Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2

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NotBigBrother

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You may be right. Although the same can be said of organized religion...believe like us or die (physically or spiritually). I don't remember who said it but..Evil people will do evil things, but for good people to do evil they need religion.
Religion or quasireligion like marxism-leninism.
 

formion

Banned
I think the conversation is quite a bit derailed. We have the Battle of Sicily and the US Army in Palawan and Bataan. These are huge and interesting topics to discuss. Lets avoid religion talks.
 

NotBigBrother

Monthly Donor
I think the conversation is quite a bit derailed. We have the Battle of Sicily and the US Army in Palawan and Bataan. These are huge and interesting topics to discuss. Lets avoid religion talks.
It all started as discussion about use of condoms in prevention of STDs among military personal (after story 2057). So yes, quite a bit derailed.
 
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The point being made was that the military, like religion, can be used for good or ill. World War Two..from the Allies POV, is an example of a Good War (as defined by St. Augustine). Of course the Axis claimed the war was forced on them. I hope I'm wrong, but a few years ago I believe I read that the Japanese still teach that we forced them into war with our embargoes and so forth. Anyone know how the war is taught in Japan?
 
The point being made was that the military, like religion, can be used for good or ill. World War Two..from the Allies POV, is an example of a Good War (as defined by St. Augustine). Of course the Axis claimed the war was forced on them. I hope I'm wrong, but a few years ago I believe I read that the Japanese still teach that we forced them into war with our embargoes and so forth. Anyone know how the war is taught in Japan?

I don't know exactly how it's taught, but I do know that it's still a bone of centention, and that memorials to the "comfort women," (though I prefer to use a much harsher term) create controversey to this day. In 2017, San Francisco put up a memorial to the these victims of sexual slavery, and the mayor of Osaka ended the sister city relationship with San Francisco.

Japan was also involved, from what I read on Wiki, in the removal of a comfort women memorial in Manila.

There's still controversy into how history about the war is taught.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_history_textbook_controversies
 
I don't know exactly how it's taught, but I do know that it's still a bone of centention, and that memorials to the "comfort women," (though I prefer to use a much harsher term) create controversey to this day. In 2017, San Francisco put up a memorial to the these victims of sexual slavery, and the mayor of Osaka ended the sister city relationship with San Francisco.

Japan was also involved, from what I read on Wiki, in the removal of a comfort women memorial in Manila.
Historical revisionism is a hell of a drug, ain't it.
 
Now that I'm retired I have all sorts of great ideas about how other people should teach history. Something that all the technology would allow that I didn't have access to would be to team teach with teachers from other regions (the Civil War, for instance), or countries (the World Wars, colonialism, the American Revolution, current events, etc) The time zones obviously would cause a problem but you could tape lessons and so on. I had a bit of a taste of this teaching American history on an Indian Reservation in North Dakota for two years. Plenty of, "What do you mean, 'We', Mr. Hansen?"
 
Story 2060

Recife, Brazil May 22, 1943



The Navy Commander saluted. His counterpart returned the honor and then shook hands. The American patrol training squadron was standing down. Its aircraft and the base were now officially Brazilian. This did not mean that no more Americans would be flying long, low level patrols over the South Atlantic as many of the aircraft scheduled for tomorrow would have at least a pair of Americans still aboard as pilots or instructors, but it did mean that their authority was now more limited as their trainees were now expected to be able to operate on their own.
 
Story 2061

Peoria, Illinois May 23, 1943



Dozens of polished steel vats, fermenters and sills filled the former warehouse. Women in hair nets and masks cleaned the floor and every surface on the hour. They chatted as they went through the rigorous and monotonous routine as men and women drained flasks and swirled mixtures around. Outside of the warehouse, trucks came and went, many dropping off corn steep that was no longer needed to make corn starch, and others placing crates of sterile equipment on the loading dock.


Hundreds of men and women were straining every part of their being for life. It was for life of little mold colonies. It was for life of the sick. It was for life of the wounded. It was for the hope of their brothers. It was for hope of their sons. They continued to work.
 
It was the expertise from the brewing industry that allowed the significant production of penicillin as illustrated here. Of note is a significant amount of penicillin is not metabolized and is passed out in the urine, and initially this urine was saved to recover the penicillin.
 
Peoria, Illinois May 23, 1943


Dozens of polished steel vats, fermenters and sills filled the former warehouse. Women in hair nets and masks cleaned the floor and every surface on the hour. They chatted as they went through the rigorous and monotonous routine as men and women drained flasks and swirled mixtures around. Outside of the warehouse, trucks came and went, many dropping off corn steep that was no longer needed to make corn starch, and others placing crates of sterile equipment on the loading dock.


