There was a funny (and a bit racist) mythology built up around Ellwood. Not remotely true, but it gained popularity as explanation for the lack of damage, when there was opportunity to seriously disable critical war infrastructure.

The story goes that, before the war, a man named Kozo Nishino had served on an oil tanker that docked near the refinery. He was invited for a courtesy tour. While strolling around the facilities with the other dignitaries, he noticed a patch of cactuses behind a fence - a type of fauna that was novel to him - so he decided he'd climb the fence to clip a piece to take back home. Well, unfortunately, he slipped on the fence, right onto a large cactus. His yelp drew bellowing laughs from his American hosts, and the embarrassment was a source of great shame to him for many years.

Cut to the war, and Nishino is now commander of a submarine, the I-17. As fate would have it, he was once again docked near that oil field. The instructions came in to pick a target for what would be the first attack on the continental United States. Commander Nishino knew what he had to do. He ordered his submarine to Ellwood, weapons armed, and instructed his men, "Aim at that cactus!"