Happy Bockscar Day

[hotrod]

My father would have been supporting those landings.
After serving on PT boats he was transferred to a fast transport ship.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/04/04idx.htm

These ships were used in the latter part of the war to move urgent cargo to battle areas and support the UDT teams.
He would have been in the very thick of it and probably would have been faced with horrific last effort kamikaze assaults on the landing ships.
Being in close to shore they would have had very little warning of the approaching planes and the losses would have been worse than in Okinawa.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/kamikaze.htm

 The Kamikazes made their first appearance during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. By 1945, they were a terrifying threat, "the only weapon I feared in war," declared Admiral Halsey. Their most devastating attacks occurred during the battle for Okinawa where the suicide pilots inflicted the heaviest losses the US Navy ever suffered in a single battle.

The last suicide attack occurred AFTER the Japanese surrender when the commander of the kamikaze forces led a flight of eleven planes on an attack against US ships at Okinawa.

[manta22]

That horse looks like it could use a feed
G

You're right about that. In those days hardly anyone or anything got enough to eat in Japan. They were desperately poor and had expected to be treated without mercy like they treated their conquered peoples. General MacArthur was the military governor of Japan-- he essentially ruled Japan as a benevolent Shogun-- remote, authoritarian, and fair. Most people are surprised to know how respected he was by the Japanese-- second only to the Emperor himself. Throngs of Japanese would assemble outside his headquarters in the Dai- Ichi Building every day to see him enter or leave. It was good to be an American in those days.

Sorry for hijacking the thread--

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