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I saw Midway yesterday and loved it. Daggum, it took some stones to be

JuliusLeRoy

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I learned of Dick Best about 3-4 years ago...hits on two separate carriers in a single day...he wasn’t mentioned in the 1976 Midway

Dick Best...

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preshlock

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tomorrow marks the anniversary of the end of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Guadalcanal was the first major United States {and other Allies} offensive in the Pacific. It was also one of the few battles where the Japanese withdrew their troops from. At the beginning of February 1943 the Imperial Navy once again began conducting major operations around Guadalcanal. Army, Navy, and Marine commanders mistook this as the Japanese bringing in additional reinforcements for another offensive and proceeded very cautiously. However the Japanese were actually withdrawing their remaining 10,000 troops from the island. The last Japanese troops to be evacuated left very early on February 9, 1943. While the evacuation in front of vastly superior American sea, air, and ground power was viewed as somewhat of a blight the conclusion of the battle was rightfully regarded as a major victory.
 

Hoppo

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a navy dive bomber.

Much better to be a dive bomber on land like the Germans stukas where they mainly attacked tanks.

Those aircraft carriers through up a hell of a lot of flack. Just amazing.
My high school history teacher was a badass. He was a Navy pilot, flew with the Flying Tigers in WWII, was a "guest" of the Imperial Japanese and part of the death march of Bataan, flew the first airlift mission into Berlin, etc.

History class was fun because he fucking was major parts of world history. He recounted the time he sat in the cockpit with a pilot who was showing him the new method of bombing they developed called dive bombing. As they dropped the payload on the range and pulled up he passed out. Was surprised when the pilot told him he passed out too.
 

Nape

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tomorrow marks the anniversary of the end of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Guadalcanal was the first major United States {and other Allies} offensive in the Pacific. It was also one of the few battles where the Japanese withdrew their troops from. At the beginning of February 1943 the Imperial Navy once again began conducting major operations around Guadalcanal. Army, Navy, and Marine commanders mistook this as the Japanese bringing in additional reinforcements for another offensive and proceeded very cautiously. However the Japanese were actually withdrawing their remaining 10,000 troops from the island. The last Japanese troops to be evacuated left very early on February 9, 1943. While the evacuation in front of vastly superior American sea, air, and ground power was viewed as somewhat of a blight the conclusion of the battle was rightfully regarded as a major victory.
Keep it coming, pal. Your knowledge about these theaters that you posted about on tMB is greatly appreciated here. 100% all in.
 

GarnetPild

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Pretty entertaining movie. I have always been interested in the Pacific theatre, especially the Naval combat. My grandfather flew a TBF Avenger during WWII. He never saw combat, but was still in training when the war ended. I guess if not for that war, I may have never been born...My grandparents met in the Navy, when granddad was in flight school, and my grandmom was one of his instructors.

I can't imagine the balls it took to land on a carrier back in those days...or worse, back in those nights.
 

AJOverstreet

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My high school history teacher was a badass. He was a Navy pilot, flew with the Flying Tigers in WWII, was a "guest" of the Imperial Japanese and part of the death march of Bataan, flew the first airlift mission into Berlin, etc.

History class was fun because he fucking was major parts of world history. He recounted the time he sat in the cockpit with a pilot who was showing him the new method of bombing they developed called dive bombing. As they dropped the payload on the range and pulled up he passed out. Was surprised when the pilot told him he passed out too.
Awesome. Had a an attorney for the firm I worked for in College named White Gibson. He was such kind old man but back in the day he was tough as iron. He was part of the invasion of Normandy and told me stories about the war from the ground. The amount of bad asses the world had fighting each other was astounding. Germany and Japan armies were full of bad asses. Russian and Allies were filled up too. It was truly a different time.
 

GarnetPild

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Being a dive bomber is way more appealing than being a torpedo bomber. That looked like suicide.

Especially before the TBF came on the scene in '42. Prior to that, the Navy's torpedo bomber was the TBD Devastator, which cruised at around 130mph! Top speed was only around 200...the TBF Avenger cruised faster than that.
 

CMTiger15

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Awesome. Had a an attorney for the firm I worked for in College named White Gibson. He was such kind old man but back in the day he was tough as iron. He was part of the invasion of Normandy and told me stories about the war from the ground. The amount of bad asses the world had fighting each other was astounding. Germany and Japan armies were full of bad asses. Russian and Allies were filled up too. It was truly a different time.

100%. Nowadays the majority of world-wide fighters would consist of a bunch of soyboys wearing skinny jeans and slapping each other in the face with dildos in an effort to demonstrate their superior “wokeness.”

Now it’s down to China, Russia, and the US Heartland if shit ever hit the fan like that again.
 

EdgeBest

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you should try going on the actual Midway in downtown san diego. unbelievalbe how big that thing is
 

BigBucnNole

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100%. Nowadays the majority of world-wide fighters would consist of a bunch of soyboys wearing skinny jeans and slapping each other in the face with dildos in an effort to demonstrate their superior “wokeness.”

