- Jun 12, 2014
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Thank you for sharing that magnificent chapter in our nation's history. The gallantry, skill, and devotion to duty exhibited by the officers and men who drove off an overwhelming superior Japanese force is a reminder to us all of what it means to be an American fighting man. From just outside of Pensacola; Go Navy!Just wanted to share the Memorial Day email I posted at work:
Memorial Day is fast upon us. To me, it is the most sacred of our National Holidays, commemorating the sacrifice of those men and women who have given “the last full measure of devotion.” Some of us have seen Saving Private Ryan and have a sense of that devotion and commitment to our country. However, that story was fictional. Having grown up in Pensacola, US Navy lore was a constant and familiar source of instruction. One of the most telling Navy stories of heroism, dedication and devotion came from World War II, The Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the operation off Samar Island. It has been called the greatest last stand in naval history. The whole story is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar
Like so many tales of heroism in war, the battle is the result of command mistakes. Task Unit Taffy 3, consisting of three destroyers, four destroyer escorts, and three escort aircraft carriers were left to defend the landing beaches, with 15000 men ashore, against a Japanese force of 23 capital ships consisting of battleships and cruisers. None of the Taffy 3 guns or aircraft armaments could penetrate the armor of the enemy ships. Nevertheless, the destroyers turned to engage, and the aircraft and carriers so fiercely attacked the enemy, the Japanese commander believed he was engaged by the main force of the American fleet. After the US Navy had lost two destroyers, two escort carriers, a destroyer escort and over 1000 American dead, the Japanese force retreated, leaving the landing beaches safe.
No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for a friend.
Please remember and teach our children what we reverence on this Memorial Day.
It was an amazingly heroic stand by the USN, but one that should never have happened. Halsey ignored his responsibility to protect the beachhead to take almost his entire fleet north to attack a Japanese fleet that turned out to be a decoy. Another admiral might have been relived or even court martialed. Had the Japanese successfully pressed their attack and reached the beaches, even Halsey might not survived the aftermath.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar
Like so many tales of heroism in war, the battle is the result of command mistakes. Task Unit Taffy 3, consisting of three destroyers, four destroyer escorts, and three escort aircraft carriers were left to defend the landing beaches, with 15000 men ashore, against a Japanese force of 23 capital ships consisting of battleships and cruisers. None of the Taffy 3 guns or aircraft armaments could penetrate the armor of the enemy ships. Nevertheless, the destroyers turned to engage, and the aircraft and carriers so fiercely attacked the enemy, the Japanese commander believed he was engaged by the main force of the American fleet. After the US Navy had lost two destroyers, two escort carriers, a destroyer escort and over 1000 American dead, the Japanese force retreated, leaving the landing beaches safe.
Had a customer who used to come to dealer I worked at with an 8th Air Force tag on front. I casually remarked something about the stories he could tell, He looked me dead in the eye and said " But I won't".
As I write this my Son is on the USS Abraham Lincoln, I'm guessing somewhere near the Persian Gulf . His first born came into the world May 22nd. As I watched the Marion County Memorial Day program I couldn't stop thinking about him half a world away. Really sucks
Just an addendum. I went to the premier of the movie about Halsey's war leadership, "Attack, repeat Attack" at the Sanger theater in Pensacola and met the Admiral; very nice man.It was an amazingly heroic stand by the USN, but one that should never have happened. Halsey ignored his responsibility to protect the beachhead to take almost his entire fleet north to attack a Japanese fleet that turned out to be a decoy. Another admiral might have been relived or even court martialed. Had the Japanese successfully pressed their attack and reached the beaches, even Halsey might not survived the aftermath.
It is that time of the year.I didn’t cry, but there must’ve been some pollen in the air...
It was an amazingly heroic stand by the USN, but one that should never have happened. Halsey ignored his responsibility to protect the beachhead to take almost his entire fleet north to attack a Japanese fleet that turned out to be a decoy. Another admiral might have been relived or even court martialed. Had the Japanese successfully pressed their attack and reached the beaches, even Halsey might not survived the aftermath.
