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Post by okla on Apr 19, 2012 7:08:22 GMT 8
Hi All....Just finished viewing a piece on CBS Nightly News dealing with the anniversary of the 1942 Bombing Raid on Tokyo. I recall that day clearly, even though I am nearing 80 years on the planet. I and the other 4th Grade urchins had just come back into the building from noon recess when the teachers proudly announced that the Americans had bombed Tokyo. Everybody was delirious with excitement, especially those with fathers, older brothers, etc serving in the military. Of course, we had no idea that the raid was just a pinprick, but just assumed that it was a large scale mission such as we were viewing in newsreels in theaters of the massive raids being carried out in the European conflict. Also, nobody, initially, questioned how such a mission could have been mounted. I remember that a few older people thought that it might have been mounted from bases in Russia, although the USSR was not at war with Nippon. Mainland China was also a possibility. We all needed the good news. Bataan had surrendered only a couple of weeks before. Our country had seen nothing but disaster after disaster and this morale building event was sorely needed, even for us elementary school children. Corregidor was one more heartbreak in the future, but Midway, Coral Sea and Guadalcanal were just over the horizon. Maybe it was only a pinprick, but in addition to being a morale booster, it spurred Yamamoto into mounting his Midway Campaign and we all know what happened there. The tide of war, she changed "big time" with that one. Cheers and Happy Doolittle Raid Anniversary, 70 of 'em. Cheers.
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Post by JohnEakin on Apr 19, 2012 7:48:17 GMT 8
Not to take anything away from those who serve today, but America doesn't seem to have heroes like this any more. Maybe it was media hype then, or maybe it is media non-hype, now, but modern warfare seems more clinical and technology driven. And while the number of casualties is reflected in this change and that's a good thing, the average citizen of today has no concept of what the military does or the price they actually pay.
Here's to all of America's heroes of all wars.
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Post by dmether on Apr 19, 2012 8:46:41 GMT 8
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Post by EXO on Apr 19, 2012 11:10:15 GMT 8
Very interesting point, dmether, let me add to it. I have responded directly to that article, expressing my belief that extraneous filters have been placed in the system between the heroic act, and the recognition of that act. The accretion of bureaucratic requirements has brought about the reduction of recognition of men of honor, because men of bureaucracy do not comprehend bravery or heroism, they eschew it. Lloyd McCarter was the biggest screw-up of the 2nd Battalion, 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment. While the unit had been quartered in Gordonvale, Australia, he’d gone AWOL to New Guinea, where he’d informally attached himself to an Australian infantry unit so that he could fight the Japanese. But he was the best scout of the 2nd Bn., and that night on Corregidor, the night of 1000 hours, what he did was truly extraordinary. The commander of the unit rejected outright the commendation for a Medal of Honor, absolutely refusing to allow such a screw-up as McCarter to become perpetually linked to the repute of the Regimental Combat Team. However that’s not what happened – an awards review board saw the commendation, and then wrote directly to the commending officer, a young lieutenant, deliberately bypassing the West Point Colonel who commanded the unit.
The awards review board saw things in McCarter that others did not want to be known, namely that men of honor can be made irrespective of their social graces, irrespective of their popularity, irrespective of whether he’s been busted numerous times, irrespective of the times he’d spent in the stockade. Heroes do have their many human faults and frailties, and that fact should be considered to be entirely irrelevant in the assessment process. Too many bureaucrats trying to pigeonhole people into suitable and non-suitable is a major part of the problem, and they have caused us to take our eye off the ball – was the conduct deserving of the medal of honor, the character of the man being irrelevant.
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Post by okla on Apr 19, 2012 21:53:18 GMT 8
Hey Guys....Another example of this type thing is the story of the 8th AF B-17 Gunner who was pulled off extra duty in his unit stockade, where he was serving time for some offense, to receive the MOH. It is said that after the brief ceremony, he returned to said stockade and finished his short sentence. He was reportedly a repeat offender of minor un-military behavior, but his bravery 20,000 feet over the Fatherland didn't go unnoticed by those in authority.
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Post by dmether on Apr 20, 2012 18:33:18 GMT 8
Sounds like Maynard (Snuffy) Smity. They couldn't bust him because he was to be awarded the Medal of Honor, so just before the ceremony he was on potato peeling detail.
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Post by okla on Apr 20, 2012 22:32:13 GMT 8
Hey dm...That name, especially the nickname, rings a bell. I think you are probably correct.
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