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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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It is true that Knox was more tense than usual. Knox was the kind of person who was high strung and his pressure would obviously go up and down with the level of emotional strain he was under. He'd get red. You'd see the blood rush up to his neck and his face under the tension that came upon him as he contemplated certain ideas. This particular afternoon was a big afternoon because they had just discovered that day or the day before that the Japanese fleet was out. That was the alarming news so far as Knox was concerned. He was obviously very worried and very concerned and quite naturally. They were not sitting still over in the Navy department and thinking about playing bridge. They were all tense. Everybody was wrought up over there. He was certainly very tense and his voice had that quality of strain in it when he spoke so that you knew he was very tense. I knew that he was a high strung man. That wasn't unusual. However, there was no question in my mind that Knox was very disturbed about this information that the Japanese fleet was at sea. It was a disturing thing.

Nobody mentioned the Philippines as possible targets that afternoon, but the Philippines had been discussed previously. We had talked about their exposed position if the Japanese should undertake to do anything. If we went to the defense of the British at Singapore, the Philippines would be





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