Thank God For The Bomb!

“"D-Day". How horrific. Yet so was "Anzio". Anzi-what? You know, the largest amphibious invasion in human history, until the eclipsage of the assault on Normandy.

"X-day" would have made the D one seem more akin to the relatively recent amphibious assault on Somalia. "Normandy" and "Anzio" would be the little step-sisters to the invasion of Japan: Operation Downfall.

Two seperate assaults - Operation Olympic, scheduled for the southern island in the fall of '45, and Operation Coronet , scheduled for the main island in the spring of '46 - would have consisted of at least 22 divisions and the entire Pacific Fleet. 1.5 million Americans were to take part, or roughly half our military personnel. One million, with an "m"... and an i and an l and another l and an o and an n - yeah, one million American casualties were anticipated.

One million. Chew on that.”

“While I agree that Robert E. Lee was a great tactical general, I do believe that he fought on the wrong side of the conflict. No one, of course, can doubt his devotion to Virginia.”

“Busy with his pressing duties as Commander in Chief, President Truman *almost* forgot an important aspect of war - medals. It dawned on him that the forseen casualties of the invasion would merit the awarding of Purple Hearts of a theretofore unimaginable number, so he had (the U.S. mint?) turn-up the flame on the midnight oil lamps, and rev up production of medals mucho haste.

The bombs negated the invasion, and the war quickly ended. The Purple Hearts were put in storage for future use, if, indeed, the future were to require them.

The Purple Hearts awarded in Korea, Viet Nam, the First Gulf War, the current war, and all other conflicts since '45 came from that very stockpile, and more still remain than have been used.

Chewy.”

“wow, so much for "gosh i just wanted to start innocent threads about puppy dogs and love and you guys had to ruin it with your dumb fighting about stuff"”

“That's a sad bit of trivia.”

“The Japs intended to catch the invasion fleet at sea, and exposed. They planned to send kamakazi waves of 200-300 planes every hour or so. At that rate, the onslaught would have lasted for ten days.

Post-war investigations determined that the Imperial Japanese planners had deduced where the invasions were to occur with supurb accuracy. They were willing to suffer 100% casualties - their entire population. Doing so would have been the most honorable thing they could do for their beloved emperor.

The April, 1945 invasion of Okinawa - Japans southernmost island, and the planned main staging area for the U.S and British (Pacific Fleet) invasion force, was the most costly battle in U.S. Naval history - and Japan was "holding back" then.

In the Pacific "island hopping" campaigns of WWII, the U.S realized that amphibious forces needed more close-in fire support. From this need evolved the LCS(L) (Landing Craft, Support [Large]). It was fashioned from the existing LCI (Infantry) by stripping the deck, except for the "wheel house", and adding three twin 40mm AA guns - two front and one aft - four 20mm AA guns, and a 120 round 3.5" rocket launcher. The Mark III version substituded the foremost 40 with a 3" 50 caliber cannon. The craft also featured large gasoline powered pumps for fighting the fires of other ships, and smoke generators for masking ship movements.

The "Mighty Midgets" were 160 feet long, but had a draft of only four feet at the stern. They had a crew of 60 sailors and six officers. Due to limited space, they were divided into two watches, so's to be able to share berths. 130 LCSs were commissioned.

It was customary for the crews to barter for 50 caliber machine guns from bomber crews based in Hawaii as they made their way across to the theaters of the Pacific. These smaller guns were mounted at stretegic positions on deck, and could be trained low on approaching suicide boats - "skunks" - and swimmers.

After securing Okinawa, the LCS proved to be invaluable at the 16 radar picket stations surounding the island. A typical station consisted of two or three LCSs and an equal number of destroyers. These stations were the first defense against a new kind of warrior - the kamikaze. The stations suffered unspeakable losses, but accomplished much in protecting the shipping lanes, carriers and other capital warships, and troop and supply transports mustering for the invasion.

The earliest waves of the invasion would have included vanguards of LCSs. These tiny ships would have given the beaches the much needed heavy firepower that they wrought. Nonetheless, they would have suffered heavy losses.

Among these craft would have been the USS LCS(L)75 - the Fightin' Sixbits . The gun captain on the aft twin 40 was a 19 year old Georgia farmboy - my dad.”

