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To: JCBreckenridge
Nonsense. They resisted capture through suicide rather than permit allied capture. That’s not exactly ‘fighting to the last man’, is it?

They committed suicide when they were about to be burned to a crisp by flamethrowers, and had run out of ammo. In fact, many pretended to surrender and then attacked Allied troops who let their guard down. However, the point here is that the only way to get them to stop fighting, whether via committing suicide or last ditch banzai charges, was to overrun their positions. The Germans surrendered when they were surrounded. The Japanese figured that to die fighting was to become part of the Divine Wind that would sweep American troops from the home islands, that every GI killed sapped Uncle Sam's resolve. And I suspect they were right. Past a certain point, we would have declared victory and gone home.

172 posted on 08/10/2013 5:59:10 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: Zhang Fei

“They committed suicide when they were about to be burned to a crisp by flamethrowers, and had run out of ammo.”

Ok, you’re a Japanese soldier in the heart of Burma. You’ve lost touch with your command structure. You are no longer being supplied. What do you do? You haven’t had contact with anyone, friend or foe?

“In fact, many pretended to surrender and then attacked Allied troops who let their guard down.”

Vanishingly small portion of the total. This is incorrect. Most who surrendered, surrendered.

“However, the point here is that the only way to get them to stop fighting”

Is this what was done at Truk? Or did the garrison surrender when faced with starvation after the loss of their supply chain? The garrison surrendered in 1945 after they ran out of food and the USN cut off their supply.

Starving pockets out via blockade was done, and was done successfully throughout the pacific war.


175 posted on 08/10/2013 6:12:37 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge
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