Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Assignment #2 World War 2
from
A People's War?
Howard Zinn
Still, the vast bulk of the American population was mobilized, in the army, and in civilian life, to fight the war, and the atmosphere of war enveloped more and more Americans. Public opinion polls show large majorities of soldiers favoring the draft for the postwar period. This is an opinion because it says "Public opinion". I don't know how to agree or disagree to this. I don't understand why the public would favor the draft -Steph stone 3/4/10 9:37 AM Hatred against the enemy, against the Japanese particularly, became widespread. Racism was clearly at work. Time magazine, reporting the battle of Iwo Jima, said: "The ordinary unreasoning Jap is ignorant. Perhaps he is human. Nothing .. . indicates it." .... This is coming from people who are at war with them. Obviously they are going to judge the Japanese, thus making it an opinion. I would disagree, I don't think Japanese people are ignorant or inhuman. Although my opinion of this probably would have been different had I been alive during that war. -Steph stone 3/4/10 9:38 AM
The bombing of Japanese cities continued the strategy of saturation bombing to destroy civilian morale; one nighttime fire-bombing of Tokyo took 80,000 lives. And then, on August 6, 1945, came the lone American plane in the sky over Hiroshima, dropping the first atomic bomb, leaving perhaps 100,000 Japanese dead, and tens of thousands more slowly dying from radiation poisoning. Twelve U.S. navy fliers in the Hiroshima city jail were killed in the bombing, a fact that the U.S. government has never officially acknowledged, according to historian Martin Sherwin (A World Destroyed). Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, with perhaps 50,000 killed.
The justification for these atrocities was that this would end the war quickly, making unnecessary an invasion of Japan. Such an invasion would cost a huge number of lives, the government said-a million, according to Secretary of State Byrnes; half a million, Truman claimed was the figure given him by General George Marshall. (When the papers of the Manhattan Project-the project to build the atom bomb- were released years later, they showed that Marshall urged a warning to the Japanese about the bomb, so people could be removed and only military targets hit.) These estimates of invasion losses were not realistic, and seem to have been pulled out of the air to justify bombings which, as their effects became known, horrified more and more people. Japan, by August 1945, was in desperate shape and ready to surrender.New York Times military analyst Hanson Baldwin wrote, shortly after the war:
The enemy, in a military sense, was in a hopeless strategic position by the time the Potsdam demand for unconditional surrender was made on July 26.The United States Strategic Bombing Survey, set up by the War Department in 1944 to study the results of aerial attacks in the war, interviewed hundreds of Japanese civilian and military leaders after Japan surrendered, and reported just after the war:
Such then, was the situation when we wiped out Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Need we have done it? No one can, of course, be positive, but the answer is almost certainly negative.
Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated. I think this is an opinion because it can't be proven. We will never know if they were going to surrender. I disagree because its war. No one is going to surrender just because they are scared. I don't think I ever have recalled a war in which that has happened. -Steph stone 3/4/10 9:45 AMBut could American leaders have known this in August 1945? The answer is, clearly, yes. The Japanese code had been broken, and Japan's messages were being intercepted. It was known the Japanese had instructed their ambassador in Moscow to work on peace negotiations with the Allies. Japanese leaders had begun talking of surrender a year before this, and the Emperor himself had begun to suggest, in June 1945, that alternatives to fighting to the end be considered. On July 13, Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo wired his ambassador in Moscow: "Unconditional surrender is the only obstacle to peace.. .." Martin Sherwin, after an exhaustive study of the relevant historical documents, concludes: "Having broken the Japanese code before the war, American Intelligence was able to-and did-relay this message to the President, but it had no effect whatever on efforts to bring the war to a conclusion."
