The Japanese view of Americans is that they would not fight. In fact, the Japanese had enjoyed great success up until July 1942. The battle for Port Moresby, New Guinea, and the subsequent fighting along the Kokoda Track remains one of the most understated Allied achievements of the war. It was along this track that earlier I referenced an Australian soldier, hobbling along on one leg - the other had been blown off. When asked why he refused help along the 60-mile track, the young man replied that there were other soldiers worse off than he.
Significantly, it was at the Battle for Port Moresby, along the Kokoda Track, that the Japanese experienced their first defeat on land. Folks, the Japanese Imperial Army was first halted on land by an ill-prepared militia of Australian defenders. This defeat was simple logistics - as the enemy's supply line became stretched to exhaustion, the Aussies regained the initiative and pushed them back, despite the Japanese being within a stone's throw of the strategic port. This marked a slight, but significant turning point in the Pacific Theatre.
One of the two major land battles that saved strategic Port Moresby was the failed Japanese Landing at Milne Bay. This amphibious assault failed, despite the Japanese having enjoyed complete control of the sea to evacuate and reinforce their forces as desired. Secondly, the landing force was comprised of elite Japanese marines, supported by light tanks - an advantage the Allies did not have. However, the Aussies did have complete air superiority, and an advantage in numbers. After nearly two weeks of incessant fighting, the Japanese High Command issued an order for withdrawal. Of this little known and overlooked victory, British Field Marshal Sir William Slim remarked, "Australian troops had, at Milne Bay in New Guinea, inflicted on the Japanese their first undoubted defeat on land. ... Some of us may forget that of all the Allies it was the Australian soldiers who first broke the spell of the invincibility of the Japanese Army."
The Australians were not alone, however. Also of significance was the arrival of elements from the U.S. 32nd Division, which was comprised by joining almost all of Wisconsin's and Michigan's National Guard Units. Long before the atomic bombs were dropped, long before Iwo Jima, before Tarawa and even Guadacanal, American boys from the farms of the Midwest fought back a supposedly "undefeatable" army. As I alluded to last week, the army they faced was unmatched in its brutality. All of the 39 Australian troops and 59 civilians captured by the Japanese at Milne Bay were murdered. Some were mutilated.
In a testament typical to the actions of Japanese soldiers in World War II, Sgt. Arthur Traill of the Australian Army wrote this statement: "Lying across the [air]strip were dozens of dead Japs. ... As our officer crossed in the vanguard, a Jap, apparently wounded, cried out for help. The officer walked over to aid him, and as he did the Jap sprang to life and hurled a grenade, which wounded him in the face."
Faced by such treachery, the Allies in the Pacific Campaign had little choice but to proceed with brutal, vicious caution. Sgt. Traill continued, "From then on the only good Jap was a dead one, and although they tried the same trick again and again throughout the campaign, they were dispatched before they had time to use their grenade. Our policy was to watch any apparent dead, shoot at the slightest sign of life and stab with bayonet even the ones who appeared to be rotten. It was all out from then on, neither side showing any quarter and no prisoners were taken" (http://www.nationmaster. com/encyclopedia/Battle-of-Milne-Bay).
As mentioned last week, the Pacific campaign contains some of the bloodiest and costliest fighting of World War II. It is from New Guinea forward that we will examine the Pacific campaign. Folks, once again I had the pleasure of sitting down with some friends of mine, people who actually were there to witness the actions throughout the Pacific. Some of the stories that follow contain unexpected humor, whereas some are graphically brutal. But, all are relevant.
The stories and perspectives are relevant, because they illustrate what this country, and her people, is capable of. Folks, it was not long ago that I wrote of the conditions that shaped people during the Great Depression - the difficult financial times, the harsh winters, the Dust Bowl, and the family farm. This was a generation that had grown up learning to live without, to make due, and most notably, how to rely on oneself. More so than subsequent generations, this age group knew the value of a strong family background. This was a generation that contrasted entirely with the militaristic, imperial nature of the enemy they would soon be fighting.
The American youth during the 1930s and 1940s recalls going to church every Sunday to worship God. They were taught individuality, yet retained a strong sense of the value of life. Their counterparts in the Pacific believed that their emperor was a descendant of God. They were brainwashed in military boot camps to believe that their life was worthless, and that dying for the emperor was glorious. Moreover, they were brainwashed into believing that foreigners were subhuman, and that all lands belonged, by right, to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Tune in next week, as the Japanese illusion of American cowardice is shattered.
