Comments on: Tarawa

By: Ken Summers

Ken Summers — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 23:42:43 +0000

No idea if it’s true or not about Harry Truman, but I recently listened to one of WEB Griffin’s novels. Story was that Truman was very much in favor of abolishing the Marine Corps, considering it redundant to the Army, until he saw what they did in Korea in 1950 while the Army was completely unprepared (and no, that’s not a slam at the Army, only at those who allowed it to be unprepared).

By: Nightfly

Nightfly — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 17:19:31 +0000

My grandfathers were both Army, and my dad’s mom was in the Navy. But thank God for the Marines!

By: Cullen

Cullen — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:36:14 +0000

Go Army! Beat Navy!

Oh, er …

The Army had a good amount of press coverage. But it tended to be print (like Ernie Pyle) as opposed to newsreel.

I think the Pacific was the perfect example of the difference between the Corps and the Army.

By: WunderKraut

WunderKraut — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 02:57:55 +0000

Too true Ken. I tried to take pains to point that out in my own way. Yes the Army did its share of the dirty work in the Pacific. But it is sad that sometimes their accomplishments are overlooked.

Kind of like the guys who fought in Italy. They were always overshadowed by the big dogs arriving in Normandy.

I guess it just happens. Also, any time John Wayne makes a war movie in which he dies…..that unit is going to be recognized forever! The Sands of Iwo Jima – Marines!

By: Ken Summers

Ken Summers — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 21:22:41 +0000

It also helps an Army guy to keep in mind that the Army fought in the Pacific too. The Marines seemed to get more press – I’m not sure why but I suspect it was because the Marines were engaged in a long series of (relatively) short, brutal battles for small islands, while the Army tended to fight the slower, longer battles for the larger islands and island chains in the south. Perhaps even then, hitting a beach made for “better TV” (newsreels) then slogging through a jungle.

By: Ken Summers

Ken Summers — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 21:14:34 +0000

It helps to keep in mind that the horrors of Tarawa, and the lessons learned, kept later battles like Iwo Jima and Okinawa from being far, far worse than they were.

By: snowballs

snowballs — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 20:08:51 +0000

After watching this, I was thinking to myself about the many many fierce (understated) struggles that were ongoing in the Pacific for such God-awful real estate.

God bless the brave souls who were ballsy enough to take Tarawa away from the Japs.

One of my favorite websites to visit lately is …

http://www.history.navy.mil

…if for among other things, the “TODAY IN U.S. NAVAL HISTORY:” information.

Great post.

By: Will Franklin

Will Franklin — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 05:28:17 +0000

I thought this was going to be a “Go Army, Beat Navy” post. But it’s much better than that.

By: tree hugging sister

tree hugging sister — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 04:13:17 +0000

Aw, Kraut, Major Dad and I say ‘thank you’. For ALL us Marines. What a beautiful post. You are an awful good friend.