Download or read book From Texas to Tinian and Tokyo Bay written by Jonathan Templin Ritter and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2019-11-15 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of J. R. Ritter (1902-1994), a civil engineer from Texas who became a U.S. Navy Seabee officer during World War II. For his memoir he preserved personal papers, letters, photos, and other items, many of which are reproduced in this book. His narrative is edited and annotated by his grandson, Jonathan Templin Ritter. The U.S. Naval Construction Battalions, known as the “Seabees,” were formed in March 1942. Their duties were to build military facilities and airfields overseas, in both the European and Pacific Theaters. In the Pacific Theater alone, including the Aleutians, the Seabees built 111 major airstrips, 441 piers, 2258 ammunition magazines, and much more. Ritter tells the story of two Seabee Battalions, one in the Aleutians and one in the Central Pacific. He describes the Aleutian Islands Campaign during 1942-1943, when there was a real concern that Japan might try to attack Alaska and the continental United States through the “back door.” Ritter also gives an eyewitness account of the building of the airfields on Tinian Island in the Northern Marianas that enabled the B-29 fire raids on Japan—the “Empire Run”—which culminated in the two missions that dropped the atomic bombs in August 1945, ending the Pacific War. This book provides a major contribution to the wartime literature about the Seabees, those brave, resourceful, and hard-working American patriots, whose mottos were “Can do!” and “The difficult we do now; the impossible takes a little longer.”

Download or read book World War II at Sea written by Craig L. Symonds and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-02 with total page 793 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author of Lincoln and His Admirals (winner of the Lincoln Prize), The Battle of Midway (Best Book of the Year, Military History Quarterly), and Operation Neptune, (winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature), Craig L. Symonds has established himself as one of the finest naval historians at work today. World War II at Sea represents his crowning achievement: a complete narrative of the naval war and all of its belligerents, on all of the world's oceans and seas, between 1939 and 1945. Opening with the 1930 London Conference, Symonds shows how any limitations on naval warfare would become irrelevant before the decade was up, as Europe erupted into conflict once more and its navies were brought to bear against each other. World War II at Sea offers a global perspective, focusing on the major engagements and personalities and revealing both their scale and their interconnection: the U-boat attack on Scapa Flow and the Battle of the Atlantic; the "miracle" evacuation from Dunkirk and the pitched battles for control of Norway fjords; Mussolini's Regia Marina-at the start of the war the fourth-largest navy in the world-and the dominance of the Kidö Butai and Japanese naval power in the Pacific; Pearl Harbor then Midway; the struggles of the Russian Navy and the scuttling of the French Fleet in Toulon in 1942; the landings in North Africa and then Normandy. Here as well are the notable naval leaders-FDR and Churchill, both self-proclaimed "Navy men," Karl Dönitz, François Darlan, Ernest King, Isoroku Yamamoto, Erich Raeder, Inigo Campioni, Louis Mountbatten, William Halsey, as well as the hundreds of thousands of seamen and officers of all nationalities whose live were imperiled and lost during the greatest naval conflicts in history, from small-scale assaults and amphibious operations to the largest armadas ever assembled. Many have argued that World War II was dominated by naval operations; few have shown and how and why this was the case. Symonds combines precision with story-telling verve, expertly illuminating not only the mechanics of large-scale warfare on (and below) the sea but offering wisdom into the nature of the war itself.

Download or read book 5000 Miles Towards Tokyo written by Green Peyton and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-19 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the United States won the Naval Struggle in the Pacific... HERE AT LAST IS THE ACCOUNT OF the brilliant but hitherto undescribed strategy which carried American amphibious forces from the American West coast to the gates of Tokyo. Written by Green Peyton, novelist, journalist, and most recently a naval officer in the Pacific, it tells why Japan was already on her knees when the first atomic bomb landed and Russia marched on Manchuria. Within one year, the United States changed from a nation fighting a delaying or defensive war in the Pacific to an aggressive, offensive force. The story of this amphibious war in the Pacific is told through Air Group 60 on the converted tanker Suwannee, whose members took part in every important invasion from Tarawa in November 1943, which was the Navy’s first major offensive against Japan, to Leyte in October 1944, which was the climax of the naval war in the East. Other actions included the invasion of Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Hollandia, Saipan, Guam, and Morotai. These actions carried the United States Navy from Hawaii to Asia. The Suwannee and other carriers and the air groups aboard these specialized in amphibious operations, covering the Marine and Army landings on the beaches, protecting the beach heads until new fields for fighter aircraft were in operation on shore. Thus the book is, in effect, a history of the amphibious campaigns in the Pacific and a fascinating analysis of the strategy employed by Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur, as well as an intimate narrative of the life and exploits of the intrepid airmen of Air Group 60. It provides brief word-sketches of the men who make up the Navy, from admirals down to the brave, hard-working, rarely publicized mechanics, gunners, and air crewmen. For the layman this book is the payoff on invasion tactics. The narrative shows exactly how a complex invasion armada carried out its landings on hostile beaches.

