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I didn't have that experience with the Japanese either. There is a light year of difference between the Japs and the Japanese of later generations and even those of that generation who rebuilt Japan.

I remember how thankful we were to return to Yokosuka and have the Japanese yard workers swarm over our ship. Many of those who helped build the Imperial Japanese Navy that attacked Pearl Harbor were in charge of the shops that did exquisite work repairing our ship before we headed to Vietnam again. The piers, cranes, drydocks, and shops were never bombed, because the U.S. Navy had determined to homeport the 7th Fleet there.

Retain Mike, interesting to hear about Yokosuka not being bombed. Must have been the same case for Sasebo, a natural typhoon haven in a country constantly hit by typhoons. They also were spared attacks in WW2, and only an hour and a half drive to Nagasaki.

Glad you also had a good experience with the later generation of Japanese.

Thanks for again for the great post and reference guide. I'm doing much of my independent writing work at the UGA library where they have a fantastic collection of military history books. Surprised they even allow me to take the books out of the library -- I'm not even an alumnus. Great deal.

Across the street is a plaque commemorating the pre-flight training center that occupied the University of Georgia campus. Here's what the plaque says:

Between 1942 and 1945, the Navy operated a Pre-Flight School on the University of Georgia campus. As one of only five such schools in the nation, the program trained 20,000 cadets in the skills needed as combat pilots in the Pacific theater of World War II.

So this is another big reason we won the war: we invested a lot in pilot training.

In fact, check out this link for Military Production in World War II. It shows that America built more training aircraft than the Japanese built combat aircraft during WW2. Smart.