If only the Americans had not insisted on unconditional surrender- that is, if they were willing to accept one condition to the surrender, that the Emperor, a holy figure to the Japanese, remain in place-the Japanese would have agreed to stop the war. I think this is an opinion because we will never know. I'm sure they would have considered it more, but there are still things they wouldn't agree with, so maybe they would have kept pushing their luck to see what they could get out of the surrender. Although I agree with this opinion, some countries are more centrally religious than the U.S. and if they are allowed their religion or their God, they are more than willing to be under someone else's rule. -Steph stone 3/4/10 9:46 AM
Why did the United States not take that small step to save both American and Japanese lives? Was it because too much money and effort had been invested in the atomic bomb not to drop it? General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project, described Truman as a man on a toboggan, the momentum too great to stop it. Or was it, as British scientist P. M. S. Blackett suggested (Fear, War, and the Bomb), that the United States was anxious to drop the bomb before the Russians entered the war against Japan? Definitely an opinion because he is voicing it. I have a feeling that Russia entering this war would have been some kind of factor in the timing of the bombs, so I guess I agree with it. -Steph stone 3/4/10 9:50 AM
The Russians had secretly agreed (they were officially not at war with Japan) they would come into the war ninety days after the end of the European war. That turned out to be May 8, and so, on August 8, the Russians were due to declare war on Japan, But by then the big bomb had been dropped, and the next day a second one would be dropped on Nagasaki; the Japanese would surrender to the United States, not the Russians, and the United States would be the occupier of postwar Japan. In other words, Blackett says, the dropping of the bomb was "the first major operation of the cold diplomatic war with Russia.. .." Blackett is supported by American historian Gar Alperovitz i think this is an opinion because other people could say that it wasn't the major operation of the war. I think I agree with this mainly because it was the first major operation. -Steph stone 3/4/10 3:33 PM (Atomic Diplomacy), who notes a diary entry for July 28, 1945, by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, describing Secretary of State James F. Byrnes as "most anxious to get the Japanese affair over with before the Russians got in."
Truman had said, "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians." It was a preposterous statement. Those 100,000 killed in Hiroshima were almost all civilians. The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey said in its official report: "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as targets because of their concentration of activities and population."
The dropping of the second bomb on Nagasaki seems to have been scheduled in advance, and no one has ever been able to explain why it was dropped. Was it because this was a plutonium bomb whereas the Hiroshima bomb was a uranium bomb? Were the dead and irradiated of Nagasaki victims of a scientific experiment? Martin Shenvin says that among the Nagasaki dead were probably American prisoners of war. He notes a message of July 31 from Headquarters, U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces, Guam, to the War Department:
Reports prisoner of war sources, not verified by photos, give location of Allied prisoner of war camp one mile north of center of city of Nagasaki. Does this influence the choice of this target for initial Centerboard operation? Request immediate reply.The reply: "Targets previously assigned for Centerboard remain unchanged."
True, the war then ended quickly. Italy had been defeated a year earlier. Germany had recently surrendered, crushed primarily by the armies of the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, aided by the Allied armies on the West. Now Japan surrendered.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Assignment #1 World War II
On September 27, the 1st Raider Battalion would help launch an attack near the mouth of the Matanikau River. Poor intelligence greatly underestimated the strength of the Japanese defenses facing them, turning the operation into a disaster. The Japanese halted the Raiders and 5th Marines' advance at the mouth of the river and nearly wiped out the amphibious landings by another Marine battalion at Point Cruz. Jim "Horse Collar" Smith recalls the battle.