Download or read book The High Road to Tokyo Bay written by Daniel Haulman and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1996-07 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses on the U.S. Army Air Forces' tactical operations in Asia and the Pacific areas during World War II. Examines the context of Allied strategy, American air and naval operations, and ground campaigns. Subjects include: the "flying tigers" and airlift save China, Burma and China conflicts, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Philippines, Rabaul, land-based air power vs. Japanese shipping, the invasion of Borneo, and more. Maps of battles and attacks. Photos of ships and planes. Suggested readings.

Download or read book The Wilsonian Persuasion in American Foreign Policy written by Matthew C. Price and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this remarkably well-written book, Dr. Price examines the epochal transformation of the United States from a largely isolationist nation, to one which has come to play a central role in world affairs, using its vast political resources and, in the final analysis, its military capabilities, to dramatically alter the world order in the twentieth century. This shift required the active promotion of internationalism by key political leaders such as Woodrow Wilson himself, Franklin Roosevelt, and others, often in response to the shifting facts of global power, and working tirelessly to sway American public opinion toward greater involvement in the global arena. When Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that the United States should make the world "safe for democracy," he was enunciating a vision of national duty, already latent in Americans' ideals, which would frame U.S. foreign policy for generations. The book provides a detailed account of one of the great turning points in American and world history, the American embrace of globalism.

Download or read book The Advancement of Liberty written by Matthew C. Price and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2007-12-30 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a counterpoint to the prevailing view that the United States is an imperialist nation that has violently pursued power in the world to advance its own narrow interests. The basic theme is that at the dawn of the 20th century, there were six democracies in the world, but by century's end, democracy was ascendant. This epic historical transformation has been thanks in great measure to the vision and sacrifices made by Americans. Matthew C. Price examines the great conflicts of the 20th century, showing how American democratic principles have utterly reshaped global values and politics. The defeat of fascism and imperialism in World War II led to the Marshall Plan, the single most influential rebuilding program in human history. The fostering of democracy in Japan, the establishment of the UN, and the fall of the Soviet Union reshaped the world in unforeseen ways. America has dedicated itself to democracy in the Middle East, to democratization in China, and to the larger quest for the spread of liberal democratic principles worldwide, even when the struggle is difficult, dangerous, and ongoing. Early in the century, Woodrow Wilson said that America should make the world safe for democracy. In taking up that challenge, the United States changed human history.

Download or read book Unconditional Defeat written by Thomas W. Zeiler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unconditional Defeat-the second book in a Pacific War trilogy that is part of SR Books' Total War series-examines the concluding stages of World War II in Asia and the Pacific, from November 1943 until September 1945. Thomas W. Zeiler argues that this "war without mercy" could only come to one conclusion: the complete, unconditional defeat of Japan by a mobilized, overwhelming, vengeful United States. Zeiler describes these final 22 months of the Pacific War as a story of contrasts. While the U.S. launched a methodical, smothering attack with all the means at its disposal, Japan fought a fierce yet hopeless defense with diminishing supplies. By November 1943, Japan lacked the necessities not just for victory, as in the earlier phases of the war, but for adequate defense. The Japanese had no options. The strategic planning rested with the Americans. Zeiler's gripping and thorough overview discusses other contrasts between the two foes. The Americans planned multiple advances in the Pacific Ocean and on the Asian mainland. They used a massive number of troops, devised and adopted new amphibious techniques, and deployed the new nuclear category of weapons. The Japanese stubbornly but desperately clung to their territory, often with the basest of defenses. By August 1945, the United States' forces at sea, on land, and in the air had brought Japan near complete defeat. In addition, the Japanese Empire was diplomatically isolated. Japanese politics was in turmoil, the government faced rebellion, and the Emperor stood on the brink of extinction. Wracked by the destruction of the homeland from the air and blockade by sea, Japanese society veered near chaos and the people peered into the abyss of an uncertain future. In the meantime, America's military had experienced such horrors at the hands of Japan that the U.S. made the difficult decision to unleash the atomic bomb. Despite the stark differences between the U.S. and Japan, argues Zeiler, there was one aspect of the war that both sides held i

