Veterans...Get the hell in here now!

BarnBuster

BarnBuster

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April 18, 1943 – An aircraft carrying the Commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto, is shot down by P-38 Lighting fighters over Bougainville. Yamamoto is killed. This action is the result the interception of a coded Japanese message announcing a visit by Yamamoto. The Japanese fail to deduce that their codes are insecure.

The Bougainville jungle was so thick, and Yamamoto’s crash site so remote, that Japanese search planes could only circle overhead, vainly seeking any sign of survivors. A rescue party finally hacked through to the downed Betty the next day. The admiral’s body was found near the wreckage, belted upright in his seat and still holding his sword, leading some to believe he survived the crash and might have been saved. More likely his body was arranged by another dying victim, in a demonstration of the reverence his countrymen felt toward him. Tokyo did not admit his loss until May 21.

In all of American history, the only equivalent is the operation that killed al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. Yamamoto was no different from any officer caught in a sniper’s crosshairs—in uniform, on a combat mission, a legitimate military target. Today, when the enemy rarely wears a uniform, the debate centers on targeting terrorist leaders with remote-controlled drones. Few remember that the precedent was set 70 years ago, over the jungles of Bougainville.

The National Interest: Blog

nationalinterest.org nationalinterest.org
warfarehistorynetwork.com

A P-38 Pilot Describes the Attack on Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

P-38 pilot Roger Ames flew with the mission to shoot down Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack.
warfarehistorynetwork.com warfarehistorynetwork.com

Magic and Lightning | Air & Space Forces Magazine

For US pilots, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto was a “high-value” target but also a fleeting one.
www.airforcemag.com www.airforcemag.com

Operation Vengeance : the astonishing aerial ambush that changed World War II / Dan Hampton. (The decision, planning and execution of VENGEANCE, the operation to find Yamamoto's flight and shoot him down.bb)
 
smokinrav

smokinrav

Well-Known Member
Spent the last hour reading all that and this, from wiki: the Japanese retaliation

Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaignEdit
After the raid, the Japanese Imperial Army began the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign (also known as Operation Sei-go) to prevent these eastern coastal provinces of China from being used again for an attack on Japan and to take revenge on the Chinese people. An area of some 20,000 sq mi (50,000 km2) was laid waste. "Like a swarm of locusts, they left behind nothing but destruction and chaos," eyewitness Father Wendelin Dunker wrote.[2] The Japanese killed an estimated 10,000 Chinese civilians during their search for Doolittle's men.[50] People who aided the airmen were tortured before they were killed. Father Dunker wrote of the destruction of the town of Ihwang: "They shot any man, woman, child, cow, hog, or just about anything that moved, They raped any woman from the ages of 10–65, and before burning the town they thoroughly looted it ... None of the humans shot were buried either ..."[2] The Japanese entered Nancheng, population 50,000 on June 11, "beginning a reign of terror so horrendous that missionaries would later dub it 'the Rape of Nancheng.' " evoking memories of the infamous Rape of Nanjing five years before. Less than a month later, the Japanese forces put what remained of the city to the torch. "This planned burning was carried on for three days," one Chinese newspaper reported, "and the city of Nancheng became charred earth."[2]

When Japanese troops moved out of the Zhejiang and Jiangxi areas in mid-August, they left behind a trail of devastation. Chinese estimates put the civilian death toll at 250,000. The Imperial Japanese Army had also spread cholera, typhoid, plague infected fleas and dysentery pathogens. The Japanese biological warfare Unit 731 brought almost 300 pounds of paratyphoid and anthrax to be left in contaminated food and contaminated wells with the withdrawal of the army from areas around Yushan, Kinhwa and Futsin. Around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their biological weapons attack rebounded on their own forces.[51][circular reference]

Shunroku Hata, the commander of Japanese forces involved of the massacre of the 250,000 Chinese civilians, was sentenced in 1948 in part due to his "failure to prevent atrocities". He was given a life sentence but was paroled in 1954.[
 
GreatwhiteNorth

GreatwhiteNorth

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BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History:
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Pat Tillman, who gave up his pro football career to enlist in the U.S. Army after the terrorist attacks of September 11, is killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. The news that Tillman, age 27, was mistakenly gunned down by his fellow Rangers, rather than enemy forces, was initially covered up by the U.S. military.