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
Significantly, it was at the Battle for Port Moresby, along the Kokoda Track, that the Japanese experienced their first defeat on land. Folks, the Japanese Imperial Army was first halted on land by an ill-prepared militia of Australian defenders. This defeat was simple logistics - as the enemy's supply line became stretched to exhaustion, the Aussies regained the initiative and pushed them back, despite the Japanese being within a stone's throw of the strategic port. This marked a slight, but significant turning point in the Pacific Theatre.
One of the two major land battles that saved strategic Port Moresby was the failed Japanese Landing at Milne Bay. This amphibious assault failed, despite the Japanese having enjoyed complete control of the sea to evacuate and reinforce their forces as desired. Secondly, the landing force was comprised of elite Japanese marines, supported by light tanks - an advantage the Allies did not have. However, the Aussies did have complete air superiority, and an advantage in numbers. After nearly two weeks of incessant fighting, the Japanese High Command issued an order for withdrawal. Of this little known and overlooked victory, British Field Marshal Sir William Slim remarked, "Australian troops had, at Milne Bay in New Guinea, inflicted on the Japanese their first undoubted defeat on land. ... Some of us may forget that of all the Allies it was the Australian soldiers who first broke the spell of the invincibility of the Japanese Army."
The Australians were not alone, however. Also of significance was the arrival of elements from the U.S. 32nd Division, which was comprised by joining almost all of Wisconsin's and Michigan's National Guard Units. Long before the atomic bombs were dropped, long before Iwo Jima, before Tarawa and even Guadacanal, American boys from the farms of the Midwest fought back a supposedly "undefeatable" army. As I alluded to last week, the army they faced was unmatched in its brutality. All of the 39 Australian troops and 59 civilians captured by the Japanese at Milne Bay were murdered. Some were mutilated.
In a testament typical to the actions of Japanese soldiers in World War II, Sgt. Arthur Traill of the Australian Army wrote this statement: "Lying across the [air]strip were dozens of dead Japs. ... As our officer crossed in the vanguard, a Jap, apparently wounded, cried out for help. The officer walked over to aid him, and as he did the Jap sprang to life and hurled a grenade, which wounded him in the face."
Faced by such treachery, the Allies in the Pacific Campaign had little choice but to proceed with brutal, vicious caution. Sgt. Traill continued, "From then on the only good Jap was a dead one, and although they tried the same trick again and again throughout the campaign, they were dispatched before they had time to use their grenade. Our policy was to watch any apparent dead, shoot at the slightest sign of life and stab with bayonet even the ones who appeared to be rotten. It was all out from then on, neither side showing any quarter and no prisoners were taken" (http://www.nationmaster. com/encyclopedia/Battle-of-Milne-Bay).
As mentioned last week, the Pacific campaign contains some of the bloodiest and costliest fighting of World War II. It is from New Guinea forward that we will examine the Pacific campaign. Folks, once again I had the pleasure of sitting down with some friends of mine, people who actually were there to witness the actions throughout the Pacific. Some of the stories that follow contain unexpected humor, whereas some are graphically brutal. But, all are relevant.
The stories and perspectives are relevant, because they illustrate what this country, and her people, is capable of. Folks, it was not long ago that I wrote of the conditions that shaped people during the Great Depression - the difficult financial times, the harsh winters, the Dust Bowl, and the family farm. This was a generation that had grown up learning to live without, to make due, and most notably, how to rely on oneself. More so than subsequent generations, this age group knew the value of a strong family background. This was a generation that contrasted entirely with the militaristic, imperial nature of the enemy they would soon be fighting.
The American youth during the 1930s and 1940s recalls going to church every Sunday to worship God. They were taught individuality, yet retained a strong sense of the value of life. Their counterparts in the Pacific believed that their emperor was a descendant of God. They were brainwashed in military boot camps to believe that their life was worthless, and that dying for the emperor was glorious. Moreover, they were brainwashed into believing that foreigners were subhuman, and that all lands belonged, by right, to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Tune in next week, as the Japanese illusion of American cowardice is shattered.
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
