Thursday, September 25, 2014
We Were All Young Once
Thursday, August 14, 2008
This Day in the History of Insane Fighting Spirit
On this day in 1945, members of the Japanese Imperial Guards failed in a coup against the Emperor, which they initiated because they wanted to fight on. We had slaughtered the Japanese after the Battle of Coral Sea in May, 1942, destroyed from the air all their major cities (except Kyoto) and, co-incidentally, had just obliterated the last oil refinery in Japan, the last target actually worth bombing. We had sunk all their ships, destroyed most of their aircraft and had nuked two cities and replacement bombs were set to be delivered in mid and late August. The Russians had entered the war and were wading through the remnants of the once proud Imperial Army. And these guys wanted to depose the Divine Emperor so as not to surrender.
Apparently cooler heads prevailed. That's the Emperor recording the surrender speech.
Labels: Attempted Coup, WWII history; Pacific theater
Saturday, August 09, 2008
This Day in the History of America Nuking our Enemies
The bodies of Japanese civilians create a carpet of the dead.
On this day in 1945, the United States expended the last of its nuclear arsenal over Nagasaki, which city was chosen because the primary target, Kokura, was obscured by cloud. The ordinance used, a hollow plutonium sphere crushed to critical mass by chemical explosive implosion, ('Fat Man') became the general model for the 50,000 or so more nuclear weapons we built thereafter. The bomb was dropped from the B-29 Bockscar. At least 45,000 men, women and children were instantly killed in the blast, far less than Hiroshima because, even though the bomb was more powerful, the hilly topography of the city shielded some sections. Nagasaki had been the center of Christian (Roman Catholic) activity in Japan for nearly four centuries. The war effectively ended the next day when the Emperor voted with the majority of his ministers to surrender to the Allies.
Labels: Nagasaki, WWII history; Pacific theater
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
This Day in the History of America Nuking our Enemies
On this day in 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped an enriched uranium 235 'cannon shot' nuclear weapon ('Little Boy') on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Honshu, killing perhaps as many as 90,000 men, women and children and pretty much obliterating the center of the city. We had been fire bombing Japanese cities for about 6 months and had killed more people in Tokyo on a single night, March 9-10, 1945. However, this atomic bombing is the poster boy for our supposed immoral war behavior. The Emperor of Japan broke a tie vote of his ministers and decided to surrender on August 10. That is not a coincidence in my book.
Labels: Hiroshima, WWII history; Pacific theater
Monday, July 07, 2008
This Day in the History of Evil Beginnings
On this day in 1937, WWII (Pacific Theater) began with the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge in China. We always think it began December 7, 1941, but just as WWII (European Theater) began September 1, 1939, so too the war everywhere was going strong before 12/7/41 and our entry therein. Some people call the initial incident the Battle of Lugou Bridge.
Labels: Marco Polo Bridge Incident, WWII history; Pacific theater
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Death From Above
A Voight F4U Corsair fires several 'mighty mouse' 2.75" rockets at Japanese fortifications. The Corsair was perhaps our finest prop driven plane, and what a prop! The propeller was so big they had to angle the wings down for a few feet in order for it to clear the ground on take off and landing. Thus the gull wing look of the Corsair. It could go much faster than 400 mph and in fact was so fast one of them shot down a MiG jet during the Korean Conflict.
The photo is undated but was taken sometime during the very hard battle for Okinawa, March 18, 1945 to June 23, 1945. Casualties were horrendous, but we were clearly winning the war. Hmmm? That would be a baffling concept to many liberals in this country today.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Thursday, March 27, 2008
If There Must be Trouble Let it be in my Day, That my Child May Have Peace
Part of the Burma to China road built in just a few months during WWII so we could resupply Chinese forces fighting the Japanese. It wasn't just the bravery of the warriors which made that struggle so amazing.
As George C. Scott said: Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Saturday, March 15, 2008
An American submarine, Balao-class USS Robalo (SS-273), is launched in May, 1943, at the Manitowoc Shipyard in Wisconsin. Most warships were launched stem first, but the shipyard was on a narrow river so they did it this way, which was pretty dramatic. The Robalo went down the Mississippi on a barge to the sea. It is still on eternal patrol having been lost, probably to a mine, in the South China Sea on July 26, 1944. Eighty-one men went down with her.
