My dad served w/ 511PIR 11th Airborne Div. He received a serious
head wound during the liberation of Manila so he was out of the
fighting by the end of Jan ‘45. However, the 11th AB led by the
511 PIR were the very first of the occupying forces in Japan (no,
it was not the Marines). Among the first jobs of the paratroopers
was the confiscation of weapons from the civilian population.
The task proved monumental according to my dad’s army pals
who made it that far.
In ‘02 I had the honor of interviewing Brg General Henry Muller
USA Ret at his home in Monticedo, CA. As a Major in WWII
Muller was G2 for the 11th AB. He was a key planner for the
Los Banos Raid, the most successful rescue operation in US
military history. By the end of the war Muller had been promoted
to asst G2 of the 8th Army. I asked him what had been his
assignment when the war ended. He explained to me that he
was in the process of gathering info to determine the likely
casualty numbers of the 8th Army should the Allies invade
Japan. I then asked him if he recalled the number of 8th Army
casualties his G2 unit predicted. He indicated 90,000 soldiers.
Mind you, that was just among several divisions of many
dozens of divisions that would be utilized in an invasion of
Japan.
Thank you.