“The invasion fleet would have consisted of 42 carriers and 24 battleships - oh yeah, and 400 destroyers. I just read this, and would guess, based on those figures, that there would have been perhaps 100 cruisers, both heavy and light.

Note:
By the time of Olympic, we would have at the ready another seven more nukes!

Yeah, baby.”

“gojo is a nice guy. you must be a moron troll who stole his name”

“He's just posting trivia about WW2, what's wrong with that? No political spin added, just history.”

“My Uncle was with the 2nd Marines (he went from Guadacanal to Oki). Becuase of his position he saw some of the "Operational plans" of Olympic. On day 3 the 2nd Marine Division did not exist as a tactical element.

In the 1950's (BoyGeorge Hiker) Col. Paul Tibbets was on a tour of Japan and one of the military guides saw his name. He approached and asked if he was THE Paul Tibbets. The Col applied to the affirmative. The Japanese Officer stuck out his hand and thanked him.”

“does anyone have a xlax to english dictionary? wtf are you trying to say? you get paid to write reports when your not surfing the internets on the govt payroll? must be fun trying to decipher your twisted logic and incomprehensable english”

“AH boygeorge I am sorry I was using big words....but then I looked at your post and it hit me

"MR.POT..CALLING MR. POT YOU HAVE A CALL FROM MR. KETTLE"”

“Hey everyone, we've landed on the moon!

Thanks, Gojo, for letting me know about this. I'll have to read up on this obscure "world war II" thing.”

“Just being my usual assish self (bad case of the Mondays) - actually those are interesting details.”

“The Japs intended to catch the invasion fleet at sea

them japs was sneaky bassturds, just like them darkies was in the war of northern aggresson”

“I was giddy as a school girl when I first visited the Smithsonians Museum of Space and Aeronauticals. The grand room adjacent to the main entrance was awesome! The Wright Flier, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Mercury craft that safely returned our fellas that posessed The Right Stuff, etc. I went on to visit most of the other areas of the museum, and finally made my way to my main attraction: the brand spanking new Enola Gay exhibit.

I have been keenly aware of this aircrafts historic role for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until more recent times that I realized that her mission, and the subsequent mission over Nagasaki, was probably responsible for my dad's safe return home. I had detoured my route home from New England to pay homage to her (and, consequently, to Truman, et al).

I was appalled. The "display" was a piece of an airplane's fusalage that would hardly cover a sleeping daschund. It could've been from a Cessna as far as I could tell. There was also a sign that, in effect, appologized for our inhumane treatment to the poor 'ol Japs.

Before the war, my dad's paternal first cousin, and his maternal uncle joined the Army on the buddy plan. They were not related, btw. They were stationed overseas in the Phillipines at the onset of the war. They were among the thousands that ultimately surrendered to the IJA, as well as those that were forced to march to the infamous prisons in Bataan. They survived. Lying in her nursing home bed - a victim of Alzheimers - my grandmother called me "Charlie", the name of her kid brother who had survived that horrific Death March, and whom I so closely resemble.

I had a blast at last Saturday's family "Thanksmas" gathering. There were 40 or so folks gathered in fellowship that would have probably never came to be were in not for the bomb.”

“And by the way - seeing's how my brother's watermelon patch has been harvested for some months now, darkies would have been more than welcome to attend...


Stupid [i]b!+ch[/i].”

“Gojo - you were a school girl?”

“Nimble:
Are you stupid as a box full of muddy rocks?

Or do you not recognize simile?”

“Then of course BoyGeorgehiker would be as smart as a box full of muddy rocks, without the rocks, the water, or even the dirt. I wonder if his toga outfits get in the way if he ever thinks about hiking.”

“I saw my dad last night. He's old and shrunken, but his eye is as keen as ever.
I dropped-in on my disabled brother whose house is down a two track drive that meanders through some of the bottomlands of Spalding County's Cabin Creek. Midway along the drive, I saw that the lights were on at the "shop". I took the right fork and found the shop full of two men, three dogs, and a dead deer.