We were on this narrow trail along the east side of the Matanikau River, a steep cliff on the other side. As we snaked up the side of the trail, a guy named Ed Mertz had a kidney stone. And here we are plastered alongside the trail with Japs on the other side of the river and this guy Mertz goes down screaming, clutching his gut. I remember thinking, "Oh, God, we are going to get it." It was just a little farther along there that C Company was just a little ahead of us. Ken Bailey [the battalion executive officer and Medal of Honor recipient for his actions on Bloody Ridge], with his runner right behind him, was dashing across a log footbridge, caught a Nambu [machine gun] between the eyes and went down. I would probably sit down and start crying right then and there, because I know that there isn't anyone who would be wiling -Steph stone 2/24/10 9:57 AM If I ever saw anyone get shot like that I would break down and cry too. I wouldn't know what to do with myself. -julie smith 3/4/10 9:07 AM I am pretty sure I would be traumatized for life if I haven't been already. That is so unreal to think about, something dying or getting shot right in front of your face. How are you supposed to live your life normally after watching something like that? -Brittany Gurr 3/4/10 9:10 AMA little later in the day -- I guess we were still heading south -- Sam Griffith got shot in the shoulder at about 300 meters. That left us with a bunch of young 1st lieutenants (who had just made 1st lieutenant), and there was actually a discussion at the CP as to who was the senior officer. I would feel like I had to step up and be a leader because all the other ones got shot. Then again, I would be scared to because all the other leaders are dead. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:16 AM I agree with you because you have the responcibility to be the leader but who would want to lead a group of the dead? Plus that would make you fear pretty much everything. -julie smith 3/4/10 9:05 AM Sounds like these men are inexperienced and that is scary if you were part of that army. Having an inexperienced soldier as a leader isn't really the best option, but what more can you do? like you said, the others are dead-Brittany Gurr 3/4/10 9:11 AM Edson was in a state of shock after Bailey was killed. It affected [Bailey's runner] more than anything else. He had been Major Bob Brown's runner until the ridge, and Brown was killed coming off the ridge. Someone said to him, "You must be a jinx, because this was the second major you lost." Oh my word!!! Thats awful, I understand from emotion of the situation why he said that. If I was Brown I'd want to kill myself because of the but also because I would believe it and I wouldn't want anyone else being shot.-Steph stone 3/2/10 9:18 AM I could never say anything like that to someone. I understand heat of the moment but in situations like that people would really freak out. -julie smith 3/4/10 9:08 AM This man can not actually blame the soldier for his leader's death. Come on! Make the man feel worse than he already does. That's the way to do it! Obviously, I am being sarcastic. -Brittany Gurr 3/4/10 9:12 AM The poor kid became unglued. It was a terrible thing to say.
I remember when we pulled Bailey into the aid station in a poncho. Aid station [sigh] -- a couple of guys sitting on logs and doctors treating them. There was a kid by the name of Dobson who had been shot right in the groin. His face was absolutely dead white, you couldn't believe it. He just sat there and held his stomach. Everybody knew he was going to die, and he knew he was going to die. Not a murmur out of him; talk about stoicism. I don't know what stoicism means, but darn that takes a lot of guts. I would be so scared and sad. I would feel so awful if I were a doctor in that situation, especially knowing that there is nothing i can do to help him. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:21 AM I totally agree, he said nothing and was dying and everyone around him knew it. I would feel absolutely awful and so sad. -amber brown 3/2/10 9:36 AM He died shortly after that. He just slid off the log and was dead. A man next to him had a flesh wound and was crying like a baby. Talk about a contrast. Yeah, thats what I said after I read this sentence (Talk about contrast). Even though it is a flesh wound, I have to wonder if what the man is crying about doesn't just involve him being shot, but the results. He has to go back out and shoot more Japanese and hopefully not have to come back to the aid station. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:24 AM That would be hard to be shot and even though its not going to kill him he has to go back out and fight some more, it would be very hard cause it could onloy get worse. -amber brown 3/2/10 9:39 AM I believe he must be scared, steph. I agree; i do not think he is just crying because of the death. He has to be scared because he has to go back and keep killing. I think maybe he is sad because deep down maybe he wants to be dead rather than having to keep fighting. -Brittany Gurr 3/4/10 9:13 AM
Eventually they pulled us out of there because the Japs were well entrenched on the other side of the footbridge.
Dave Tabor WWII Assignment 1
Dave Taber was one of "Horse Collar" Smith's communicators who fought bravely among Sweeney's men. Six of the seven men were casualties that night.
