Japanese soldier burned to death by a US flamethrower during the Philippines Campaign, 1944-1945

Japanese soldier burned to death by a US flamethrower during the Philippines Campaign, 1944-1945

After Midway it was basically over.

Once the Japenese lost some of their carriers they had no way of replacing them quickly and were essentially at the mercy of the Allied forces.

Japan's high command knew they could not win the war through conventional means, they lacked the production and material availability. So they went with a startagey that they believed they could pull off, making each battle such a meat grinder that Allied Governments would seek a conditional peace with Japan

The stomach turning part is their resolute refusal to surrender. It meant thousands and thousands of Japenese had to be slowly dug out of Foxholes and killed at every stop. Thats not to mention the many civilians who also took their own lives or amassed suicidal charges at Allied forces with sticks. Remember reading about a machine gunner on the Allied side who had to mow down a few dozen civilians as they charged his position on one of the islands. Said he still thought about that every day for the rest of his life.

Infantry can maneuver. They can dig in a defense or assault at a time of their choosing. Bomber crews crossed their fingers as they flew over flak and enemy fighters on the way to and from the target. I would rather be infantry any day.

The Pacific is a lot more gritty with less building of a mythos. Easy Company's story is pretty much idolized in BoB. Meanwhile The Pacific focused on how the island-hopping campaign was a brutal meat-grinder where incompetence or bad luck could get you and all your friends killed in a Banzai charge.

It was one of them. Leckie's Helmet for my Pillow was the other major source as well as a memoir by Marine Chuck Tatum, called Red Blood Black Sand.

Sledge also wrote another memoir called China Marine, that was also used for some material. It dealt with his time in China with his unit in Peking post war, and his difficulty adjusting to civilian life when he got out.

Dan Carlins "A supernova in the east" is also extremely informative on what it was like fighting in that theater for both sides, but with a focus on the allies. Covers a lot of context for the Japanese and their part in ww2 as well.

one of those old marines used to chill in a lawn chair on my neighbors front porch in 1975. i stuck my 5 year old finger in the hinge of his prosthetic leg and he snapped it shut and smashed my finger and my nail came off a month later.

It's not just limited to America either. My great-grandfather was gassed twice on the western front - once right before the Somme, which probably saved his life as he was in hospital when his regiment attacked, and once again in 1918 that lead to him getting sent home.

Well, Veterans Affairs Canada has the full medical report that was written up by the doctor that denied him his pension. He acknowledged the scarring that covered over half his lungs, but then noted my great-grandpa was a "mouth breather" and that his lung scarring is most likely the result of mouth breathing and not gas attacks...

Dan Carlin claimed in his Supernova in the East series that the atrocities were partly used to build morale among their own troops because it would encourage the Allies to similar acts, such as killing wounded and surrendering soldiers. I don't know how much truth there is to it but it doesn't sound entirely unbelievable.

My grandfather was drafted into the Army Air Corps and was copilot on a B-17. On their third mission, they got hit. My grandfather sustained a head injury. The pilot lost his, literally. My grandfather managed to ditch the plane in the Adriatic and get his entire crew, minus the deceased pilot, to safety. The Italian resistance helped them get back to Allied territory. Once back, he got back in the saddle, finished his 25 sortie commitment, and got the hell out.

He spent the rest of his life waking up in the middle of the night screaming in terror.

I can't even begin to imagine how bad it was for infantry.

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