tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post4849358272740411149..comments2023-10-30T06:31:05.501-07:00Comments on MilPub: Lt. General Snowden and Iwo JimaFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-7253806416327200412017-02-27T19:58:22.211-08:002017-02-27T19:58:22.211-08:00OK...now you've caught my attention, Jim; Iwo ...OK...now you've caught my attention, Jim; Iwo and Bastogne? I wouldn't have thought to couple those two. Without going into the politics - if that's possible - I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on how they were similar ..FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-46140646141417711452017-02-27T19:55:23.807-08:002017-02-27T19:55:23.807-08:00IIRC LeMay said that had the Japanese won the war ...IIRC LeMay said that had the Japanese won the war he would have been hanged for war crimes...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-55392344347844311122017-02-27T18:32:44.175-08:002017-02-27T18:32:44.175-08:00FDChief -
"...all that death and suffering&q...FDChief -<br /><br /><i>"...all that death and suffering"</i> Yes, and not just on Iwo. LeMay's B-29s burned a lot of Japanese women and children to death. War no more is my motto.<br /><br />PS - The Beavs back then were more of regional power. I think Andros got them in the top 20 a couple of times, but pretty far down on that list. <br /><br />mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-52600955127846740862017-02-27T18:11:42.231-08:002017-02-27T18:11:42.231-08:00Jim –
Grandma’s brother, my great uncle Dinty, w...Jim – <br /><br />Grandma’s brother, my great uncle Dinty, was a cook in an Army infantry company in WW1. He and many of his buddies got burned by the mustard gas.<br /><br />He was a great cook, even in his old age when he was half soused most of the time. Said he got the drinking habit in Army field kitchens. He used to cook us up some of the same recipes he cooked back in 1917 & 18: salmon loaf, corned beef (he called it the red death and said the Army version was one part beef and nine parts fat and sawdust), pork and beans. He could even make that dried & salted chipped beef taste reasonable, that was the original SOS long before they started using hamburger or ground sausage.<br /><br />So I don’t agree with that ‘death-from-within’ logo.<br /><br />mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-21000812421720449832017-02-27T16:45:29.817-08:002017-02-27T16:45:29.817-08:00Jim & Lisa -
Thanks.
I recall in your orig...Jim & Lisa -<br /><br />Thanks. <br /><br />I recall in your original article you had mentioned that General Snowden was surrounded by a group of admiring widows. The man must have been a charmer, even in his old age. mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-27005117928526436282017-02-27T13:16:54.822-08:002017-02-27T13:16:54.822-08:00Mike,
on my previous cmt, i meant us army types a...Mike,<br />on my previous cmt, i meant us army types also fought as infantry.<br />in the old days of yore our cooks wore shirts that said-death from within.<br />jimrangeragainstwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02126542922536584950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-62143285735503964542017-02-27T13:11:50.446-08:002017-02-27T13:11:50.446-08:00Mike,
use the article as you desire, with our best...Mike,<br />use the article as you desire, with our best wishes.<br />yesterday i tried to give Lisa a lesson on the USMC concept that every man is a rifleman. in korea i'd guess that CS/CSS fought as infantry in a few battles.<br />i have so many political comments on iwo as on bastogne, but this is not the time or place.<br />i forget the number, but CPT Snowden took in 225 +/- and less than 1/2 walked out.<br />jimrangeragainstwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02126542922536584950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-12749958656890452712017-02-27T12:36:57.722-08:002017-02-27T12:36:57.722-08:00Trying to imagine Beavs football as a power is lik...Trying to imagine Beavs football as a power is like trying to imagine a Trump administration without corruption. Just doesn't seem possible...<br /><br />The really cruel part of Iwo, to me, anyway, is that it turned out to play a pretty marginal part in the U.S. war effort. It saved B-29 crews either returning w damage or aborting, so for individuals it was important. But its overall importance to the bombing campaign was not great.<br /><br />So all that death and suffering...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-8650790711165101982017-02-26T21:51:58.927-08:002017-02-26T21:51:58.927-08:00FDChief -