We were on top of the ridge near the command post. Major Bailey came up and made an eloquent speech. He said something like this: "All you fellows have buddies and friends that have been wounded and killed, and it will all be in vain if we lose the airfield. Now let's get out, hold the line, and save the airfield. If we lose the airfield, we're going to lose the island." That was about the gist of it. It was quite dramatic and got everybody moving. I thought to myself it was almost like something out of a movie.I was with a close friend of mine, Ike Arnold. (Ike's name was really Herman Arnold, but I called him Ike.) We each had five or six grenades. We went out. I'm not sure what happened, but somehow we got separated from some of the other guys. In fact we were a little too extended, I guess. When the Japs attacked, we were throwing grenades. There was a lot of shooting going on, a lot of action: rifle fire, grenades moving so fast. I would be so nervous and scared hearing all those gun shots going on. I get nervous when I hear hunters in the woods near my house shooting off their guns. -Brittany Gurr 3/2/10 8:53 AM
I get especially nervous when I head gunshots and my dog is outside. I get in a panic and look for him and if I can't find him from my window I'll go outside and yell to him and search outside until I find him.-Steph stone 3/2/10 9:04 AM
I would be more nervous and scared then anything hearing all that shooting and seeing everyone dying. I would not even know what to do with myself. -amber brown 3/2/10 9:20 AM
Anyway, we were throwing grenades down the ridge, and then all the sudden Ike talked to me. [Choking up, Taber said, "I'd rather not go through this," but then continued.] He called me Tabe. He said very calmly, "Tabe, I've been hit." I turned to him. He was off to my side a little, and I said, "Where?" He said, "In the throat." He no more than said that, and he was dead. I can not imagine having one of my friends die right in front of me. I would be so shocked and feel helpless. I know that if I was in that situation I would not just stand around. I would feel like I can still help them, even though I know that they clearly are never going to be alive again.-Brittany Gurr 3/2/10 8:54 AM He must have been hit in the jugular vein or an artery. Blood just gushed out. I had my arm underneath him, across his back, and I lowered him down to the ground. [crying] There's nothing you could do. He was a very good friend of mine. I looked around, and I was all by myself. I don't want to imagine one of my friends dying right in front of me. I would probably do the same. (feel like I can still help them when I know that there is nothing I can do) I might start telling him "No", because I don't want to believe that my friend is telling me that he is dying. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:07 AM The most difficult thing ever would be, for me, is seeing someone i love, a friend die in front of me. I would need some serious help after that. -amber brown 3/2/10 9:23 AM
I thought to myself that I better get back and make contact with the others. I didn't know whether to crawl back or walk back because there was danger both ways. We'd been told what to do in these cases. I acted without even thinking. I decided to stay on my feet. It was pitch dark. I was walking a little bit, and all the sudden I heard something behind me and along comes a grenade right through the air and the fuse is burning! Before I knew what I was doing, I fell on my face away from it. As I was going down, I turned to see where the grenade was falling; it fell in between my feet. I had sharpnel between my feet and legs. I was a little stunned but got up. I was in shock, and nothing was bothering me. I would definitely be in shock, I don't know if I'd get up and start walking, I'd probably just lay there. -Steph stone 3/2/10 8:58 AM I'm walking along slowly and heard a Japanese voice behind me and he was talking to me. He must have thought I was a Jap going up in front of him. I had a .03 rifle and I swung around and shot, Killing someone is so unreal. Can you imagine? I am pretty sure, however, that if it came down to my safety, or war for this matter, I would know that it is my duty to do this. The only time I would ever shoot someone was if my family, friends, or myself was in danger.-Brittany Gurr 3/2/10 8:56 AM Same here. I can't imagine it, but if it came down to it and my life depended on it, and I had just seen my friend die in my arms, I would be filled with rage and feel the instincts to kill them before they killed me. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:00 AM I agree with both of you. I think anyone if it came down to the safty of loved ones or yourself anyone would do the same. But to kill man after man must have been extremly hard. -amber brown 3/2/10 9:26 AM and he dropped as I kept on going. I finally got back [to the CP], and one of the first people I ran into was Horse Collar Smith, who was wounded.
Ira Gilliand recalls his night on the...
Ira Gilliand recalls his night on the ridge.
