Japan Honours US Dead At Iwo Jima

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 6-20-2005 | Colin Joyce

[Cvengr]

Informative post,..thanks

[El Gato]

(the US dropped the first nuclear weapon on its own soil!)

The Trinity device was not dropped, it was mounted on a tower.

[chuckwalla]

It was not mounted on a tower.
It was mounted inside a tower.

[Polybius]

Japanese fighters didn't have much in the way of fuel at that time. The fighters teeth were pulled, with the only aircraft being fueled were kamakazi. Not a lot of repeat missions there.

No, but those kamikazes aircraft were the most dangerous that the U.S. ever faced in open battle.

At Okinawa alone, kamikazes sank 21 American warships, badly damaged 66 others and killed 5,000 Allied personnel.

Which puts the headlines we see today in perspective:

CBS News: Military Deaths In Iraq Top 1,700

[Domangart]

It was necessary because:
The island had radar.
We were on a schedule to land before winter.
The planes would have to be moved from Sipan to avoid
the radar. Some were based at Kedana and later did launch raids.
There was one island Peleau, that every man who died, died a useless death.

[Donald Meaker]

I guess that all who died in WWII died a useless death, but fewer than if we had let Schickelgruber run the world.

And because they took the risk, and because they paid the price, we must live all the fuller, in gratitude.

Lesser of various evils...

[donmeaker]

The japanese fighters didn’t have any fuel, and so couldn’t intercept anyone.