December 7, 1941 PEARL HARBOR ATTACKED!! Remember and never forget!

[Bugzilla]

I can't make out your attachment, but agree with your words. I highly recommend the book "Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947", by D. M. Giangreco

It's a rigorously-researched book with dozens of pages of cited sources, American, Russian and, significantly, Japanese.

American and Japanese casuality estimates differed, but both sides estimated American casualties would exceed 1,000,000. Good chance that my father, who turned 18 in 1945, would have been one of those bodies littering the Tokyo Plain.

American estimates of Japanese casualties were orders of magnitude higher, but the Japanese estimates of their own casualties were beyond my comprehension: 20,000,000. But, as the author states, what is just as chilling is the fact that the Japanese were willing to accept this as they planned their defense of the Home Islands.


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I figured the attachment was the oil sheen from the Arizona, the Arizona shedding tears. I always thought the sheen will end when the last survivor joins his crew mates. Thought I read there are only 2 living survivors.

 

[Dean C.]

I figured the attachment was the oil sheen from the Arizona, the Arizona shedding tears. I alway thought the sheen will end when the last survivor joins his crew mates. Thought I read there are only 2 living survivors.

It is, I was just there about 3 months ago actually. As to the the other quoted post 20:1 KDR is a mercy there would have been nothing left of Japan, thankfully the bombs worked and now Japan is a decent country by all accounts.

 

[xwing]

It is, I was just there about 3 months ago actually. As to the the other quoted post 20:1 KDR is a mercy there would have been nothing left of Japan, thankfully the bombs worked and now Japan is a decent country by all accounts.

+1. The anti-nuclear apologists already ignore the American casualties that were prevented. But even if they only count Japanese civilians killed as collateral by the two bombs vs. the number of civilians that would be killed if we had invaded Japan, it's a staggering difference.

The U.S. made the right decision in the two A-bomb missions because we were at war with a merciless enemy and should use every means at our disposal to win. But even if you only care about overall civilian casualties, it was the right choice. Anyone who opposed it is delusional and doesn't understand history.

 

[oze]

I figured the attachment was the oil sheen from the Arizona, the Arizona shedding tears. I always thought the sheen will end when the last survivor joins his crew mates. Thought I read there are only 2 living survivors.

Thanks, Bug. I took the family to Hawaii several years ago with the stipulation that I get my no-rush tour of Pearl Harbor and Ford Island. It was eerie and somber seeing the oil bubbling up from the Arizona after all those years.

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[actaeon277]

USS Bennington honors USS Arizona - 1958
Source: USN Photo Archives

 

[tomcat13]

USS Carl Vinson rendering Honors @ USS Arizona Memorial "Man The Rail"

 

[Thor]

In preparation for the invasion of Japan the Army ordered up a lot of Purple Heart medals... due to the nukes they did not need to make any more until 1999; they originally thought that would only get them through 1947. Apparently, over 10,000 original WWII medals that have been refurbished are still in the supply system awaiting to be awarded.

 

[Thor]

Also, the Arizona memorial is closed for the foreseeable future due to docking issues. You can still sail around it and see the Missouri just not go through the actual building over the ship.

Also, this the only national park I've been to that had signs in the parking lot stating it was a high crime area and don't leave any valuables in your car; HI, great island ****** state.

 

[actaeon277]

 

[HoughMade]

I can't make out your attachment, but agree with your words. I highly recommend the book "Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947", by D. M. Giangreco

It's a rigorously-researched book with dozens of pages of cited sources, American, Russian and, significantly, Japanese.

This book is a slog...but now I know exactly what Japanese divisions would have been assigned to the defense of Honshu in the event that Operation Coronet took place.

 

[oze]

This book is a slog...but now I know exactly what Japanese divisions would have been assigned to the defense of Honshu in the event that Operation Coronet took place.

Definitely not a page-turner in the edge-of-your seat sense. Some of the casualty numbers are so overwhelming, though, that I was turning pages back and forth to check sources and verify what I had just read.

I've slogged through it twice, and having done so came in handy when I was at the Smithsonian Air and Space Annex. I was on a guided walking tour, and sparks began to fly when we stopped at the Enola Gay. The poor docent, a volunteer, was catching hell from 2 women who insisted that the entire crew should have been tried for war crimes. As calmly as I could, I put out some numbers, which didn't change the minds of the rainbow-haired couple, but did shut them up so that we could move on to the SR-71 that made the LA-to-DC flight in a little more than an hour.

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[Alamo]

My father was a farmer prior to World War II. He enlisted immediately after Pearl Harbor, and I think he was already on way to basic training by Christmas. The army made him an airplane mechanic and he spent three years in the Pacific, didn’t come back until after the Japanese surrendered. He spent the rest of his adult working career in the air force one way or another: In uniform in the Guard and Reserve forces, and as a civilian in the Air Guard and the Air Force civil service. This directly led to me spending 20+ years in the Air Force instead of being a Farmer’s son.

There was a “3rd wave” of sorts aimed directly at the infrastructure of Pearl Harbor, but it came three months later and was foiled by bad weather. All it ended up doing was pointing out a remaining weakness in the defense of Pearl Harbor which the Navy corrected, and the value of the US codebreakers which directly played into the battle of Midway a few months later.