The Germans are famous for their U-Boat fleet in the Atlantic, and, indeed, the last model they built really was pretty impressive. However, except for that model, far too late, we built larger, better, faster, farther ranging, more deadly ones, like this one, and we built a lot of them. Between the subs below the waves and the planes above, by late 1944, the surface ships available to the Imperial Navy were few and very far between.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
An Underdeveloped Airplane
A Chinese soldier with fixed bayonet guards a line of Curtiss P-40 Warhawks near the beginning of our involvement in WWII. Most airplanes get constantly upgraded through their months and years of service. The Brit Spitfire had at least 20 such upgrades. The P-51 Mustang had eight. The P-40 only had four upgrades before they quit making it in November, 1944. Had they continued to improve its engines and armament it could have rivaled the above named planes for fighter of the war. The shark teeth mouth on the underside of the front cowling was pretty cool in any event.
We know that the b in B-52 stands for bomber and that the f in F-15 stands for fighter and even that the a in A-10 stands for attack. So what does the p in P-40 and P-51 stand for? Answer tomorrow.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
This Day in the Short History of Ignoble American Abandonments
On this day in 1942, having completely screwed the pooch in the defense of the Philippines from Japanese invaders during the early, dark days of our involvement in World War II, General Douglas MacArthur left Corregidor, pursuant to direct orders, for Australia, later vowing: "I shall return." It was a lot more uplifting than: "Sorry, I can't take any of you with me." For the Americans and Filipinos left behind, the suffering had only just begun.
He did better later.
The corn cob pipe never caught on, but the cap low over aviator dark glasses became the height of military fashion even to this day.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Saturday, March 08, 2008
The late President Gerald Ford plays some mean defense in June, 1944 onboard the USS Monterey (CVL-26) during his deployment in the Pacific as a Lieutenant during WWII.
The Monterey was not damaged in action but had a hard time during a typhoon in mid-December, 1945, when planes in the hanger broke free of moorings, collided, and caught fire. Ford was on the fire suppression team which was successful even though the fire took the Monterey out of the fight.
Ford was almost certainly our best athlete turned President, Chevy Chase's making fun of him notwithstanding.
CORRECTION: On further review of the photo, based on the position of Ford's left hand, it looks more like he is going for a rebound, rather than trying to block a shot. Tough to tell, either way.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
This Day in the History of Regrettable Actions Made Necessary by War
On this day in 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving the U.S. military the power to relocate and intern "any and all persons." The order was mainly used to detain around 120,000 Japanese-Americans, most of them U.S.-born citizens. This action is often criticized as unnecessary, wrong or racist, but it was absolutely necessary and right, as the cracked Japanese codes revealed an effort by the Japanese to recruit would-be saboteurs and spies from the community. Any time the Japanese complain about racism, I have to laugh, in my gaijin way, which laugh sounds, no doubt, like monkey calls to most Japanese ears.
Labels: Japanese Internment, WWII history; Pacific theater
Sunday, February 10, 2008
This Day in the Long History of American Heroism
On this day in 1942, the first Medal of Honor for World War II was awarded, posthumously, to 2nd Lt. Alexander Ramsey Nininger, Jr. for his heroism during the Battle of Bataan, a humiliating defeat for us. Nininger had taken the fight to the Japanese, who were in trees and foxholes near Abucay and Nininger continued to fight with rifle and hand grenades, killing Japanese soldiers, despite being wounded three times. He pushed too far ahead and was lost. When the position was retaken, Nininger's body was found near the bodies of two Japanese soldiers and an officer all, presumably, taken out by Nininger just before he was killed.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
This Day in the History of Creepy Coincidences
On this day in 1941, the military units on Guam were ordered by the Navy Department to destroy all codes and secret documents. Such was our country's isolationism that only a successful sneak attack by one of the belligerents could have gotten us into WWII. I've always considered the Roosevelt knew crowd nut case conspiracy theorists, and I still do, but this is weird.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
This Day in the History of Fate Smiling on the United States
On this day in 1941, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, our main line of defense in the Pacific during the first part of the war, departed Pearl Harbor in order to deliver F4F Wildcat fighters to Wake Island. The Lexington did the same at Midway. Elsewhere, the Langley was in the Philippines; the Saratoga was near San Diego: the Ranger was in the Caribbean: the Yorktown was in Newport News; and, the insect named Wasp and Hornet were also stationed in the Atlantic. So none of our 9 carriers were in Pearl 9 days later. Whew!
On December 7, 1941, Japan had 8 large carriers. By September, 1945, we had 28 large carriers, Japan had none (although 3 actually survived the war, damaged and obsolete).
Don't tread on us.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Saturday, November 24, 2007
This Day in the History of Humble Beginnings
On this day in 1944, over a hundred U.S. B-29 Superfortress bombers attacked Tokyo for the first time since Capt. Jimmy Doolittle's raid in 1942. The 29 was a superior airplane, designed to bomb from high altitude, but the jet stream and usual cloud cover played havoc with the bomb sights' accuracy and, from height, the bombs came close to the intended targets only 1 out of 20 times. Hard to believe, but true. We were also suffering horrendous losses of planes as the Japanese day defenses--high altitude fighters and large caliber anti-aircraft cannon--were very effective. Within 9 months, however, we had destroyed most of the Japanese cities, causing a million plus civilian casualties, and indeed had nearly run out of targets of significant military value. The turning point was when Gen. Curtis LeMay had the bombers drop Model E-46 incendiary clusters (containing long thin tubes of fuel), magnesium bombs, white phosphorus bombs and napalm from 5,000 feet. That was devastating to cities made primarily of wood and paper.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Friday, October 12, 2007
This Day in the History of Important Awards
On this day in 1945, Corporal Desmond T. Doss of Lynchburg, Virginia, was presented the Medal of Honor by President Truman for outstanding bravery as a medic, during the conquest of Okinawa earlier that year. Doss was a pacifist based on his religion, 7th Day Adventist, and refused therefore to kill or carry a weapon, but he served as a medic and was brave, brave, brave. He saved at least a dozen lives at the extreme risk of his own, and despite multiple wounds, including a compound fracture of his arm he bound to the broken stock of a rifle. Doss was the first conscientious objector to win the Medal of Honor. I can't find out if he was the last as well.
I know a lot of divisional patches from WWII but I haven't a clue what Division he was in, although Wikipedia says he was in the 77th. If they insist. The shape and colors are right, but I can't see a statue of liberty. Doss died in 2006 in Alabama.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Friday, September 21, 2007
This Day in the Development of War Winning Weapons
On this day in 1942, the B-29 Superfortress first flew near Seattle Washington. The largest, most advanced bomber of WWII, the B-29 was used exclusively in the Pacific and, although designed for high altitude precision bombing, did its worst work (prior to early August, 1945) from only 5,000 feet with relatively low tech incendiaries.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
This Day in American History
On this day in 1942, the Battle of Guadalcanal began as U.S. Marines landed in force on a Japanese held island in the Pacific during World War II. Throughout most of this battle, the Americans ruled the surrounding waves by day and the Japanese owned the sea at night. Guadalcanal in the Solomons, east northeast of Australia, was the first of a string of tough island invasions, all of which we won, but at no small price as the Japanese fought tenaciously if not well and rarely surrendered. A very tough fight on Guadalcanal would last for the Marines until November, when they were relieved in large part by Army troops, who fought into February, 1943. The fight would cost us about 1,800 dead (nearly 5,000 out at sea) while we slaughtered them (sometimes as they made near suicidal 'banzai' charges) killing 25,000 out of the 36,000 troops on the island before the survivors were evacuated.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
Thursday, June 07, 2007
This Day in American History
On this day in 1942, Japanese soldiers occupied the American islands of Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, where they would remain for nearly a year.
Labels: WWII history; Pacific theater