My brother Tom had shot a doe, and my dad came over to help him with it. My "able" body showing up unexpectedly was a pleasant surprise. It was a nice encounter. An old man and two of his toe-headed boys. We talked and lied and smoked and joked.

Just another moment in this expanse we call the time line. Nothing to be remembered by anyone but three guys. Yet it was a priceless event. I wouldn't have taken a thousand dollars for it.


Yepper. Thank God for the bomb.”

“December 19, 2006
How to Win the War in al Anbar
By Jack Kelly

President Bush has been asking a lot of people what he should do next in Iraq. But he won't be consulting with Travis Patriquin.

Captain Patriquin possessed two qualities most of those offering Mr. Bush advice do not. He'd been in Iraq for a lot more than a couple of days, and he spoke fluent Arabic.

A former Special Forces officer then assigned to the First Armored Division, Capt. Patriquin, 32, was killed in Ramadi Dec. 6. But he left behind an 18-page briefing on "How to Win the War in al Anbar" so simple (with stick figure drawings) that even the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee could understand it.

Americans can't win in Anbar (populated almost entirely by Sunni Arabs) by fighting the insurgents, because they can't tell "the good Iraqis from the bad Iraqis," Capt. Patriquin said.

Iraqi army units (composed almost entirely of Shias and Kurds from outside the area) have the same problem, he said.

The solution is to work with tribal sheikhs who oppose al Qaida and their militias, Capt. Patriquin said. Sheikhs have been authority figures in Anbar for 14,000 years, and they and their militias know who's who.

Give the sheikhs respect and government contracts, and recruit their militias into the local police, Capt. Patriquin said.

Soldier-blogger "Teflon Don" says Capt. Patriquin's approach works: "A local sheikh came to the Army unit in charge of the sector he lived in, announced he wanted to fight the insurgents, and asked for help in doing so," he wrote Nov. 29. "To demonstrate his commitment, he organized his militia and began to quell some of the violence in the sector. With days, indirect fire attacks against U.S. bases dropped to nearly zero."

Sir Thomas Gresham noted that: "bad money drives out good." (When two precious metals are in circulation as currency, people spend the silver and hoard the gold.) A kind of Gresham's Law applies in politics and journalism. Bad advice drives out good. The recommendations of the Iraq Study Group (composed of 10 famous people who know next to nothing about either the military or the Middle East) received enormous attention from the news media. But the report last week from people who actually know what they're talking about received little.

Aside from the surreal recommendation that we ask our enemies, Iran and Syria, for help in quelling the violence they are largely responsible for fomenting, the ISG recommended, essentially, that we do more of what hasn't worked very well.

General Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the Army, and former West Point professor Frederick Kagan have a different view. They headed a study group for the American Enterprise Institute which issued its report Dec. 14. They think it's about time we tried the only thing that's ever worked in fighting insurgencies.

Every counterinsurgency that's succeeded has done so by protecting civilians from insurgents, Gen. Keane noted.

But protecting Iraqi civilians isn't even formally a mission for U.S. troops, which explains in part why we're doing such a poor job of it, Prof. Kagan said.

The mission given our military by the Bush administration is to train up the Iraqi security forces so we can leave. The Iraqi army and police are getting better. But the situation is deteriorating faster than the capabilities of the Iraqis are increasing.

Gen. Keane and Prof. Kagan want to surge U.S. troop levels by seven brigades (about 30,000 troops) to secure critical neighborhoods in Baghdad and Ramadi.

Along with the increase in the number of troops would be a change in strategy. Currently, after U.S. troops "clear" a neighborhood, they return to their bases, permitting insurgents to slip back in. Any civilians who cooperated with U.S. or Iraqi troops are subject to retribution, which discourages cooperation. The higher troop levels would permit a constant presence in the disputed neighborhoods.

The AEI study has a specificity the Iraq Study Group report lacked. It identifies the particular mixed Sunni/Shia neighborhoods in Baghdad where the security problem is worst.

"Going big" may be our best hope for success in Iraq. But there is a critical precondition. We must have an Iraqi government willing to crack down on Shia death squads as well as Sunni insurgents.

