@ americanexpat:
And even now, I screw it up. Should have been “One of the first companies…”

@ NevadaDailySteve, Imperial Scrivener:

I’ll go you one better. The one of the first companies I worked for after I got out of the Army in the early 1980s was a retailer that used old Telex machines for its internal communications. First you had to type out the message, using a very clunky keyboard, on paper tape. Then run the tape through the reader to print out the results so you could see if you made any mistakes. If you did, throw the tape away and start over. If not, run it through again and transmit back to company Hqs. Every morning, we sent our sales reports from the previous day this way. Yeah, I know it’s not the internet, but that’s what passed for high-tech back in the day.

back in 95 i spent 8 plus hours a day on muds

The Pacific campaign is important in that it was the Japanese who attacked us…and occupied U.S. territory in the Aleutians, the Phillipines, Wake Island, and Guam among others. Even though we had German U-Boats operating off our Eastern coast and in the Caribbean, there was never any real probability of them invading…..not so with the Japanese, the threat was a credible one.

The sheer logistics of the Pacific campaign also mandated that the bulk of naval power be located there, and later in the war, we didn’t have aircraft carriers operating there…we had carrier FLEETS!

the following is from a neat website that compares the naval powers in the pacific:

Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 7 battleships and Japan produced 0.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 2 battle cruisers and Japan produced 0.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 17 aircraft carriers and Japan produced 12.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 42 escort carriers and Japan produced 0.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 4 heavy cruisers and Japan produced 0.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 21 light cruisers and Japan produced 6.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 246 destroyers and Japan produced 27.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 315 destroyer escorts and Japan produced 0.
Between 1941 and 1943, America produced 122 submarines and Japan produced 74.

Japan did indeed awaken a sleeping giant.

When I was growing up outside of Denver, my next door neighbor was a retired Navy pilot, he had flown off of Essex class carriers during the war. I used to go visit him a lot because he had all these great photographs and mementos from the war and I was just fascinated….He had an old leather flight jacket from his navy days and when we all went skiing together, that was the jacket he wore. When I turned 21 he gave me that jacket, as he said that I was the only one who still appreciated it……I still have it.

I’d also like to go visit some of those islands….walk the pier that separates red beach 2 and 3 at Tarawa, climb Mt. Suribachi while I still have the knees to do it, stand and stare at Umurbrogl mountain on Peleliu. There’s a lot of history on those god forsaken places, and an undying legacy as well. It’s a legacy summed up by James Forrestal as he watched the flag go up on Suribachi…..He was Secretary of the Navy at the time of the invasion, and he came ashore with General Holland “Howling Mad” Smith on Iwo Jima. As he saw the flag go up, he said to Gen Smith “Holland, this means a Marine Corps for another 500 years”. Talk about earning your legacy….The Marine Corps did it in spades, what an awesome feat.

I’ll watch The Pacific….have pretty much blown off what Hanks said and I’ll take the series at face value. I have TiVo already programmed to record it, and am reading the companion book to the series….it’s pretty good so far and not a hint of political correctness in it.

Here’s a couple of reading recommendations on the Pacific campaign:

Iwo Jima, Legacy of valor by Bill D. Ross

76 Hours, the invasion of Tarawa by Eric Hammel and John Lane

The Ultimate Battle, Okinawa 1945 by Bill Sloan

And this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2wye37sZiQ

May I recommend:

This

http://www.youtube.c.....eature=fvw

and this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oScT3WhCk8w

I will watch it (after it makes it to dvd-don’t have HBO) if only to better be able to judge the product and Hanks. That this was the largest engagement of armed,aerial, and seagoing forces, not only in terms of actual area covered, but in amounts of men and machines directly effecting the war effort in the PTO, I will be satisfied if he (Hanks) manages to get the overall spirit down pat, let alone the scope of what was taking place.

More importantly, if we are able to draw from this the obvious parallels to what we are facing, world wide, with the threat that is Islam, then we (“Collectively”; I know most folk here already get this) will perhaps be better able to finally recognize this threat, as a nation, and begin to properly address same. History does repeat itself.

Like I said in an earlier post, Hanks must have a brain tumor.

My Grandfather used to forget where he parked his car.

Hanks is forgetting where he parked his loyalty.

They both are and had an auto loss.

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

No better place to start to learn about the PTO.

Crunch, I wasn’t going to watch that series, but after reading what you just wrote, I can’t wait to see it. Your treatise was perceptive, gave insight and was downright fucking scholarly.