Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 'Missions That Changed The War'...saw Enola Gay episode and it's amazing how much new information I learned about that and the war against Japan. Watch an episode if you can. I also enjoyed the episode on Doolittle's Raiders. http://military.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=52.16765.134688.39775.x GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 As a lad, I never heard much about Tinian Island until after the war. Most of the news came via newspaper which picked up the news wires, and from Movietone newsreels which were shown in the movie theaters. This was before TV was on the consumer market. Most of the Movietone news was about six months late when it got to the back water towns like I lived in. After the bomb, the name of Tinian came up but was not well publicized. I do not ever recall hearing the name on the radio which was the news media of the time. We also did not hear much about the fire storms in Japan, caused by the bombing. Not much from Germany either. I guess the mind set at the time was this is war. What ever it takes to win. What a novel concept. To actually hope to win a war against your enemy. Sure hope that idea doesn't catch on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldom Seen #16162 Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I liked the part about some hard line military officers opposed surrender because they didn't think we has a second bomb to drop. Fanatics. However I have never heard or seen anything how long it would have taken us to produce more A-bombs to blast Japan with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Once they had the technology, I don't think it would have been very long. Maybe a few months. Certainly not much more time than to prepare for an invasion. Also, by that time, Japan was pretty much isolated and all of her island holdings were either in American or British hands or abandoned by Japan. Although they were still hunting holdout fighters long after the war was over. Several people were killed in the Philippines following the war. Truman directed the bombs to be dropped because the country was tired of war, material shortages and the body counts. Iwo Jima and Okinawa was still fresh in the minds of a lot of folks. The estimates of casualties on both sides are pretty high with the invasion strategy. I find it ironic that a generation that was not even born at the time, found it so convenient to criticize that generation for dropping the bomb. Another case of folks that didn't realize what they were talking about, got a lot of press, and sold an idea to others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 We also did not hear much about the fire storms in Japan, caused by the bombing. Not much from Germany either. I guess the mind set at the time was this is war. What ever it takes to win. What a novel concept. A lot of people think you're lying when you tell them the firestorms in Tokyo killed far more people than the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombs did. The firebombing of Tokyo on the night of 9/10 March 1945 was the single deadliest air raid of World War II; greater than Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki as single events. 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the resulting firestorm. Edit: left out a word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I liked the part about some hard line military officers opposed surrender because they didn't think we has a second bomb to drop. Fanatics. However I have never heard or seen anything how long it would have taken us to produce more A-bombs to blast Japan with. There was very little weapons grade uranium available. It would have taken a while to get more bombs on line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 A lot of people think you're lying when you tell them the firestorms in Tokyo killed far more people than the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombs did. The firebombing of Tokyo on the night of 9/10 March 1945 was the single deadliest air raid of World War II; greater than Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki as single events. 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the resulting firestorm. Edit: left out a word The susceptibility of Japanese cities to fire was exploited to the utmost by the Air Force. There was a program under development at one point to drop bombs full of bats fitted with tiny incendiary devices over the cities. The bats were supposed to roost in the attacks of the wooden buildings and when the timers went off ...poof. Kind of a mini kamikaze scenario for our side. This is a great book. Truth really is stranger than fiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The gas filled balloons that the Japanese sent over here were pretty unusual also. I guess that the damage was more severe than the government let on at the time. A family in Oregon was killed by one, and I think there were a few others. There was also some fire damage. I believe that they got as far as Montana IIRC. Edit because I can't type and spell at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Ranger Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 'Missions That Changed The War'...saw Enola Gay episode and it's amazing how much new information I learned about that and the war against Japan. Watch an episode if you can. I also enjoyed the episode on Doolittle's Raiders. http://military.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=52.16765.134688.39775.x GG ~ Don't mean to butt in pard,hope i'm not These were my father in laws.. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war006.jpg destruction http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war008.jpg The Emporer reading the surrender http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war007.jpg Waynright and Mac http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war012.