How would Times cover Tarawa today?

The Providence Journal ^ | November 7, 2006 | Theodore L. Gatchel

[snowsislander]

D-Day for Tarawa was November 20, 1943.

As Col. Joseph H. Alexander put it in Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa, "The rikusentai awaiting the 2nd Marine Division along Betio's north shore were ably led, thoroughly trained, admirably proficient with their entire range of weaponry, skilled in camouflage and concealment, and imbued with a fierce fighting spirit."

And so were our Marines.

It was a bloody three days, and one can only imagine if our current media were reporting on the war in the Pacific with the same type of spin that they are putting on Iraq.

[mainepatsfan]

They'd spin it as a Japanese victory for starters.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Wow.....if you Google Earth the islands it's unbelievable how crowded they are.

[basil]

Ping!

[New Perspective]

To afford them minimum protection, the Marines searched junkyards throughout New Zealand, where they were stationed, for boiler plate and other pieces of scrap that could be welded to the amtracs as a form of home-made armor.

NYSlimes would report "US armed forces sent ot battle lacking adaquate protection. Many say that due to Republican tax cuts for the rich armor was to expensive thus costing American lives.

Because Tarawa was the first assault against a heavily defended atoll, the Marines were breaking new ground. They found themselves lacking adequate numbers of flamethrowers, tanks and demolition teams needed to deal with extensive fortifications.

NYSlimes would report "Due to poor planning by some Republicans American lives were lost as a result. Japanese women and children affected the most.

the Japanese adopted their fatalistic approach in the "hope that the Americans would grow sick of their own losses before completing the job."

The NYSlimes would report "No time table set by Republicans, indefinate deployment causes heartache on deployed families.

Also a perfect opportunity for the dems to cut and run which is just what the enemy wants.

[Red Dog #1]

"hope that the Americans would grow sick of their own losses before completing the job."

It didn’t work for Japan, unfortunately that strategy seems to be succeeding today.

[rlmorel]

"...if our current media were reporting on the war in the Pacific with the same type of spin that they are putting on Iraq...."

And so the drumbeat goes on. The media, and those who READ, LISTEN and WATCH it and take it in HOOK LINE AND SINKER are all rowing in the same direction.

Which just happens, not coincidentally, to be in the same directions the Liberals and the Terrorists want us to go.

Ah well. As I suspected, we did not learn the lesson of 9/11 and take it to heart. We learned a platitude to mouth as long as the people in power made half an attempt to officially counter the negative drumbeat and make the platitudes easy to mouth for most of us.

The people in charge now ALL think 9/11 was an anomaly, not something that will be repeated. Hence the "We need to put it behind us" storyline they all mouth. Funny how the "Memory Hole" is most apt and practiced in Liberalism. Their only problem is that they do not DIRECTLY control and fund the dissemination of media, and the "Memory Hole" works imperfectly even though the Media does its best by pushing things off the front page and television news.

With liberals in charge of Congress...all the direction of news will eminate from there now. Note that the drumbeat of negativism and defeat did not issue primarily from Congress during the last three years, it was coming primarily from the DNC and the Media. Now with the children in charge, it will be in the news every single day with the authority of Congress.

[syriacus]

And how would the media cover the Korean "War" today?

3,000 troops have lost their lives under Bush in approximately the same length of time as 30,000 troops lost their lives in Korea under Truman (1950-52).

10 times as many deaths occurred in the war that Truman got us into.

[RaceBannon]

Now let's dop one on Peleiliu.

Peleiliu lost more men in three days than Tarawa lost in the 31 day campaign combined.

Peleiliu was attacked to clear a base for air support so Macarthur could invade the Philippines. 3 Days after the invasion of Peleiliu started, Macarthur landed anyways, practically unopposed.

Over 1000 men died for Macarthur to walk ashore in direct contradiction to the mission they were dying for.

[skinkinthegrass]

With liberals in charge of Congress...

Why?... Haven't you noticed....the air is much cleaner, the grass is greener, the bummers/huskers are much more polite....the c*@p smells much sweeter....its' a new day. {:D

[rlmorel]

There are people who believe Macarthur was a great general. I personally think he was the epitome of the pompous ass general officer.

Sitting in Australia wringing his hands, talking about how things should be done and botching most of his operations. His strength was the American officers and soldiers who served under him...they were the only ones who did anything of substance.

Just my opinion (and certainly not a slam on those who served in the Army in the Pacific Theatre)

[smoketree]

To compare to today Bush would have gone straight to Okinawa.
Instead of working his way to the heart of the enemy's stronghold like the island hopping of WWII. If we had the Air Force of today back then we could have gone to Okinawa first then bombed all the other islands into submission when they tried to get our supply lines.
I believe this is what Bush did by going to Iraq.
He actually has saved many lives by going to the heart of the beast instead of starting at the feet

[RaceBannon]

I wonder, Okinawa or Kyushu?

Tokyo would certainly gone up, the rail yards, comm centers

shipping

But, remember this game can only be played with WWII's weapons!

I would have taken Iwo right after taking back WAKE ISLAND!

In fact, WAKE ISLAND would have NEVER fallen to Japan if I was FDR!

Abandoning those Marines on Wake was a war crime in itself.

Wonder how the media would play THAT one, eh?

[Lancey Howard]

Semper fidelis BUMP!

[Centurion2000]

NYSlimes would report "US armed forces sent ot battle lacking adaquate protection. Many say that due to Republican tax cuts for the rich armor was to expensive thus costing American lives.

NYSlimes would report "Due to poor planning by some Republicans American lives were lost as a result. Japanese women and children affected the most.

The NYSlimes would report "No time table set by Republicans, indefinate deployment causes heartache on deployed families.

And if they had done that in WWII, they would have been shutdown and jailed after a visit from a few FBI agents for violations of the sedition acts. That's the real reason the democrats didn't want to declare war this time around. During a declared war the President has a lot more power to prosecute the war, and sedition and treason laws get enforced.

[freema]

Ping

[smoketree]

If the gop acted then like the rats are today FDR would have been impeached for not only Wake but Pearl Harbor too.
Not to mention the preemptive invasion of the soveriegn nation of Guadalcanal. Then Truman would have been impeached for getting us into the quagmire of all the other battles in the Pacific which cost thousands of American lives.
Then the gop would have taken over and demanded we pull out of the Pacific and "redeploy" to San Diego or Hawaii where we could strike out as necessary.

[B4Ranch]

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
-- Winston Spencer Churchill

[bannie]

My dad did not have to battle at Tarawa, but he was stationed there right after the battle. About 10 years ago, he--through the Sons of the American Revolution--got a monument for the island to honor those in the Battle of Tarawa.

I am trying to find a copy of either LIFE or LOOK Magazine in which there is a picture of my dad playing poker on Tarawa. He had a copy years ago, but his mother threw it away because daddy was playing poker in his shorts. I have 4 LIFE Magazines ordered, and I'm waiting for them to keep my search up.

My dad was a flight navigator in the Navy. After, I guess, a year of teaching navigation in Hollywood, Florida, he got his request to head out to "do his job" to help win the war. He still seems apologetic because he was never in battle. I'm so so proud of him for so many reasons, and this is just one of them.

[Marine_Uncle]

Peleiliu,Tarawa,Solomons,Phillipines,Omaha,Utah,Cherborg, French Africa,Sicily,Metz,Bastogne... the list is long.
The screw ups often immense in planning. Yet our men and women did what had to be done. THEY STAYED THE COURSE AND WON THE WAR.