[Homer_J_Simpson]

I would guess that was the thought going through the ground troops mind about the naval battle going on.

The troops on Leyte might have been more engaged if they knew the Japanese plan was to enter Leyte Gulf with battleships and lay waste the American beachhead with their 18" guns.

[occamrzr06]

The troops on Leyte might have been more engaged if they knew the Japanese plan was to enter Leyte Gulf with battleships and lay waste the American beachhead with their 18" guns.

Perhaps.

Way back in the day when I was a troop, I couldn't care less what went on in the Battalion next to me. I was too concerned with what was going on to me.

The troops on Leyte probably didn't know what was going on with the navy and were too busy trying to stay alive to care. Until it was something that could affect them soon, it was too far off to think about.

You have to remember, they weren't receiving Homer's post everyday on the conduct of the war. They may have gotten snippets every week or so about the outside world. This is 1944, news didn't travel like it does today. Even Nimitz was getting information a few days old, so you know the troops, and even the commands were only getting the information they needed to know, when they needed to know it.

Back in the mid to late 80's, when I went out for a field problem, I had no idea what was going on in the outside world.

[colorado tanker]

It would seriously suck to be fighting the Japanese in a tropical jungle and then have 18" shells lobbed your way.

God bless those destroyermen.