Patrick Daniel Tillman was born the oldest of three brothers on November 6, 1976, in San Jose, California. He played linebacker for Arizona State University, where during his senior year he was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. In 1998, Tillman was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He became the team’s starting safety as well as one of its most popular players. In 2000, he broke the team record for tackles with 224. In May 2002, Tillman turned down a three-year, multi-million-dollar deal with the Cardinals and instead, prompted by the events of 9/11, joined the Army along with his brother Kevin, a minor-league baseball player. The Tillman brothers were assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Lewis, Washington, and did tours in Iraq in 2003, followed by Afghanistan the next year.

On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed by gunfire while on patrol in a rugged area of eastern Afghanistan. The Army initially maintained that Tillman and his unit were ambushed by enemy forces. Tillman was praised as a national hero, awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals and posthumously promoted to corporal. Weeks later, Tillman’s family learned his death had been accidental. His parents publicly criticized the Army, saying they had been intentionally deceived by military officials who wanted to use their son as a patriotic poster boy. They believed their son’s death was initially covered up by military officials because it could’ve undermined support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A criminal investigation was eventually launched into the case and in 2007 the Army censured retired three-star general Philip Kensinger, who was in charge of special operations at the time of Tillman’s death, for lying to investigators and making other mistakes. “Memorandums of concern” were also sent to several brigadier generals and lower-ranking officers who the Army believed acted improperly in the case.

www.sportscasting.com

Evidence Shows Pat Tillman Murdered According to Medical Experts - Sportscasting | Pure Sports

Pat Tillman died a true American hero. What has always been in question was how he died. According to evidence, some medical experts think he was murdered.
www.sportscasting.com www.sportscasting.com
theintercept.com

The NFL, the Military, and the Hijacking of Pat Tillman's Story

Donald Trump and his supporters invoked Pat Tillman's death against the current crop of NFL protests. The truth is more complicated than they want it to be.
theintercept.com theintercept.com
www.congress.gov

H. Rept. 110-858 - MISLEADING INFORMATION FROM THE BATTLEFIELD: THE TILLMAN AND LYNCH EPISODES

House report on MISLEADING INFORMATION FROM THE BATTLEFIELD: THE TILLMAN AND LYNCH EPISODES. This report is by the Oversight and Government Reform
www.congress.gov
 
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History:
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On Nov. 4, 1979, approximately 3,000 Iranian militants took control of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding 63 Americans hostage. An additional three U.S. members were seized at the Iranian Foreign Ministry for a total of 66. This was in response to President Jimmy Carter allowing Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the recently deposed Iranian ruler, into the U.S. for cancer treatment. New leadership in Iran wanted the shah back as well as the end of Western influence in their country.

After a few weeks, 13 hostages, all women or African Americans, were released but the remaining 53 would wait out five months of failed negotiations.

President Carter, originally wanting to end the hostage crisis diplomatically and without force, turned to alternative solutions as he felt the political pressure to resolve the problem. On April 16, 1980, he approved Operation Eagle Claw, a military rescue operation involving all four branches of the U.S. armed forces.

On April 24, 1980, helicopters and planes were supposed to land with about 160 soldiers—mainly Delta Force—at a staging base called Desert One. Then embedded CIA agents would drive soldiers into Tehran. Troops would cut power to the city, capture an Air Force Base, evacuate the embassy, and fly to safety.

Things first went wrong when the helicopters ran into a sandstorm, which damaged two of the aircraft. A tanker truck then happened upon the scene—smuggling fuel, the vehicle tried to flee, but soldiers blew it up with a rocket. A bus full of Iranian civilians was halted on the same road, and the 44 occupants were detained.

These events put Eagle Claw behind schedule and under-equipped. Commanders sought and were granted the order to abort. Two aircraft—one plane and one helicopter—needed refueling immediately. As the helicopter attempted to “hover taxi” (to fly low and slow for a short distance), more blowing sand confused the pilot, and he crashed into the airplane waiting to refuel. Both exploded. Eight men died. Five helicopters were left behind as the operation’s remaining personnel returned to nearby airfields.

The mission’s failure doomed future rescue attempts—and, at least partially, Jimmy Carter’s hopes for reelection in 1980.

A number of significant lessons were learned from Operation Eagle Claw, which led to the establishment of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and its USAF component, the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The operation also highlighted the necessity of Joint planning and training.

The need for enhanced capabilities between more than one military service was the prediction for the future of the Armed Forces. Significant military reforms, such as the Goldwater-Nichols Act and Joint Doctrine, addressed the readiness and capability issues demonstrated in Operation Eagle Claw. It pointed out the necessity for a dedicated special operations section within the Department of Defense with the responsibility to prepare and maintain combat-ready forces to successfully conduct special operations.