Now it’s down to China, Russia, and the US Heartland if shit ever hit the fan like that again.

People revert back to their primal violent instincts pretty quickly. Ideology, laziness, softness etc etc goes out the window when it's fight or flight.
 

byrons

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Our dive bombers were practically antiques when the war started. As stated above, very slow moving targets for ship's gunners and zeroes. I can't believe those guys kept diving while watching their buddies get blown out of the sky. Heroes in every sense of the word. The US finally got up to speed with Japan and Germany a couple years later, too late for a large number of our pilots.
 

Nas

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A different time. There was a goal, to win. So much different than what our guys deal with today. I fully believe we still have true badasses, a lot of them, but the way our government chooses to fight wars diminishes things. I'm in my late 30s, my generation has been at war for almost the entirety of our adulthood. I signed up to fight and did. I'm proud of what we did, but I spent the majority of the time questioning if we were in it to win. A lot of what we did was obviously prolonging things. Beginning to rant, but my point was, we still have a lot of badasses. Guys that would do anything, like fly a dive bomber on a suicide mission, because your buddies depended on you.
 

FayuGes!

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Growing up during the final stages of the cold war, I was both scared as shit and resigned - I knew that if there were a a war, I would give my life for my country. Used to think about the most impactful way to go. Didn't come up with an ideal role : )
 

Finn

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tomorrow marks the anniversary of the end of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Guadalcanal was the first major United States {and other Allies} offensive in the Pacific. It was also one of the few battles where the Japanese withdrew their troops from. At the beginning of February 1943 the Imperial Navy once again began conducting major operations around Guadalcanal. Army, Navy, and Marine commanders mistook this as the Japanese bringing in additional reinforcements for another offensive and proceeded very cautiously. However the Japanese were actually withdrawing their remaining 10,000 troops from the island. The last Japanese troops to be evacuated left very early on February 9, 1943. While the evacuation in front of vastly superior American sea, air, and ground power was viewed as somewhat of a blight the conclusion of the battle was rightfully regarded as a major victory.
It’s not the right word, but from a purely “entertainment” standpoint, which war is your favorite to study and/or analyze?
 

AgEngDawg

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As a whole there is no subject that is more interesting to me than the German war against the Soviet Union

Me also. That was a war like no other in history.

My second interest is the US Navy and Marines in the Pacific War.

Both fascinate me.

I will be honest. I could fall asleep looking at anything from the European western front even Normandy. It just bores me and was vastly overrated.

Also, Eisenhower was the least imaginative General in history.
 

preshlock

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Me also. That was a war like no other in history.

My second interest is the US Navy and Marines in the Pacific War.

Both fascinate me.

I will be honest. I could fall asleep looking at anything from the European western front even Normandy. It just bores me.

I actually find the West Fronts and other campaigns in Europe pretty interesting. But that is because I have a strong interest with German military history.

In the end the war was won and lost on the East Front.
 

AgEngDawg

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I actually find the West Fronts and other campaigns in Europe pretty interesting. But that is because I have a strong interest with German military history.

In the end the war was won and lost on the East Front.

It is amazing how many people don't know even know what Operation Bagration is.
 

AgEngDawg

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The Destruction of Army Group Center was the largest German defeat of the war. Actually it was the largest defeat in German history.

I remember old war movies that basically skip from Kursk to the Soviets showing up on the doorstep of Berlin.

I always wondered what the hell happened between Kursk and Berlin? That is a long, long way.

Also, when you look at a map, it would be interesting if Belarus and Ukraine eventually do join the EU. Some would say that the EU is heavily dominated by Germany.

You look at a map and damn, Belarus and Ukraine are almost to Kursk and deep in the former Soviet Union.

The Germans got further into the Soviet Union, but not that much further.

I can see why the Russians are a little prickly about that regarding the EU and NATO.
 

preshlock

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I remember old war movies that basically skip from Kursk to the Soviets showing up on the doorstep of Berlin.

I always wondered what the hell happened between Kursk and Berlin? That is a long, long way.

Also, when you look at a map, it would be interesting if Belarus and Ukraine eventually do join the EU. Some would say that the EU is heavily dominated by Germany.

You look at a map and damn, Belarus and Ukraine are almost to Kursk and deep in the former Soviet Union.

yeah thats pretty common. Unfortunately even in college level WWII courses.

Typically there will be an acknowledgment about the enormous losses the Germans had from Kursk to the Vistula or the Order or whenever the story of the East Front picks up again. But mainly because it was about the middle of 1943 that the United States began to have a decisive role in the war the focus will shift. So a pretty standard narration is to give a pretty good amount of detail about the East Front from Barbarossa to Kursk, then shift back to focusing on the Western Allies, and then conclude with the Soviets reaching Berlin.
 
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