The Battle of Midway And The Passing of The Torch

Townhall.com ^ | June 10, 2013 | Kurt Schlichter

[central_va]

In computer simulations of the battle of midway, the Japs win every time. Midway was a miracle....

[central_va]

The photo of a RAF typhoon is a little out of place in a thread about midway....

[MCF]

I was thinking the same thing.

[Portcall24]

The capability of the industrial complex to rapidly build things during that time period remains unbelievable by today’s standards. My late father-in-law was a plank holder on the USS Stafford which was Destroyer Escort (DE) 411. Stafford was laid down on 29 November 1943 at Houston, Texas, by Brown Shipbuilding; launched on 11 January 1944, and commissioned on 19 April 1944. That is truly amazing.

[alfa6]

The photo of a RAF typhoon is a little out of place in a thread about Midway

Roger That!!! Most likely an editor mistake? And for a really good take on Midway see the book Shattered Sword!

There are several historical problems with the article, Yorktown was fixed in 4 days not weeks as one example, but the point is taken

Regards

alfa6 ;>{

[Alberta's Child]

I'm a bit more pessimistic than the author about America's ability to reach deep and stand tall in the future.

That Frank Lautenberg, of all people, will be remembered as the last World War II veteran to serve in Congress is a complete joke. The guy left whatever patriotism and sense of American pride he may have had back in his Army uniform. He was basically a Marxist during his entire tenure in the U.S. Senate, and the best thing to be said about him was that he sure didn't have much influence in Washington. Even after three decades in the U.S. Senate, his biographical information in the wake of his passing focused on silly, inconsequential sh!t like sponsoring bills to raise the drinking age and ban smoking on flights.

It seems like most of the abject mediocrities from the "Greatest Generation" ended up in Congress.

[0.E.O]

(For a terrific lay history of the Battle of Midway, read Gordon Prange’s Miracle at Midway. The great Victor Davis Hanson also has a long chapter on the battle which he examines through the lens of the clashing American and Japanese cultures in his outstanding Carnage and Culture.)

Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully wrote a book on the battle from the Japanese side, Shattered Sword. While taking absolutely nothing away from the courage and skill of the American pilots they also make the case that in command structure, tactics, training, and organization the Japanese went a long way towards setting themselves up for their own defeat. The U.S. won against significant odds but they made their own miracle.

[Justa]

Midway was a Japanese command failure. They failed to adjust their attack plan to the presence of the American carriers in time to save their carriers. IMO it was a case of command hubris which hindered their decision to redirect their entire attack plan against the US carriers. Plus that CXAM-1 radar-thingy and CAP of the American carriers.

[Jack Hammer]

You have to wonder if, thanks to Obama, the United States will be re-created as if it had lost the war.

[ClearCase_guy]

I would maintain that Fascism was the real victor in WWII. It’s taken a long time to really see the details, but the 20th century was a long slide into Fascism and now with Obama we see it all clearly. I think the men who fought and died to stop Hitler and Tojo would be appalled.

[Charles Martel]

You have to wonder if, thanks to Obama, the United States will be re-created as if it had lost the war.

There's a lot of that sort of thing going on around the world. For all our blood and treasure spent to defend Britain and ultimately push the Nazis back across the Rhine, it seems we only bought them about 75 years of freedom, tops.

[TheGunny]

Wasn't their entire campaign “hubris”?

[Justa]

Good question. In consideration of their actions I think they had a rather prudent naval campaign strategy albeit doomed. They atacked Pearl harbor to deprive the US of a Pacific operating base thereby protecting their western Pacific expansion, particularly their access to Dutch East Indie oil.

Midway was aimed at depriving US submarines their re-fueling depot without which they could not reach the sea of Japan. Without Midway eastern Japan would be at the extreme limit of US sub range.

It most part it was the US subs which destroyed the IJN’s ability to operate in the Pacific, making island hopping feasible.

[Redleg Duke]

At least it was an ally. Unlike the RAT Convention where the navy ships were Russian!

[Jack Hammer]

I think you’re definitely onto something.

[bert]

----- Their equipment was better,----

Actully it was not. In fact it was inferior carriers and carrier operations that made the difference.

If you want to know about Midway, not the regurgitated writings of the Japaneese officer, read Shattered Sword by Parshal and Tulley. It is a minute by minute recounting of the battle.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_15?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=shattered%20sword%20the%20untold%20story%20of%20the%20battle%20of%20midway&sprefix=shattered+sword%2Caps%2C138

[Resolute Conservative]

Hence why we need to stop relying on computers for anything outside information gathering. Artificial intelligence does not compare to human ingenuity and will.

We are on a slippery slope making all these systems to think for us.

[Resolute Conservative]

Exactly, we had better technology and the ability to turn out better planes once we identified weaknesses. Also, never underestimate the will of the American people, well the people of that era who were proud to be Americans and not self-absorbed and apologetic for our successes.

[painter]

Also, never underestimate the will of the American people,

Yamamoto didn't.