Establishing this precondition may be why President Bush met at the White House Dec. 4 with Abdul Aziz al Hakim, the Moqtada al Sadr's foremost Shiite rival, and last week with Tariq Hashimi, leader of the largest Sunni party in parliament. Stay tuned.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/12/separating_the_good_bad_guys_i.html

HISTORICAL REFERENCE:

This was the same tactic used in our last (and successful) war against Islamic Insurgency...Anyone want to guess when and where that was????”

“I can't get Belle logged out. She's out-smarted me yet again.
/o:

Here's a pic of the Fighting Six Bits:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/05/1005007501.jpg”

“QUE?”

“Screwy. That link should be valid until 1/1/07...”

“19__ or 20__?”

“Uh... 21?

Please - no pop quiz! lol!”

“POP{ quiz? OKay the can is RED and White...with kinda a Swoosh up the side of the can.....(LOL)....

got it...its for your "Boiled Squirrel and Fig Gumbo take out service" is that right?”

“Sarabelle!!!! Quit that!!! It's freakin' me out!!!”

“Still jojo heer.

All I kno is that my grin daddy I meen daddy is the good old man! Ever time I get at his hous he says "hay good gerl Sarabelle and my hubsand Gissmaeioux! Did yall awreddy see Stubby, the verry BIG kittykitty of the hole wide werld?"

And I say "O MY GOODYS! Is he still heer at yer hous?" Stubby is the BIG kittykitty bwt that gots a leetel tale like a bobkitty so he is "Stubby" bwt.

Any ways, I am glad that I got a daddy and a grin daddy to.

By ever buddy!
Luv
jojo”

“The website for the LCS(L)1-130 Association

http://www.mightymidgets.org/


I joined in '99, as did Daddy. I had been surfing up and down the web because of his sudden willingness to speak of the war. I discovered the Assn., and compiled information pertaing to it and the craft. I put all the stuff in a manilla envelope and mailed it to him with no advanced notice.

My stepmom said he sat in his recliner and opened the envelope. She said within a couple minutes he rose and went outside. He returned later to repeat the process. It took him a few days to digest the material. It was very emotional for him.


We both joined the Association, and attended the reunion in August of 1999. It was held at the Adams Mark in Philadelphia. 1000 people attanded, including friends and family. Two other sailors from The Fighting Sixbits were in attendance. Dad remembered them. He was reunited with his shipmates for the first time in 54 years.

I hiked Cumberland Island, the Tetons, the Black Hills, the Lemhi Range, ID, and Bryce Canyon that summer. I also met The Friendly Ranger and Jessica - my Philadelphia Philly. But nothing I did over those three months came close to what I experienced for those five days of hobnobbing with the Greatest Generation.”

“Gojo, they are the Greatest Generation, and I only wish that we had learned more from them. God Bless you and your Daddy.”

“The Depression Era folks gave birth to the baby boomer generation. While well intended, Depression Era folks facilitated the "Me Generation"; a generation which in turn is responsible for a lot of the things wrong with this country today.

The majority of baby boomers have basically screwed the generations behind them through war, massive public and private debt, loss of morals, over-corrections and selfishness. They have done a very good job of passing these bad habits on to their children and grandchildren.”

“I totally agree
with the first paragraph.”

“I forgot the "IMHO" in starting the second paragraph.

My mistake, and apologies to all.”

“Because I understand exactly what you are saying Q, I have worked very hard to raise my children differently.”

“My parents are boomers and made me work for everything I have ever gotten. I know Q didn't mean all boomers though.”

“Agreed Nigal, I have had to work for everything I have gotten. I grew up in the silver spoon society but I was lucky enough to have an uncle who joined the Marines in 1941, Fought from Guadacanal to Okinawa....his attitude was FIND something to be proud of.

He never saw any use in "building self esteem" by anything other than pushing the envelope of WHO you were. There was no such thing as giving up in his book.

Q while you may be right about the Boomers there are still some with incredible experience. But we had taken the Guts and Toughness that epitomized the Greatest Generation and watered it down with wanting to be sweet and nice.

The words he learned were, Pride, Responsibility and Dedication. I am proud you were so closely associated with Such a Hero Gojo.”

