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A review by p010ne
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley
3.0
Much like Clive Cussler In "Corsair" attributes the Libyan conflict to colonial era anti-piracy actions, James Bradley ties the origin (and the final surrender ceremony of the Empire of the Rising Sun) to the Commodore Perry incidents.
My teenage years in Kansas preceded my entire WWII experience so I was indoctrinated to propaganda in much of my exposure to propaganda in movies, radio and comic books (Captain America and the such)! I had wondered about the interest in Shangri-La (I seem to recall that was the answer to some radio show contest at the time) so it is informative that FDR ascribed the origin launch of the Doolittle bombers to that mythic site. It was fortunate that Dutchman is reported to have championed the flyboy effort (a la General Billy Mitchell) in apparent opposition to his military advisers!
Those Nippon advisers to that Hirohito Emperor (who is reported to have been immune to the war crimes trial) were clever in never declaring war so that they thought they were not bound by international wartime agreements. Certainly war is inhumane and it seems that pacifist ideals have to be ignored in some circumstances; however, Bradley has researched and reported the graphic details of both sides of this conflict.
I had always thought that the suicidal Nippon fliers were kamakazi and did not know that actually refers to a wind effect in the Sea of Japan - it would have been beneficial to the allied efforts of that time if the tsunami 0f March 11, 2011 had occurred some time during WWII!
My wife and I have cruised to and toured both the currently thriving Hiroshima and Nagasaki and been amazed at the recovery in those regions. There has been so much propaganda about nuclear effects; however, Bradley points up the greater effectiveness of those M69 napalm bombs (too bad Doolittle did not have access to them)?
My teenage years in Kansas preceded my entire WWII experience so I was indoctrinated to propaganda in much of my exposure to propaganda in movies, radio and comic books (Captain America and the such)! I had wondered about the interest in Shangri-La (I seem to recall that was the answer to some radio show contest at the time) so it is informative that FDR ascribed the origin launch of the Doolittle bombers to that mythic site. It was fortunate that Dutchman is reported to have championed the flyboy effort (a la General Billy Mitchell) in apparent opposition to his military advisers!
Those Nippon advisers to that Hirohito Emperor (who is reported to have been immune to the war crimes trial) were clever in never declaring war so that they thought they were not bound by international wartime agreements. Certainly war is inhumane and it seems that pacifist ideals have to be ignored in some circumstances; however, Bradley has researched and reported the graphic details of both sides of this conflict.
I had always thought that the suicidal Nippon fliers were kamakazi and did not know that actually refers to a wind effect in the Sea of Japan - it would have been beneficial to the allied efforts of that time if the tsunami 0f March 11, 2011 had occurred some time during WWII!
My wife and I have cruised to and toured both the currently thriving Hiroshima and Nagasaki and been amazed at the recovery in those regions. There has been so much propaganda about nuclear effects; however, Bradley points up the greater effectiveness of those M69 napalm bombs (too bad Doolittle did not have access to them)?