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Don't mean to butt in pard,hope i'm not These were my father in laws.. http://i7.photobucke...rick/war006.jpg destruction http://i7.photobucke...rick/war008.jpg The Emporer reading the surrender http://i7.photobucke...rick/war007.jpg Waynright and Mac http://i7.photobucke...rick/war012.jpg Your not buttin' in pard! That's awesome! Thanks for sharing!! A salute to your father-in-law! GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker, SASS #55963 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The second batch of bombs were available for Operation Crossroads in 1946. Trinity test was in July of 1945 and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in August of 1945. So it appears that it took less than a year for another batch of bombs to be made. What struck me interesting was that the USN Captain who was to arm the Hiroshima bomb decided (I assume he had input from others) to do it in the air after seeing several B-29s crash on take off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The second batch of bombs were available for Operation Crossroads in 1946. Trinity test was in July of 1945 and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in August of 1945. So it appears that it took less than a year for another batch of bombs to be made. What struck me interesting was that the USN Captain who was to arm the Hiroshima bomb decided (I assume he had input from others) to do it in the air after seeing several B-29s crash on take off. That strikes me as a rather prudent move on the part of the Navy Captain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker, SASS #55963 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 BMC, Originally they were going to arm it on the ground and take off. But the captain saw several crashes and thought about the hole in the ground that might be created. Let alone the loss of the other airplanes and crews. On those balloons, the fire damage was not real serious, as they never landed anywhere where they would make a big fire. The japs thought that North America was all dry. But the first states that would see balloons would be Washington and Oregon. About 300 made it to North America. As far north as canada and down to mexico. Japanese Balloon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 The susceptibility of Japanese cities to fire was exploited to the utmost by the Air Force. There was a program under development at one point to drop bombs full of bats fitted with tiny incendiary devices over the cities. The bats were supposed to roost in the attacks of the wooden buildings and when the timers went off ...poof. Kind of a mini kamikaze scenario for our side. This is a great book. Truth really is stranger than fiction. Bahahaha!! A bat bomb. Bahahaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Bahahaha!! A bat bomb. Bahahaha! Goofiest collection of military oddballs you'll ever read about. The head of the project was the goofiest of all. A hell of a selesman to get the military to fund the project. An idea weird enough to rival the Ice Aircraft Carrier. Or a bomb that could split atoms..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. James H. Callahan Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Don't mean to butt in pard,hope i'm not These were my father in laws.. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war006.jpg destruction http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war008.jpg The Emporer reading the surrender http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war007.jpg Waynright and Mac http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/gunclickrick/war012.jpg I went to several of my dad's army company reunions (South Pacific Theater) and once someone brought a photo album of photos taken on Iwo Jima. Mighty grisly stuff. Lots of photos of Japanese KIA, especially quite a few barbequed with flame throwers. Quite gruesome. Made John Wayne movies look like a pink tea party. Dad was in a headquarters company that did mop up operations on several islands after they had been secured. While not a front line company, he was awarded a Combat Infantryman Badge, so I assume they "saw the elephant" at some point in time. JHC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 A fellow that worked with my Dad years ago, landed on Iwo Jima. I don't know much about it because he never mentioned it to anyone. One night when he and my Dad stopped off for a beer after work, he mentioned it casually to Dad. He never said another word about it as far as I know. He was apparently carrying a rifle when he went ashore. I had an Uncle that was a tail gunner in England, and I knew nothing about it until I was grown and lived in another city. Those old fellows were pretty tight lipped about the whole thing. I am certain that they did some pretty scary things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bama Red Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 And we thank God every day that they did, Badger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Andrew Thomas, SASS #19594 Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Just as an FYI, my Dad just received a medal from the VFW of Saipan for his service during WWII. Military personnel who served on Saipan or Tinian are eligible. He was given a gold medal and a citation and was very proud to have earned it. I only learned of the program at one of our Flight Guardian trainings for Honor Flight nad followed up on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Mushman Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 They might not have been our "Greatest Generation" by themselves (try the founding fathers), but they were their near equal. Korea followed and that is truly the forgotten war. God Bless them and all who serve. Harvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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