Hundreds of men and women were straining every part of their being for life. It was for life of little mold colonies. It was for life of the sick. It was for life of the wounded. It was for the hope of their brothers. It was for hope of their sons. They continued to work.
Developed at the Peoria Agricultural Lab, which still exists, and does great work (10 miles from me), despite some recent attempts to close it. Warehouses were previously used for alcohol production and storage.
 
Story 2062

40 miles east of Tokyo, May 24, 1943



The submarine USS Grampus shook again. Another pattern of depth charges were heard entering the water just moments after the concussive shock of these near misses stopped rattling the boat. Her skipper looked at the battery gauge. He could buy one more evasive sprint and then they could only hope for darkness.

Seven knots for seven minutes. It was not much, but it was the best that the battered boat could do. Now the batteries were draining slowly at only minimum hotel load and bare steerage. The past two patterns had missed by at least a quarter of mile. The rumbles had shaken the boat and sloshed sea water in the half flooded forward torpedo compartment. Those torpedoes would be useless until the tender crews could examine and refurbish them.

Then there was five minutes of silence, five minutes of hope. The escorts of the convoy were still milling about on the surface. One was tracking down the minuscule oil slick, holding back her pings until the trail became clearer. Suddenly, the sound waves bounced off the submarine and depth charges followed moments later. Seven feet from the engine room, a depth charge exploded. The sub nosed down and within a minute, the crushing pressure of the sea broke open the hull before the remains settled on the sea floor thousands of feet beneath the waves.
 
Story 2063

Salvina, Sicily, May 25, 1943



Corporal Jaroschek gripped his rifle tightly. He glanced right. He glanced left. His half of the squad was with him. The BAR was set up and the ammo carriers had dumped the extra magazines next to the assistant gunner. They were in a good position, on a little roll of the earth overlooking the Italian defensive positions. As long as he could shoot straight, he could hit somewhere along the trenches. Those were formidable positions, taking them would ruin the squad again, but thankfully, that was not the mission for the morning.


A minute later and the entire front exploded. The early morning bombardment of every gun in the division along with a good chunk of the corps commanders’ personal firepower was now firing. Shells were landing close, but far enough way to not cause too much concern. They began to eat up the earth, throwing rocks and bodies skyward, raining down sharp pebbles and broken limbs indiscriminately.


Ten minutes later, the heavy guns ceased firing. The lighter guns had switched to smoke a minute ago. Several squadrons of medium bombers descended from a holding pattern they had been in over the sea to drop their loads. Strings of five hundred pounders pox scarred the evolving battlefield. The corporal could feel his bones shake repeatedly for the next ten minutes. As the last planes left, the artillery started up again. The riflemen and machine gunners began to fire. They had a simple job, demonstrate a threat without exposing themselves too much. This beat attacking head on into defensive positions.


He started to fire a few shots here then shifting a few yards to the right. An Italian sniper probably would not be able to see his rifle flash through the smoke and even if he could see the flash, it was one of hundreds, but the risk was not worth it. He muttered a few words of encouragement and coaching to the other riflemen as the BAR burped out a few more rounds. If he had a moment to look to the west, he would have seen two battalions of infantry from one of the other regiments of the division motor along in their landing craft just at the horizon. By lunchtime, they would be landing on the far side of the provincial capital, outflanking the defenses and creating quandaries where American firepower and deep digging could work in conjunction with each other.
 
40 miles east of Tokyo, May 24, 1943


The submarine USS Grampus shook again. Another pattern of depth charges were heard entering the water just moments after the concussive shock of these near misses stopped rattling the boat. Her skipper looked at the battery gauge. He could buy one more evasive sprint and then they could only hope for darkness.

Seven knots for seven minutes. It was not much, but it was the best that the battered boat could do. Now the batteries were draining slowly at only minimum hotel load and bare steerage. The past two patterns had missed by at least a quarter of mile. The rumbles had shaken the boat and sloshed sea water in the half flooded forward torpedo compartment. Those torpedoes would be useless until the tender crews could examine and refurbish them.

Then there was five minutes of silence, five minutes of hope. The escorts of the convoy were still milling about on the surface. One was tracking down the minuscule oil slick, holding back her pings until the trail became clearer. Suddenly, the sound waves bounced off the submarine and depth charges followed moments later. Seven feet from the engine room, a depth charge exploded. The sub nosed down and within a minute, the crushing pressure of the sea broke open the hull before the remains settled on the sea floor thousands of feet beneath the waves.
Is this better than usual antisub ops for the Japanese?
 
As I understand it, the United States Navy lost just over fifty submarines during the Second World War, with the bulk of these lost to enemy action in the Pacific. American submarines played a critical role in crippling the Japanese merchant fleet and sank numerous Japanese warships, but it was not without cost.
 
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