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The dentist who convinced FDR to bomb Japan with bats

Gail P Sherman
Jun 29, 2026
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Jeff Reeves/Shutterstock

An eccentric dentist with the ear of the President had a plan to win the war against Japan. In a letter to FDR, Lytle “Doc” Adams suggested that bats, the “lowest form of animal life …” could “return the call of Pearl Harbor,” by being dropped by the millions on Japanese cities with tiny incendiary devices attached. The bats woul…

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