“It's actually kind of funny because when I was 6 or 7 my paerants had a huge 2,000 square foot house they were trying to sell after going ahead and buying a ranch home. so they had a double margage for a good while. We lived on hamburger helper and tuna casarole for a long time. Through out my childhood I thought we were poor cause I never got all the stuff other kids got. Turns out we had money. They wouldn't spoil me with it. Later in my life my father told me how hard it was at times to make me go without when it would have been so easy just to give me what he wanted me to have.”

“Jimmy Carter, to his credit, initiated an historical study into the woes of America's educational system. It was discovered that the "nose dive" occured when the boomers began bombing on graduation tests, etc. The scores did their downturn at a definite time that can be easily discerned by even the likes of Stovestomper and Lizs - lol!

The consequent report - SCANS 2000 - made numerous recommendations and set rediculous goals. One of the goals was a 100% graduation rate by Y2K. It was at this point that I tuned SCANS totally out...

The Greatest Generation went through a collective experience that we cannot imagine. I personally believe that they came out of the 40's quite disillusioned. We were unscathed geographically, yet bruised psychologically. We emerged as the greatest industrial power in the history of humankind, yet there was an air of existentialism. Even this new "two car garage and a full basement" couldn't store the baggage which they now found themselves carrying.

People can hardly believe that my dad was hitching horses to a plow at the age of six; he had to put a bucket of feed on the ground to make the horse lower his soon-to-be-reigned head. He was an only son, and my grandparents had crops to tend. My grandfather bartered for a bicycle when my dad began school so my dad could come home and tend crops during an extended lunch break. My dad got no farther than 8th grade, yet went on to a retirement from Delta Air Lines.

I hardly believe that the retiree - nay, dad - was the same person that believed "ya" and "gee" were the only ways to verbate "left" and "right" until he was 18 years old... The war changed him, and millions of other Americans.

So they spolied us, no?

I believe every generation has the potential to be "The Greatest". I just pray it's never again to be required...”

“"I know Q didn't mean all boomers though."

Yes, that's correct. My main "beef" lays with the counter-culture and some of the people who "belonged" to it.
last edited: 1/08/07 11:41:22 AM”

“I agree with Laq on the counter culture people (I am particularly amazed at the "relive the 60s crowd) I realize that most of those (not all) people are like the highschool cheerleader trying to regain that SPECIAL time. For many it was a time when their hair was long and soft and their "little buddy" was hard. Now it is kinda the other way around.”

“"I agree with Laq on the counter culture people (I am particularly amazed at the "relive the 60s crowd)"

Easy there, sparky. I don't think you would want to agree with me if you knew what my beef was.”

“No go ahead ...my beef is that most of the Counter Culture from my experience were the Socialist "free Money crowd". They saw the loss in Vietnam and were invested in the continual failure of the Military. They saw that as a way to create a way to attack the Defense budget and raise even more of the National Budget for more Free Money and give away programs to purchase people's freedom.”

“(I am particularly amazed at the "relive the 60s crowd) I realize that most of those (not all) people are like the highschool cheerleader trying to regain that SPECIAL time.

XL400236
2:30:38 PM
1/08/07

this is LOL funny from a guy that relives and rehashes the 1940s daily for our enlitenment”

“Vile boy, I know remembering that time when your "friends of the broken Cross" got their tails handed to them by a bunch of ...what did you call us..Untermensch, is tough.....but 1940 is HISTORY real and verifiable.”

“ya"="ha"

"They saw the loss in Vietnam..."

Nay. They erroneously percieved a "loss". They got the lions share of the liberal medias' attention. The fence sitters fell over to their side - prompted as much by Walter Cronkite's pinko dialogue.

The NVA leaders are aging and releasing their memoirs. They - without exception - are announcing thet they were supurbly defeated by the US, but "won" by the Great Misconception that was cultivated by the liberal press, Jane Fonda antics, etc.

Viet Nam wasn't nearly the threat we face today. We cannot afford to "lose" this one...”

“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwritey, then! Only about 10 days away from the 62nd anniversary of "Little Boy's" famous fall. Get ready to fetch the cry-towel so's not to stain your smiley face tee-shirt with the tears the media will surely attempt to squeeze from you with their stories of Japanese victimhood.”