Thanks for the title. I'll put it ...FDChief -<br /><br />Thanks for the title. I'll put it on the reading list.<br /><br />BTW, a Marine cook by the name of Demosthenes Andrikopoulis was in that attack on 26 March. He picked up a rifle along with other cooks and bakers plus clerks, communicators, Navy Seabees and USAAF Airmen to help beat off that final assault. He won a Bronze Star for his initiative and leadership in organizing an ad hoc counterattack at his tiny piece of the battlefront.<br /><br />He later shortened his name to 'Dee Andros' and became the coach for your Oregon State Beavers back in the sixties and seventies. He was still leading from the front even then, as he was infamous with the sportswriters at the time for always running out at the head of his team when they took the field. During Andros' time the Beavers used to beat the crap out of our Washington teams.<br /><br />PS - It was March 45 not 44.mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-84952842145824492002017-02-26T20:47:15.673-08:002017-02-26T20:47:15.673-08:00The book is called "So Sad To Fall In Battle&...The book is called "So Sad To Fall In Battle" by Kumiko Kakehashi, and it's a collection of translation of Kuribayashi's correspondence to his family.<br /><br />"Humane" relative to a typical IJA officer of his background and seniority. He had the same automatic acceptance of death as his peers. Unlike them he worked hard to give his subordinates as decent a life as he could while they were alive, and he refused to throw their lives away. He forbid the suicidal "banzai" charges. His imperial master had doomed they all, but Kuribayashi was damned if those lives would be just wasted in futile gestures. He led a final attack on 26 MAR 44 that was well-planned and effective, if by that point futile.<br /><br />So by our lights? No. By the standards of his peers? Notably.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-48799978932948936242017-02-26T19:06:02.699-08:002017-02-26T19:06:02.699-08:00FDChief -
Kuribayashi??? I searched on both Pow...FDChief -<br /><br />Kuribayashi??? I searched on both Powells and Amazon but could not find a bio on him. But the Wiki account says Marine Corps General Holland (Howlin Mad) Smith, the Landing Force Commander, called him one smart bastard, and "Of all our adversaries in the Pacific, Kuribayashi was the most redoubtable".<br /><br />Not sure I would call him humane though. His <i>"Six Courageous Battle Vows"</i> smell a bit like the oaths of al-Qaeda or Daesh, especially the second and third vow. <br /><br />"2. We shall fling ourselves against the enemy tanks clutching explosives to destroy them."<br />"3. We shall slaughter the enemy, dashing in among them to kill them."mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-88706958178016985282017-02-26T18:41:37.542-08:002017-02-26T18:41:37.542-08:00Jim -
Do you have any objections to my using your...Jim -<br /><br />Do you have any objections to my using your interview with LtGen Snowden in our local Marine Corps League Chapter newsletter for March? I would give credits to you and Lisa.mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-84834127986789222052017-02-26T14:19:54.290-08:002017-02-26T14:19:54.290-08:00Thanks Jim -
I believe he went AWOL from that nav...Thanks Jim -<br /><br />I believe he went AWOL from that naval hospital in Guam to return to his unit on Iwo Jima. It wasn't just a case of going against medical advice. And by the way, that plane he hitched a ride on back to Iwo was mainly carrying blood and emergency medical supplies as well as mail. He was revered in the Corps for that act.<br /><br />The Reunion of Honor at Iwo this year will be held 20 through 27 March. There was a stateside reunion and symposium in Oceanside CA, just outside of Camp Pendleton, last week 15 through 19 February. His name and signature are still on the brochure for the reunion.<br />mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-35671412441973574872017-02-26T13:51:45.077-08:002017-02-26T13:51:45.077-08:00Iwo seems to have involved some outstanding people...Iwo seems to have involved some outstanding people on both sides. I just finished a biographical account of the life and conduct during the defense of the commander of the island's garrison. Guy was one of the sharpest but at the same time most humane IJA officers I've encountered in a long interest in military history.<br /><br />Still...it must have taken a hell of a person to transcend the memories of the Pacific War. The fighting there may well have been the most vicious of any war U.S. troopers ever fought outside some parts of the RVN...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.com