The Pacific War   

What We Didn't Know  

     Americans know the questionable judgments made by our military and civilian leaders in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

     Yours truly was going on 7 when WWII ended in 1945. I remember the announcement on radio. Growing up, I learned names of key people and places in both Europe and the Pacific. Our guys were always the good guys. MacArthur, Halsey, LeMay and others.

     But Capt. William Toti provides his study of the Pacific War in WORLD magazine, and the human cost of pride. Here are a few lines:

     "This kind of pride would lead, arguably, to at least 250,000 unnecessary deaths - Americans and allies, military and civilian - and delay peace in favor of individual military glory." 

     Gen. Curtis LeMay. "One of his infamous lines: 'There are no innocent civilians.' The general had spent the latter part of the war doing his best to eliminate as many civilians as possible."

     "What Gen. Nimitz did not foresee is that leadership, including President Roosevelt, would permit pride and glory-seeking to actively subvert ... a commonsense plan for victory." 

     "When Gen. MacArthur (then out of retirement) was evacuated from the Philippines, he made perhaps his most famous pronouncement, declaring, 'I shall return.' It was also his greatest strategic blunder. He didn't bother himself with strategic, interim objectives. He operated on ego. And many Americans loved it." 

     "Today, as we face a potential Pacific conflict with China, we learn that humility saves, and pride kills."

      MacArthur wasn't done. Five years later President Truman gave him authority to free South Korea, which worked. But his decision to invade North Korea brought countless Chinese into the battle. MacArthur's reaction was to go nuclear. Truman had enough.  

Continued tomorrow