel to New York City via train, but the terrorists had no idea that they would encounter Coast Guardsman John Cullen , who was doing his usual midnight rounds on the beaches. The Nazis tried to disguise themselves as fishermen, but Cullen sensed that something was amiss when he heard one of them speaking German—yes, he engaged in ethnic profiling. The Germans then issued a cryptic warning to Cullen and tried to pay him off with their cash reserves. Cullen, however, turned and ran three miles through the fog to his duty officer and informed him of the German presence on the beach.
When Cullen, his duty officer, and others returned to the scene, the Nazis were gone, off to the Amagansett train station, where they would catch the 6:57 to New York City. The coast guardsmen did, however, find their metal box of explosives buried in the sand. In response, Suffolk County police were put on high alert and many German-Americans had their cars searched for evidence of spy equipment—yes, more racial profiling! Few complained, however, since the nation’s security was in danger.
It was at this moment that the terrorists' plans took an interesting turn. After arriving in NYC, one of the terrorists, George Dasch , decided—perhaps due to regret or fear—to abort the Nazi mission. He turned himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and informed the authorities of the Germans' plans. Within two weeks, all eight saboteurs were arrested.
But what would America do with captured terrorists? President Roosevelt was clear and decisive—no jury trial. Instead, he ordered a secret military tribunal to judge their guilt. In a memo to Attorney General Francis Biddle, Roosevelt stated that he wanted the Germans put to death. He got his wish.
Following the trial—held from July 8, to August 4, 1942—all eight terrorists were found guilty and sentenced to die via electrocution. Biddle and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover appealed to Roosevelt to commute the sentences of Dasch and Ernest Burger , each of whom had been instrumental in the capture of the other terrorists. Roosevelt assented to their request, giving Burger a life sentence and Dasch a 30-year sentence. The rest were executed just four days after the trial’s end, on August 8, 1942.
In an 8-0 decision by the Supreme Court in Ex Parte Quirin, 317 U. S. 1 (1942) , Chief Justice Harlan Stone wrote for the court,
"We conclude that the Fifth and Sixth Amendments did not restrict whatever authority was conferred by the Constitution to try offenses against the law of war by military commission, and that petitioners, charged with such an offense not required to be tried by jury at common law, were lawfully placed on trial by the Commission without a jury."
American Leftists should heed the decisions made 60 years ago by their ideological comrades. The Islamic terrorists roaming around America today, plotting their next move, do not have civil liberties. They do not have the right to a jury trial. We should follow the advice of Roosevelt in his memo to Biddle—we must kill them before they kill us.
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