An article from The Art of Manliness, Eugene B. Sledge and the battle of Peleliu

[freakazoid]

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/14/on-the-70th-anniversary-of-vj-day-eugene-b-sledge-puts-your-first-world-problems-into-perspective/

A few days late but I just read this. I definitely need to get his book.

[Unisaw]

That is a great book.  It is very sobering but really conveys just how awful it was.  In my younger days, I worked for a company that had a credit supervisor who became a Marine in WW II and served in the Pacific.  He still had a real problem with the Japanese that I couldn't comprehend.  After reading the book, I understood as much as one can without having been there.

[vaskidmark]

BTDT and had to get the t-shirt reissued.

For someone who has not BTDT there is no way that reading about it (or watching some movie that either glorifies or castigates the experience) will help them "put things in perspective".  You might think you empathize, but you just can't get the depth needed to move beyond heartfelt sympathy.  You have to experience something very much like combat conditions to be able to empathize.  I do not recommend experiencing trench foot and living on an offal pile while some jerk plays their hyperbass 24/7.

In spite of that people need to know what war, and what combat, is like.  Which is why this - https://www.strategypage.com/humor/articles/howtoprepare.asp - along with the writings of Sledge and others like him is so necessary - not for the troops but the folks at home so they can at least imagine what it's going to be like/what it was like.  It's the only way I know to counter "my country right or wrong" and "kill a commie for Christ" jingoism.

Sorry for the rant but a nerve was struck.

stay safe.

[Scout26]

That is a great book.  It is very sobering but really conveys just how awful it was.  In my younger days, I worked for a company that had a credit supervisor who became a Marine in WW II and served in the Pacific.  He still had a real problem with the Japanese that I couldn't comprehend.  After reading the book, I understood as much as one can without having been there.

One of my Uncles was a Marine that served in the Pacific WWII, he had a visceral hatred for all things Japanese.


I remember when one of my cousins pulled up at his house with a new Datsun (as Nissan was called back then).  My uncle took one look at it and said through very, very tightly gritted teeth, "Those people tried to kill me.  Take it back."

[Ben]

Thanks for that link. E-book downloaded.

[Hutch]

Sledge wrote "With the Old Breed", which describes his experiences at Peleliu and Okinawa.  He declined advances for other books, but then later wrote about his post-war deployment to China.  He and my late father in law vacationed in some of the same Pacific locales.  My FIL was much more talkative about his deployment in China, providing security for Japanese soldiers being repatriated.

[Hawkmoon]

One of my Uncles was a Marine that served in the Pacific WWII, he had a visceral hatred for all things Japanese.


I remember when one of my cousins pulled up at his house with a new Datsun (as Nissan was called back then).  My uncle took one look at it and said through very, very tightly gritted teeth, "Those people tried to kill me.  Take it back."

Imagine the scene when my Chinese-American roommate at the university rolled up at his parents' house in a shiny new Datsun 240Z. His mother was born and raised in China before the war and saw her father (a diplomat) executed by the Japanese. She was definitely "not pleased."

[Unisaw]

Deleted.

[Devonai]

Good article. Now I want to watch The Pacific again (one of the few Blu-ray sets I own).

[makattak]

One of my Uncles was a Marine that served in the Pacific WWII, he had a visceral hatred for all things Japanese.

I remember when one of my cousins pulled up at his house with a new Datsun (as Nissan was called back then).  My uncle took one look at it and said through very, very tightly gritted teeth, "Those people tried to kill me.  Take it back."

My wife's grandfather was a POW who survived the Bataan Death March. He passed just before she was born, but from what I am told, his reaction would have been a lot stronger than a statement through gritted teeth.

[Jamisjockey]

With The Old Breed is a top notch read, and a large part of what The Pacific series from HBO is based on.

[MechAg94]

I have seen the Pacific.  I did about as well as you can do portraying With the Old Breed in the short time available, but it still fell short IMO.  The book is very good.  He does a very good job drawing a picture of the conditions on Pelelui and Okinawa.  It was one of 3 or 4 books that were required reading in a military history class I took (the best of the four).  I can still picture some of the scenes he described.  What surprised me as much as anything was the condition of the food and water they were provided, mainly the water.

My grandfather was in the Navy and worked on aircraft radar in Hawaii.  They only thing I heard he hated was pineapple.  His brothers served in other branches, but I never heard much about it.

[TommyGunn]

My wife's grandfather was a POW who survived the Bataan Death March. He passed just before she was born, but from what I am told, his reaction would have been a lot stronger than a statement through gritted teeth.

I had a neighbor while growing up who survived the Bataan Death March.  He was a very nice person ... I have no idea how he'd react to Japanese cars, unless you knew his background you would never guess he'd ever even been in military service let alone survive the Bataan Death March.  It was quit a kick in the teeth when I found out those fifty years ago what the Bataan Death March was .......

[Perd Hapley]

One of my Uncles was a Marine that served in the Pacific WWII, he had a visceral hatred for all things Japanese.


I remember when one of my cousins pulled up at his house with a new Datsun (as Nissan was called back then).  My uncle took one look at it and said through very, very tightly gritted teeth, "Those people tried to kill me.  Take it back."

And you won, and now they make cars for you. Congratulations.

[vaskidmark]

The Marshall Plan helped put Europe back together.  The Japanese got MacArthur who told them to modernize, stop wearing bathrobes, put real shoes on their feet, and let their women vote.

By 1950 my uncle who was in the import/export business was bringing in cargo by the boatload marked "Made in USA" - as in the town of Usa.*  By about 1957 his biggest seller was a die-cast lapel pin with red, clear, and blue "jewels" on a banner over the words "Buy American".  Damn Federal Trade Commission started cracking down on imports that were not properly marked which sent him to buying stuff from Taiwan.

The electronics industry went from a laughing stock

stay safe.

* - the "Made in USA" story is true - it's just that none of the stuff was made in the town of Usa.

Japanese electronics went from Allan Sherman's transistor radio

S: On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me
A: Japanese transistor radio
C: On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me
S: Green polka dot pajamas
C: And a Japanese transistor radio
S: It's a Nakashuma

Listen to it at   http://www.songlyrics.com/allan-sherman/the-twelve-days-of-christmas-lyrics/#fuE5Jsgiqko7UUIO.99

to stuff that still makes the Germans tear out their hair.

All done supposedly by Westernizing them.  Hah!  They are still one of the most xenophobic countries on earth.

Admiral Perry should have blown Tokyo off the map and let them catch up to the 19th century in a week (or two at the most).