Today, the different branches training alongside each other is common practice. Planning for missions consist of specific details with back up plans to the back up plans. Ultimately, the lives lost as Desert One weren’t in vain. The lessons learned from that mission made special operations into what we know them as today.

www.warhistoryonline.com

Operation Eagle Claw - The Disaster that Changed American Special Operations

The April 24th Op is a major event in the history of the United States’ Special Forces operations not just because it was among the first missions of the
www.warhistoryonline.com www.warhistoryonline.com

Desert One | Air & Space Forces Magazine

The mission was to rescue the hostages held in Iran, but it ended in disaster.
www.airforcemag.com www.airforcemag.com
sofrep.com

Operation Eagle Claw, Disaster At Desert One Brings Changes to Special Operations

The images were stark and startling after the debacle at Desert One in Iran on April 24, 1980, 37 years ago today.
sofrep.com sofrep.com
 
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History:
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"During the Dachau liberation reprisals, German prisoners of war were killed by U.S. soldiers and concentration camp internees at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, during World War II. It is unclear how many SS members were killed in the incident but most estimates place the number killed at around 35–50. In the days before the camp's liberation, SS guards at the camp had forced 7,000 inmates on a death march that resulted in the death of many from exposure and shooting. When Allied soldiers liberated Dachau, they were variously shocked, horrified, disturbed, and angered at finding the massed corpses of internees, and by the combativeness of some of the remaining guards who allegedly fired on them."

Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks | Read eBooks online | Free eBooks

Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks
self.gutenberg.org self.gutenberg.org
 
GreatwhiteNorth

GreatwhiteNorth

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GreatwhiteNorth

GreatwhiteNorth

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BarnBuster said:
Today in Military History:
"During the Dachau liberation reprisals, German prisoners of war were killed by U.S. soldiers and concentration camp internees at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, during World War II. It is unclear how many SS members were killed in the incident but most estimates place the number killed at around 35–50. In the days before the camp's liberation, SS guards at the camp had forced 7,000 inmates on a death march that resulted in the death of many from exposure and shooting. When Allied soldiers liberated Dachau, they were variously shocked, horrified, disturbed, and angered at finding the massed corpses of internees, and by the combativeness of some of the remaining guards who allegedly fired on them."

Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks | Read eBooks online | Free eBooks

Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks
self.gutenberg.org self.gutenberg.org
Click to expand...
Watch "Shutter Island" - I believe it has a reference to this incident.
 
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BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
GreatwhiteNorth said:
Watch "Shutter Island" - I believe it has a reference to this incident.
Click to expand...
Here's a brief synopsis of the liberation

A few books about the liberation/ reprisals:
The liberators : America's witnesses to the Holocaust / Michael Hirsh.
Dachau : the hour of the avenger : an eyewitness account / by Howard A. Buechner
Where the birds never sing : the true story of the 92nd Signal Battalion and the liberation of Dachau / Jack Sacco.

...and a dvd. I don't know if it's on YouTube:
Histories of the Holocaust. Dachau : liberation & retribution / written by Peter Morgan Jones ; an ArtsMagic production
 
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GreatwhiteNorth

GreatwhiteNorth

Global Moderator
Staff member
BarnBuster said:
Here's a brief synopsis of the liberation

A few books about the liberation/ reprisals:
The liberators : America's witnesses to the Holocaust / Michael Hirsh.
Dachau : the hour of the avenger : an eyewitness account / by Howard A. Buechner
Where the birds never sing : the true story of the 92nd Signal Battalion and the liberation of Dachau / Jack Sacco.

...and a dvd. I don't know if it's on YouTube:
Histories of the Holocaust. Dachau : liberation & retribution / written by Peter Morgan Jones ; an ArtsMagic production
Click to expand...
I'm trying to muster an inkling of remorse for the Nazi SS but not having much luck.
"It was my job" does not really work in a situation like this for me.
 
BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History:
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"Scratch One Flat Top"
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"May 3, 1942 – The first day of the first modern naval engagement in history, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Japanese invasion force succeeds in occupying Tulagi of the Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan’s defensive perimeter. The United States, having broken Japan’s secret war code and forewarned of an impending invasion of Tulagi and Port Moresby, attempted to intercept the Japanese armada. Four days of battles between Japanese and American aircraft carriers resulted in 70 Japanese and 66 Americans warplanes destroyed. This confrontation, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, marked the first air-naval battle in history, as none of the carriers fired at each other, allowing the planes taking off from their decks to do the battling. Among the casualties was the American carrier Lexington; “the Blue Ghost” (so-called because it was not camouflaged like other carriers) suffered such extensive aerial damage that it had to be sunk by its own crew. Two hundred sixteen Lexington crewmen died as a result of the Japanese aerial bombardment. Although Japan would go on to occupy all of the Solomon Islands, its victory was a Pyrrhic one: The cost in experienced pilots and aircraft carriers was so great that Japan had to cancel its expedition to Port Moresby, Papua, as well as other South Pacific targets."

(Many Australians believe'd at the time and still do today that this battle essentially "saved Australia" by stopping the southern expansion of IJN forces. At one time immediately after the war, they celebrated Coral Sea Week to honor USA and ANZAC forces. "More recently the commemorative emphasis has moved from the ‘Battle that saved Australia’ to the broader concept of the ‘Battle for Australia’, held on the first Wednesday in September. This now marks not only the Battle of the Coral Sea, but also the contribution and significance of all those who helped defend Australia at its most vulnerable time – the men on the Kokoda Track, the airmen in northern Australia and Papua, the sailors and merchant seamen keeping supply lines open, and the men and women in Australia in the services, as civilian workers, or volunteers on the home front.") bb

Four Medals of Honor were awarded at Coral Sea:
  • Lieutenant John J. Powers (Yorktown, VB-5) for actions while attacking Shoho on 7 May at Tulagi, and on 8 May in while attacking Shokaku (killed in action)
  • Lieutenant Milton E. Ricketts (Yorktown), engineering repair party, on 8 May (killed in action)
  • Lieutenant William E. Hall (Lexington, VS-2) for his attack on Shoho on 7 May and interception of Japanese torpedo planes (too few available fighter aircraft forced the use of dive/scout bombers as low-level interceptors) on 8 May (survived)
  • Chief Water Tender Oscar V. Peterson (Neosho) for his heroism in the ship's engineering spaces on 7 May (died of wounds)
4 books worth a read, specifically about the Battle of the Coral Sea:
The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle (Campaign) – by Mark Stille
Blue Skies and Blood: The Battle of the Coral Sea – by Edwin P. Hoyt
The Battle of the Coral Sea: Combat Narratives – by Office of Naval Intelligence
Scratch One Flattop: The First Carrier Air Campaign and the Battle of the Coral Sea – by Robert C. Stern

also:
The First South Pacific Campaign: Pacific Fleet Strategy, December 1941-June 1942 - by John B. Lundstrom
The Barrier and the Javelin - H.P.Willmott

The Battle of the Coral Sea - ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee

anzac day commemoration committee
anzacday.org.au anzacday.org.au

On Course to Midway: The Battle of Coral Sea | The Sextant

By the Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division The Battle of Coral Sea, fought in the waters southwest of the Solomon Islands and eastward from New Guinea, was the first of the Pacific War’s six fights between opposing aircraft carrier forces. Though the Japanese...
usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil
www.historyonthenet.com

The Battle of the Coral Sea: The Debut of Aircraft Carriers

The Battle of the Coral Sea was a 1942 Pacific naval battle between Japan, the U.S. and Australia. Aircraft carriers engaged each other for the first time
www.historyonthenet.com www.historyonthenet.com

The End of the Beginning of the War in the Pacific – The Battle of the Coral Sea | The Sextant

By Ed Furgol, Ph.D., National Museum of the U.S. Navy The Battle of the Coral Sea has a claim for an eminent place in the history of Naval Aviation. The closing stages of the action witnessed the first combat between two fleets solely by carrier plane. Furthermore, the battle was the first time...
usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil
 
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BarnBuster

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
"Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas strongly dissented to a decision filed Monday not to hear the case of a former United States Military Academy cadet who alleges the government failed to adequately prevent and respond to her rape on campus. As the lower courts did, the majority deferred to the Feres Doctrine, a 1950 decision that ruled service members cannot sue the federal government for injuries sustained while serving. That includes not only combat or training injuries, but preventable damage caused by fellow troops or government employees ― to include, until last year, medical malpractice.
www.militarytimes.com

Supreme Court justice castigates Feres Doctrine over cadet’s rape lawsuit

Justice Clarence Thomas argued it's time to rewrite the rules for troops filing claims against the government.
www.militarytimes.com www.militarytimes.com
 
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