Download or read book From Whaleboats to Amphibious Warfare written by Ann Cipriano Venzon and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2003-02-28 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of Holland Smith's career in the Marine Corps follows its evolution from an insular constabulary at the turn of the 20th century to a juggernaut, landing American troops island by island in vital amphibious engagements up to 1945. Serving in important assignments from the Philippines to China to Latin America, Smith became deeply involved in the development of amphibious strategy and tactics, as well as in the creation of proper landing craft by the early 1930s. After Pearl Harbor, the Marines would turn to him to plan and lead operations in the Gilberts, the Marianas, and the Volcano Islands, culminating in the epic operation at Iwo Jima. Venzon details the life of this quiet, modest man who, she contends, deliberately cultivated the persona of an irascible, unreasonable perfectionist, in an effort to do everything possible to protect the Marines under his command. Smith braved malaria and dengue fever in the Philippines, sailed through the backwaters of post-Manchu China, and fought in the earliest banana wars in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. After World War I, he was the first Marine to attend the General Staff College at Langres, and from then on became am important member of 4th Marine Brigade Staff, and later on the staff of the army's I Corps. Here, he learned that war in the new century would be as much about planning, logistics, communications, and intelligence as it was about brute force. Upon his return to the United States, he attended both the Naval War College and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. By 1940, he commanded the First Marine Division. His deliberately explosive behavior, however, would ultimately push him out of the circle of legendary World War II leaders.

Download or read book Camp Colt to Desert Storm written by George F. Hofmann and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-04-23 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This history of American armored warfare through the twentieth century “boasts some of the best available analysis of mobile war as practiced by the US" (Publishers Weekly). Camp Colt to Desert Storm is the only complete history of US armed forces from the advent of the tank in battle during World War I to the campaign to drive Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991. With comprehensive analysis, it traces the development of doctrine for operations at the tactical and operational levels of war and assesses how this fighting doctrine translates into the development of equipment. Beginning with the Army’s first tank school, Camp Colt in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, this volume examines how armored warfare effected and was influenced by the evolution of twentieth-century combat. The tank revolutionized the battlefield in World War II. In the years since, developments such as nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, computer assisted firing, and satellite navigation have continued to transform armored warfare’s role in combat.

Download or read book Army Talk written by and published by . This book was released on 1944 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sweet Pea at War written by William Thomas GenerousJr. and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2010-09-12 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few ships in American history have had as illustrious a history as the heavy cruiser USS Portland (CA-33), affectionately known by her crew as 'Sweet Pea.' With the destructionof most of the U.S. battleship fleet at Pearl Harbor, cruisers such as Sweet Pea carried the biggest guns the Navy possessed for nearly a year after the start of World War II. Sweet Pea at War describes in harrowing detail how Portland and her sisters protected the precious carriers and held the line against overwhelming Japanese naval strength. Portland was instrumental in the dramatic American victories at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, and the naval battle of Guadalcanal—conflicts that historians regard as turning points in the Pacific war. She rescued nearly three thousand sailors from sunken ships, some of them while she herself was badly damaged. Only a colossal hurricane ended her career, but she sailed home from that, too. Based on extensive research in official documents and interviews with members of the ship's crew, Sweet Pea at War recounts from launching to scrapping the history of USS Portland, demonstrating that she deserves to be remembered as one of the most important ships in U.S. naval history.

Download or read book Naval Aviation News written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book World War II on Film written by David Luhrssen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2020-11-09 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War II on Film examines the war through the lens of 12 films. The movies selected include productions made during World War II and in each succeeding decade, providing a sense of how different generations perceive the war. World War II on Film provides a succinct yet well-grounded appraisal of that war as seen through 12 representative films. The book separates fact from fiction, showing where the movies were accurate and where they departed from reality, and places them in the larger context of historical and social events. Each movie chosen represents a particular aspect of the conflict, including the air war over Europe, the condition of prisoners of war, Nazi atrocities, and the British evacuation at Dunkirk. Unlike most histories of Hollywood during World War II or the genre of war movies, World War II on Film examines in depth the relation between the depictions of events, beliefs, attitudes, and ways of life as seen on film with reality as documented by historians or recorded by journalists or eye-witnesses to the war. The volume will appeal to high school and college readers, as well as general interest readers and film buffs.

Download or read book LIFE written by and published by . This book was released on 1943-12-13 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.

Download or read book The Great Pacific Victory from the Solomons to Tokyo written by Gilbert Cant and published by New York, Day [1946]. This book was released on 1946 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book USMC M4A2 Sherman vs Japanese Type 95 Ha Go written by Romain Cansière and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-02-18 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The different national tank doctrines of the United States and Imperial Japan resulted in a terrible mismatch of the predominant tank types in the crucial Central Pacific campaign. A flawed Japanese doctrine emphasized light infantry support tanks, often used in small numbers. Tactically, tanks were often frittered away in armored versions of the familiar banzai attacks. Meanwhile, the Americans saw the tank as an infantry support weapon, but developed a more systematic tactical doctrine. They settled upon a larger medium tank – in the case of most Marine Corps tank battalions, the diesel-powered M4A2 (unwanted by the US Army). This superbly detailed title reveals how both the two sides' tactical and technical differences in the approach to armored warfare soon became apparent over a series of deadly engagements, from the first tank fight at the battle of Tarawa in November 1943, through to engagements on Parry Island, Saipan, and Guam, before ending with Peleliu in September 1944.

Download or read book The World in Arms written by and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 1032 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: