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69 years ago this weekend . . .

nittany03

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
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LCDR John Waldron said:
“If there is only one plane left to make a final run-in, I want that man to go in and get a hit. May God be with us all. Good luck, happy landings, and give ‘em hell.”
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One man came back. Naval Aviation's finest hour, with help from our IW Brethren . . .

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And to think they did it without ORM, Positive Intrusive Leadership, or Political Correct Diversity Seminars.

The horror.

(I really need to work on that time machine)
 
MasterBates said:
And to think they did it without ORM, Positive Intrusive Leadership, or Political Correct Diversity Seminars.

The horror.

(I really need to work on that time machine)
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You do realize only one guy in the squadron survived that attack, right?
 
I'm talking about Naval Aviation as a whole.

They did what needed to be done. And they did not deal with needless bullshit.

I'd deal with those odds to fly with such men.
 
yeah, these days dropping all your bombs early due to a faulty switch would cause you to turn around, rearm, and try again. Fucking pansies...
 
We had Midway ceremony here in Newport. Our Info Pros took great pride in Midway, claiming (tongue in cheek) that the Cryppies won that battle!!
 
Here is a site that has some great info and interviews w/ folks who were there.

For anyone who is interested in the Battle of Midway, if you haven't read A Dawn Like Thunder yet, go out and buy it tonight. I could hardly put it down once I started reading it.
 
helolumpy said:
.... claiming (tongue in cheek) ...
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Not so tongue in check, we had a lot to do with it. We (On-the-Roof-Gang)were "plugged" into Japanese communications we had all the IJN battle plans, their logistics, and the battle readiness of the ships/squadrons in the armada. Down to name, rank and serial numbers of the IJN Pilots/Air Crews. We also knew that the Japanese commanders would doggedly stick to their battle plan, regardless. Parts of the cryppie files still remain classified.

That said it took a very large set of brass ones to make the critical decisions regarding the battle, relying heavily on the IJN message traffic (e.g., the cryppies could be wrong or message traffic was meant to deceive), as it was almost too good to be true. Of course, the real heros, the folks that did win that battle were the men that few the airplanes and those that supported them.

Just my .02c worth.
 
Not taking the bait in the Aluetians and commiting all 3 Carriers to Midway indeed took big brass ones. Nimitz clanked loudly. Also give FDR credit for trusting the command in the field(right tetm for Navy?).

AF=Midway.
 
The way I understand it, calling the Aleutian "diversion" a diversion would be something of a misnomer. I can't remember if the battle groups going to Midway got there a day late or if the Aleutian invasion force got there a day early, but they were supposed to happen simultaneously. It obviously didn't make a difference either way. It wouldn't have made any sense to send anything north toward Alaska when we knew the Japanese were coming for Midway. Midway threatened Hawaii. The Aleutians threatened nothing of any strategic importance. Nimitz did the logical thing and put his cards where he did and got wildly lucky.
 
Re: Torpedo Eight

If you react with bravery in a split second, that's the result of good training.
If you act with bravery while flying in to the target, watching your friends being shot down, one after another, and you have time to think about all of it yet you press on in spite of it all, well, that's courage.

Training doesn't give you courage. Character gives you courage.
 
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