The text in the title is from the Gettysburg Address.
My father-in-law was a 20 year old marine in 1944, and fought in the South Pacific theatre. Until her mid-20s, that’s about all my wife Kelly knew about her father’s service. He joked about the check he received each month as his “shot in the butt money”, but never spoke otherwise about his service. He was a good man, drank a little too much, and was known to be moody sometimes, but he was patriotic, funny, and loved his family. He came back from the war, was the first of his rural family to get a college degree, and went on to be a successful pillar of the community.
When he was 62, he had a stroke, and he was affected by losing some inhibitions - he cursed (which he never did before the stroke), and he lost track of where, and when, he was sometimes. He also told stories. Stories he had never told before. They were confusing, kind of “half dream” stories. He talked about military training, learning to drive a tank, and about his best friend. He was funny, obscene, and clearly had some fond memories. But one day, he was somber. He described a big firefight, being in the water, dragging his best friend to the beach, and swimming back out multiple times. His story was confusing, but clearly emotional.
At 63, he had another stroke, and passed away. It was then, going through his belongings, that we found his medals, his commendations, and the story of the battle in the Mariana Islands (Guam) when he was injured. He was an amphibious tank driver in the middle of a beach landing when his tank took a shell and sank. Whether shrapnel from the explosion or subsequent gunfire, he was wounded in the hip, but swam his more-wounded tankmates to the beach, multiple times. Most survived, but there were two KIA - a gunner, and his best friend.
His best friend, Kelly.
To all the men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion, I spend the day in remembrance for these husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and best friends. I’ll never forget.
It was an amazingly heroic stand by the USN, but one that should never have happened. Halsey ignored his responsibility to protect the beachhead to take almost his entire fleet north to attack a Japanese fleet that turned out to be a decoy. Another admiral might have been relived or even court martialed. Had the Japanese successfully pressed their attack and reached the beaches, even Halsey might not survived the aftermath.
I was never in the Navy or in combat, so I have only a layman’s understanding of the term, but much of “fog” in this particular battle was caused by Halsey himself. He gave very vague orders and when he steamed north with Task Force 34 to attack the Japanese decoy fleet, he both neglected to leave ships to cover the San Bernardino Strait and to advise anyone that he had. He and his staff also ignored intelligence that a Japanese fleet might be headed that way. It did lead to one of the best accidental put downs in military history. Admiral Nimitz following the battle in Pearl Harbor, finally sent Nimitz a message asking “Where, repeat where, is Task Force 34?” Common padding added to coded messages that day required the additional meaningless padding to end with two words beginning with “W.” So the coding clerk in Pearl Harbor added “The World Wonders” to Nimitz’s message. The coding clerk on Halsey’s flagship forgot to remove the padding before giving him the message. So to Halsey it looked like a serious rebuke from Nimitz. He broke off his attack, though not for another hour, and returned to the beaches, arriving after the Japanese had left.It's often called the Fog of War...... Information is often garbled and misunderstood. Halsey took a gamble and was lucky he didn't lose the whole landing force but that's how Admirals become Legends.
Very much so. In addition to the Navy’s exploits, the Japanese were hampered by squalls. Divine intervention perhaps?There's no doubt that anything less than the incredible stand made by that valiant band of small ships could have resulted in a bloodbath among the troops that had all ready landed - and those still waiting to debark. The ships of Taffy 3 were small, but the officers and men who manned them had the will and hearts of giants. Admiral Halsey certainly made a serious error in judgement amidst the fog of war. In his zeal to smash the enemy fleet, Halsey apparently fell for the enemy's decoy tactics and the result could have been disastrous - there's no arguing that point. But I believe that the God of our fathers, with a lot of help from the US Navy, tipped the scales that day and David once again slew Goliath.
The wife and I watched “Taking Chance” last night. It’s a bit slow and heavy, but it’s short (about 75 min) and I’m glad I watched it. Kevin Bacon is a Marine Lt Col. who escorts the remains of a Marine who was KIA in the Middle East. Based on a true story.
I didn’t cry, but there must’ve been some pollen in the air...