June 6th....

[Armybrat 40912]

Yep, and one of those balloon bombs killed a family in an Oregon forest.

[YGIFS 19452]

1 minute ago, Armybrat said:

Yep, and one of those balloon bombs killed a family in an Oregon forest.

fucking Chinese.  Oh wait. 

[Armybrat 40912]

Just now, YGIFS said:

fucking Chinese.  Oh wait. 

Wrong balloon. 

[PRONG HORN 3159]

7 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Even though few remember the Aleutian “side show”, those troops deserve just as much accolades as any others who fought the Japanese and the nazis.

 

Aleutians saw the largest bayonet charge of the war I think.  Crazy hand to hand when everyone ran out of ammo.  

 

Battle of Attu

 

In 19 days of battle, 549 soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division were killed and more than 1,200 injured.

The Japanese lost over 2351 men, including Yamasaki; only 28 prisoners were taken.

 

 

[Armybrat 40912]

Yes, Dad told us about that. It was a last gasp suicidal Banzai attack that reached close to an American field hospital where there were casualties among the staff. Or so I recall him relating the story.

[TwiceHorn 31536]

On 6/7/2023 at 8:44 AM, BabaYaga said:

We toured the Bowfin in Hawaii.  I'm pretty tall (6'5) and it was miserable just walking through it.  I can't imagine spending an extended amount of time on one.  

I was also surprised to learn than US subs DOMINATED the Pacific.  Something like 90+% of all Jap boats sunk in the Pacific were taken by US subs.  

Bowfin was a Balao or Gato class "fleet" submarine that was much larger than the Type VII (Das Boot twice as bit) and Type IX (later war) Uboats and Japanese subs.  And they had air conditioning.  The humidity control was deemed essential to protect the electronics.

[TwiceHorn 31536]

On 6/6/2023 at 1:06 PM, BabaYaga said:

It was part of coordinated Japanese invasions of US held territories - including the Philippines, Wake, and Guam after Pearl.  It was only time of the war US soil was occupied.  Those islands, especially the weather and relay stations, help control those shipping lanes.  It also kept US and Russian forces for coordinating attacks from the north.

The Aleutians campaign was also a feint to draw our attention from Midway.  Remember Rochefort and "AF"?  They were trying to predict whether Japan would hit Midway or the Aleutians with the Kido Butai.

But, yeah they thought it would be intimidating to invade American soil and have a base from which they could strike the mainland.