I was taken by how well done the movie "The Pacific" was in capturing the grittiness I sense in this old photo.
Posted on 04/01/2016 6:35:45 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
It’s hard to believe the resolve the United States once showed in defeating enemies. One wonders if in a 24/7 news cycle of “living room wars” whether this nation could have ever mounted the sustained effort it took to join the Allies in stopping Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
Americans today would find such will to win at any cost difficult to comprehend.
Perhaps with Easter just passed, it is fitting to remember Easter of 1945 when the invasion of Okinawa, the last battle of World War II and the largest sea-air-land operation in history, began. It would also be the bloodiest campaign of the Pacific and a grim foretaste of what to expect in the planned invasion of Japan itself.
On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945 the landing crafts carrying the first wave of the U.S. Marines and Army G.I.s chugged towards the beaches of the island of Okinawa, just 350 miles south of mainland Japan....
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
It's on my summer reading list, so I can educate myself about what went on there.
The brave young men of the greatest generation who vanquished the Japanese at Okinawa have been replaced by a generation of pussies who cannot contend with “microagressions”, politically incorrect thoughts or words and are scared of anything that might resemble a gun. God save us if we must depend on this current generation to defend us in armed conflict.
That’s probably why my dad didn’t talk about it. LOL
I had no idea about this war tragedy.
All the gold star mothers...
Thank you for not letting them be forgotten.
RE: “Would the US survive another Exercise Tiger which was a practice for the D-Day landings in which 946 Americans died?”
My 95 yr old father fought in the Med and Europe under Patton and Patch. When that fight ended he wasn’t looking forward to going to the Pacific, which would have been his next stop if the atomic bombs hadn’t convinced Japan to surrender.
When I was a boy the father of one of my friends had a limp and walked with a cane. He was probably in his late 30s. It was a memento he received while fighting in the Pacific war.
The HBO series The Pacific is excellent, based on the memoir of Eugene Sledge, and includes the Battle of Okinawa.
He had already made it thorough the invasion of Guadalcanal and Guam.
My dad was on a mine sweeper in the Pacific and never saw any action. Heard lots of stories about swimming, him looking up ships in port to buy the best food from (”The best I ever ate was on that little boat!”) He talked about getting rides on the pontoon boats and dropping cigarettes to the naked native women! “And we had depth charges, and were always hoping to catch up with a Jab sub, but....”
My uncle flew all of his bomber missions and more over Germany as a bombadier. The only reason I know that is it was mentioned at his funeral!
No but I will check it out. I have a pic of my Dad sitting in a jeep with some head hunters standing by. New Guinea.
“Off topic, but I am stunned and saddened by the ignorance of so many people about our history, and about World War II.”
I remember staying up late to watch Victory At Sea. There wasn’t an equivalent for the war in Europe, which was a shame. But now with Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Saving Private Ryan kids should be able to learn a lot about WWII without much effort.
The difference is that most ‘Boomers grew up with fathers who had fought WWII. So we had a fascination with it. In my case I was an Army brat so I was surrounded by vets.
Hand raised. Dad was in 6th Marine division. Wounded and patched up 4 different times. I was 12 at the time and had just gotten my drivers license.
Fuchida became a Christian, a missionary later, and preached until his death in 1976.
I was taken by how well done the movie "The Pacific" was in capturing the grittiness I sense in this old photo.
“So now, under current practices, we wouldn’t be able to invade Okinawa as we did.”
The Democrats in the Congress simply would not stand for it and would be fearful any such military operations could cause the island to tip over and sink beneath the sea.
2 Uncles in the Navy at the time, but not there.
Today we couldn’t field a fighting force with the size, maturity, and determination to execute such a battle.
But, no worries, our French Surrender Monkey in Chief has no interest in America winning any battles anywhere.
See my post 48. My dad was on a minesweeper based out of Eniwetok for awhile. I think it was the “Merganser” - but I might be wrong. He didn’t say anything about the hootch maids!
In one of his many letters I have, he wrote about one of his sailors that had his brother (a Marine) passing through port and he spent the night on the little minesweeper. (My dad was in charge of supplies - and always had the best food).
The Marine said something like “You guys aren’t in a war - you’re on a cruise.”
My dad wrote something like “He left later that day as his ship was leaving port - it will be in the news in a couple of weeks I imagine.” I looked at the date on the letter and then the internet, but figured it was a famous battle (that of course I have now forgotten the name). IIRC I think it was a very deadly battle for our guys, and one that has some controversy if it was even necessary.
My dad was in the Navy and off-shore during the invasion. He and I talked about the war from time to time when he wanted. He was part of the plank crew of the ship on which he served.
Lucky Strike LSMFT. My dad said the only clean thing he remembered about the acronym was Lord Save Me From Truman.
Might have been Peleliu, a meat grinder later questioned as to being needed due to questionable strategic value. Should have bypassed them and starved them out.
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