On Turning Points

I have just discovered the Turning Point of the War in the Pacific of WWII as the Battle of the Bulge can be said to have been in the European Theater of Operations of that war.  It is from a letter that I have just received, that begins,

“Dear Fellow American,

“This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the largest naval battle in world history — yet you probably won’t hear a peep about it in the media.(1) 

“In fact, most Americans have never even heard of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.”

That includes me.  I care.  Tell me.

“This is an insult to the thousands of brave sailors who fought against incredible odds to strike a decisive blow against the Imperial Japanese Navy.

        “THE BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF

“This battle put the final nail in the coffin of Imperial Japan’s once-mighty navy.  But victory at Leyte Gulf was far from a sure thing…”

Settled in?  Here goes:

“It was the fall of 1944, and the Imperial Navy was on the ropes.  Japan had devoted most of its remaining forces to maintaining control over the island nation of the Philippines.

“Japan needed the Philippines in order to transport crucial oil and rubber supples from Borneo and Sumatra.  If the U.S. succeeded in re-capturing the Philippines, the Japanese war machine would grind to a screeching halt.

“On October 20, 1944, General [Douglas] MacArthur landed a force of 100,000 American soldiers on Leyte island, making good on his vow to return and liberate the island nation.  [A great footnote to that whole story.]  

“The biggest threat to the invasion came from the Imperial Navy.  If Japan’s ships could get close enough to Leyte Island, they would unleash hellfire on our soldiers.  American troops would die by the thousands, and the invasion would fail.”

Got it.  Fair enough point.  Moving on:

“The Third Fleet, under the control of Admiral William Halsey, was tasked with ensuring this didn’t happen.

“Halsey was eager for the chance to strike the final blow against the Japanese Navy.  He knew that if Japan was defeated in the Philippines, victory in the Pacific would be all but guaranteed.

“Unfortunately, Admiral Halsey was a bit too eager to rush towards battle, and he ended up making…

          “A CRUCIAL MISTAKE THAT WOULD CHANGE HISTORY(2)

“A few days after the U.S. ground invasion had begun, Adm. Halsey detected a small group of Imperial aircraft carriers to the North of Leyte Island.  Halsey was certain his moment of glory had come at last.(3)

“Mobilizing the entire Third Fleet, Adm. Halsey steamed full speed to intercept the Japanese ships to the North.  He left behind Taffy 3, a small tsk force unit of just 13 ships, to protect the ground forces landing on Leyte Island.

“Halsey thought this was his chance to put the final nail in the coffin of Japan’s reign of terror in the Pacific.

“He was wrong.”

(The suspense is not killing.  But still…)

            “HALSEY’S MOVE PLAYED RIGHT INTO JAPAN’S HANDS

“Japan’s small Northern Force was a decoy, designed to lure Halsey and his fleet away from Leyte Island — and the plan worked.

“As Halsey’s fleet steamed full speed towards the decoy, Japan’s main fleet approached the island from the west, forming a classic pincher formation.(4)

“In a matter of hours, Japan’s powerful Navy would be in the position to bombard the American troops on Leyte island with overwhelming firepower.  The lives of thousands of soldiers — and the outcome of the War - was hanging in the balance.

“Taffy 3 was the only force standing in the way.

            “IT WAS A TRUE DAVID AND GOLIATH MATCH UP

“Taffy 3 was composed mostly of destroyer escort ships, which the sailors referred to as ‘tin cans’ because of their lack of armor.

“The Japanese fleet, on the other hand, had twice as many ships as Taffy 3.  Crucially, Japan’s guns and armor were vastly superior to anything found in the small American task force unit…

“When the sailors of Taffy 3 saw the Japanese fleet advancing, many assumed they wouldn’t live through the day…(5) 

            ‘WHAT FOLLOWED WAS AN ALL-OUT BRAWL.

“The small American force launched everything they had at the Japanese.  If they were going to die, they were determined to die fighting…

“After four hours of sustained battle, nearly every ship in Taffy 3 was sunk or severely damaged…but they were victorious!

“The Japanese lsat six heavy cruisers and one destroyer, forcing them into retreat.

“The once-mighty Imperial Japanese Navy suffered its final blow of World War II — not at the hands of the legendary Halsey, but rather by a group of woefully outnumbered sailors who willingly charged into the jaws of death to defend freedom.”

A rousing end to the story.  Unfortunately, that was not the only enemy that the U.S. was to face, from then on…

First was the Soviet Union, and its plans for ‘international socialism’ to be fastened on the entire planet.  Fortunately it, too, passed from the scene, without having accomplished its goal.  But not without a lot of pain, that outlived it, and broke out in a rash in places like Korea and Vietnam.

And speaking of rashes…Another enemy of the U.S.’s has been one from the inside of the nation.  An enemy which has cloaked itself with the veneer of doing good for humanity.  But which is, really, as ruthless as any other that we have ever faced.  I refer to Big Pharma.

On the way to referring to the New World Order crowd.  With their long-term plans for a global gulag.  In which everybody is equal, and some are more equal than others.  The corral to be run by those who would be our erstwhile masters, running their fiefdom with an iron fist.       

Until the spirit of America at its best rises up to rout them.  As has happened before.

And will this time as well. 

P.S. The letter, which reads much like others of its fundraising genre,(6) was written over the name of Captain James A. Lovell, USN (Ret.), and former NASA Astronaut.  The letter of which categories brings up again the subject of battles.  And with Truth.  With the enemies of Truth needing to be outed.  And defeated.  All such, having had their day in the sun.  With all things now needing to be set to rights.

     And by setting things to rights,

     I mean just that. 

—

footnotes:

(1) Emphases in the original throughout.

(2) Admiral ‘Bull’ Halsey my generation had heard of, with his quiet, unassuming, dogged determination to take the battle to the enemy.  But this story I hadn’t heard about before.  Tell me more, I thought, getting more intrigued by the minute.

(3) Objection.  Supposition  But to continue.

(4) Pincher?  Shouldn’t that be ‘pincer’??  But maybe that term just had to do with the German front.  

(5) Fair enough assumption.  And on the part of the author of this piece.  (More on which, below.)

(6) This one for a National Museum of the American Sailor.  A worthy cause.  As this story demonstrates so well.