Posted on 05/11/2003 6:24:45 AM PDT by VaBthang4
Well, your's and those of the million of other Amercians who owned firearms. A very large fraction of households in those days. One Japanese Navy and latter JASDF officer is quoted as saying they, or at least their Naval officers who had often studied in the US, weren't so foolish as to try to invade a country where almost every house had a gun, or three, and someone who knew how to use it. A country were every little burg had a shooting range, or at least periodic shooting contests. A country, many of whose people would quite likely ignore any official surrender order.
Should be operational in four years.
Add to that .22 the millions of experienced deer hunters' rifles, and you have a very good idea why invasion never entered the plans of Germany or Japan
I think there already was a WW2 era Submarine named after him. I'm too lazy to google right now, so I'll leave that up to you.
There was an SSBN named James K. Polk that was decommissioned in 1999. Since there is not an active ship by that name now, it is available for another ship.
How effective is a Seawolf against a Killer Rabbit?
Or a "head".
The USS Bill Clinton will be a suction dredge.
No, he was killed on Guadalcanal. I don't remember the exact details of the action he was involved in, but I'm sure he died there and was awarded the medal posthumously.
I once had a book which listed all the WWII MOH recipients and gave a short description of what they did to recieve it. I wish now I had kept it.
How would they get a bent sub to sail straight?????
Both Paige and Basilone are listed.:
SGT JOHN BASILONE
For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action against enemy Japanese forces, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in the Lunga Area. Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 24 and 25 October 1942. While the enemy was hammering at the Marines' defensive positions, Sgt. Basilone, in charge of 2 sections of heavy machineguns, fought valiantly to check the savage and determined assault. In a fierce frontal attack with the Japanese blasting his guns with grenades and mortar fire, one of Sgt. Basilone's sections, with its guncrews, was put out of action, leaving only 2 men able to carry on. Moving an extra gun into position, he placed it in action, then, under continual fire, repaired another and personally manned it, gallantly holding his line until replacements arrived. A little later, with ammunition critically low and the supply lines cut off, Sgt. Basilone, at great risk of his life and in the face of continued enemy attack, battled his way through hostile lines with urgently needed shells for his gunners, thereby contributing in large measure to the virtual annihilation of a Japanese regiment. His great personal valor and courageous initiative were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
PLATOON SERGEANT MITCHELL PAIGE
For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, in combat against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands Area on October 26, 1942. When t he enemy broke through the line directly in front of his position, Platoon Sergeant Paige, commanding a machine-gun section with fearless determination, continued to direct the fire of his gunners until all his men were either killed or wounded. Alone, against the deadly hail of Japanese shells, he manned his gun, and when it was destroyed, took over another, moving from gun to gun, never ceasing his withering fire against the advancing hordes until reinforcements finally arrived. Then, forming a new line, he dauntlessly and aggressively led a bayonet charge, driving the enemy back and preventing a break through in our lines. His great personal valor and unyielding devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Basilone was in the 1st Batallion, 7th Marines, Paige in the 2nd.
It's usual, when that much s*** hits the fan, for more than one individual to demonstrate heroism. I'd be amazed if there weren't others who were as deserving of recognition who received none.
Here's a link to the USMC history and museum website---
http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/MOH/World_War_II_1941-1945/Basilone_J.htm
Not only did Manila John have the Medal of Honor but he also got a Navy Cross.
Newspapers and radio told millions of another D-Day loss - Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. Already a Marine Corps legend as the first Leatherneck to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, "Manila John" was leading his machine gun platoon through the fury of Red Beach II when a mortar cut him down.
In 1942, on a black October night in the steaming jungles of Guadalcanal, Basilone had single-handedly wiped out a company of Japanese trying to overrun his position on the Tenaru River. With a Colt .45 pistol and two machine guns - one cradled in his arms after the other was knocked out - he stopped a screaming banzai attack and held out until dawn, when reinforcements came up. Nearly a hundred sprawled enemy dead were around his cut-off outpost.
Basilone was dark complexioned and handsome, had big ears like Clark Cable, and a wide grin. His Italian parents beamed with pride on a very special afternoon in 1943 when 30,000 well-wishers honored him at a gala celebration on the 2,000-acre estate of tobacco heiress Doris Duke near Raritan, New Jersey, his hometown.
"Manila John" blushed when photographers snapped his picture while being kissed by a Hollywood starlet, smiled broadly when an oil portrait was unveiled in the tiny brick town hall, and was shyly grateful for the $5,000 war bond neighbors gave him. He turned down the bars of a second lieutenant. "I'm a plain soldier," he said, "and I want to stay one."
From earliest memory, Basilone had wanted to be a professional fighting man. He had done a hitch in the Army before joining the Marines in 1940, and had served in the Philippines - hence his nickname.
To millions, Basilone was a hero, one of the first of the war, and could have remained stateside training troops and selling was bonds. Instead, he said farewell to his new wife, also a Marine, and joined the Fifth Division. Staying behind, he told buddies, would be "like being a museum piece." And it wouldn't seem right, he said "if the Marines made a landing on the Manila waterfront and 'Manila John' wasn't among them."
Now, with the invasion ninety minutes old, the intrepid sergeant had one thought. "C'mon, you guys! Let's get these guns off the beach!" he yelled at the gunners just behind, backs hunkered low and straining under the heavy loads of weapons and ammunition amid the blistering fire. The wasplike whir of an incoming mortar sounded its eerie warning; then a shattering blast.
Basilone lunged forward in midstride, arms flung outward over his head. He and four comrades died in that instant. On his outstretched left arm was a tattoo: "Death before Dishonor!" 'Manila John" wouldn't see Dewey Boulevard again, but he had won the Navy Cross, The Marine Corps' second highest decoration for valor.
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