It's tough to talk about this stuff. It's been fifty-eight years. It gives me the chills thinking about it.The Japanese were trying to outflank us and looked like they were going to overrun our position. I remember their screams. They screamed a lot, especially when they were charging. It made you alert in a hurry even after being up for two days and you're ready to fall asleep.Its hard for me to imagine being there and hearing the screams with absolutely no sleep and having to be so alert just to stay alive. -amber brown 3/2/10 8:54 AM When I am tired, there is no "alerting" me with anything. I just can not stay up if I am exhausted. However, I understand having to be alert at a critical time like this soldier was in. It is his duty to fight. -Brittany Gurr 3/2/10 8:59 AM
They kept charging, but that's where the grenades came in. We threw grenades all night long. I remember rolling the grenades down. We were up on the hill and they were below us. They kept feeding us boxes of grenades.I feel that in this situation I would feel bad for killing all those men but you would have to do it to save your own life and I would be scared to death with all that going on around me. -amber brown 3/2/10 8:59 AM I would also have a hard time killing the Japanese, but I guess we have to remember that these men were probably trained to not feel a sense of sadness for killing them. I mean, I am sure that the men had a hard time dealing with the stress that came from shooting the Japanese, however, it was there job, again. -Brittany Gurr 3/2/10 9:05 AM I remember the sound of Plante's BAR. He kept it going all night long. A lot of guys spent a terrible night out there.
The 1st Parachute Battalion was with us. I remember one of the paratroopers got shot. The corpsman came over because of his cry for help, and he [the corpsman] got shot right through the heart. His name was Smith, so when I saw Smith go down, I grabbed him and carried him down the hill. I didn't think he was going to die. When I got him down to the first aid station, I saw one of our doctors cry. [chokes up] Old Smitty was my friend, a real nice guy, and I broke down also.This would be the hardest thing for me to deal with watching someone who was my friend get shot and then die right in front of me. And to be in the first aid station and even seeing the doctors cry, it would be very difficult for me. -amber brown 3/2/10 9:05 AM It would also be very difficult to me. I mean, Amber, can you imagine seeing me in the hospital dying? I know that I couldn't imagine seeing you in that state. -Brittany Gurr 3/2/10 9:09 AM
Ira Gilliand recalls his night on the...
Ira Gilliand recalls his night on the ridge.
It's tough to talk about this stuff. It's been fifty-eight years. It gives me the chills thinking about it.It's interesting that after that many years he still gets a weird feeling about that everything that happened -julie smith 2/24/10 9:11 AMThe Japanese were trying to outflank us and looked like they were going to overrun our position. I remember their screams. They screamed a lot, especially when they were charging. It made you alert in a hurry even after being up for two days and you're ready to fall asleep.I couldn't stay awake for that long and still be ready to battle at anytime. -julie smith 2/24/10 9:15 AM Me either. I think I would be shaking, from being so tired and scared and nervous from the shots. I would definitely fall down. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:14 AM
They kept charging, but that's where the grenades came in. We threw grenades all night long. I remember rolling the grenades down. Thats amazing that he remembers that kind of thing 58 years later. But I guess I would too if I was in this situation. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:15 AM We were up on the hill and they were below us. They kept feeding us boxes of grenades. I remember the sound of Plante's BAR. He kept it going all night long. A lot of guys spent a terrible night out there.
The 1st Parachute Battalion was with us. I remember one of the paratroopers got shot. The corpsman came over because of his cry for help, and he [the corpsman] got shot right through the heart. His name was Smith, so when I saw Smith go down, I grabbed him and carried him down the hill. I didn't think he was going to die.It shows lots of courage that he would carry him down the hill risk his life to save someone else. -julie smith 2/24/10 9:14 AM It really does, especially after he saw the guy go down by being shot in the heart, after I saw that I would go and check to see if he's still alive. I don't know if I would carry him. I'm not the brave. -Steph stone 3/2/10 9:12 AM When I got him down to the first aid station, I saw one of our doctors cry. [chokes up] Old Smitty was my friend, a real nice guy, and I broke down also.