Background
Tom Brokaw called veterans of World War II America's greatest generation. Amongst this generation was my step-father, George F. Peoples, who flew in the War in the Pacific, starting in 1945. These kids at the time of the war in Europe did not want to be there. They would have rather been playing street hockey or baseball in the baseball diamonds in their home town. However, they were not what the German High command nor the Japanese War Council envisioned them as being.
The Japanese War Council regarded the Americans as pleasure lovers, who would have little appetite for war. Japan had hoped that after the preemptive strike on Pearl Harbor, HI, that the Americans would sue to peace. They didn't. In the Battle of Midway, an engagement which the Imperial Japanese Naval forces had the clear advantage in terms of men and material, Admiral Nagumo, who commanded the Kido Butai, is quoted as saying, the Americans are big and strong, but they are not very clever. In fact the Americans had cracked the Japanese code, a fact that the War Council were not aware of, throughout the entire course of the war of the Pacific, and Admiral Nimitz ordered the remaining US naval assets to fully engage Nagumo's approaching armada. It is rare in naval warfare that the fleet of one nation utterly annihilates the fleet of another. However, on June 4, 1942, the USN sank all four of Nagumo's carriers with the loss of only the US carrier, the Yorktown.
Had Japanese defeated the Americans at Midway, they would have eliminated their last obstacle to supremacy in the Pacific. As Nimitz committed the entire US fleet to the battle, there were no reserves. The assets at Midway constituted the entire fleet of the US navy.
Ultimately, Japanese attack on Midway accomplished nothing. The Japanese War Council was both stunned and outraged, however, the council refused to announce the defeat to the Japanese people. Throughout the entire war the propaganda arms of the Imperial Japanese government had promoted the false narrative that Japan was winning the war. Admiral Nagumo, who went on the suffer total defeat at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, otherwise known as the Great Marina's Turkey Shoot of 1944, would later commit ritualistic suicide in shame. Whereas Admiral Yamamoto, who planned and led the attack on Pearl Harbor, HI, and later oversaw the Battle of Midway, was shot down while inspecting the Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands in 1942. Both men dead, totally misjudging the American spirit. Their dreams of conquest in the Pacific, shattered.
What the video is about
This video illustrates the sinking of the Imperial Japanese aircraft carrier, Akagi, on June 4, 1942 as depicted in the 2019 film, Midway. At 10:25 AM on that day is when Admiral Nagumo's luck ran out. Nagumo watched helplessly as three of his four strike aircraft carriers were crippled and eventually sunk by American Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers within five minutes. That one attack ended Japan's mastery over the seas and brought the US Navy back into parity against the IJN. The writers of the film, Midway, embellished the anti-aircraft fire against Dick Best and his two wingmen to portray the heroism in what Best accomplished. In reality there was nothing the Japanese could do to thwart the onslaught from the US squadron of dive bombers. The Japanese combat air patrol (CAP) was fixated at the time in savaging the torpedo squadrons, VT-6 from the aircraft carrier, Enterprise, and VT-8 from the aircraft carrier, Hornet, who were a few hundred feet above sea level in their failed attack vector. Only 4 pilots of the two squadrons survived the engagement, including George Gay, the sole survivor of 30 aircrew of VT-8, who the film depicts in the water, watching the four squadrons of dive bombers attack and utterly cripple three of the four aircraft carriers at 10:25 AM on June 4, 1942.
Dive Bomber pilot, Richard Best, broke off from his attack vector at 15,000 feet when by mistake both squadrons under Air Group Commander, Wade McClusky, VB-6 and VS-6 from the aircraft carrier, Enterprise, a total of 47 dive bombers, attacked the IJN aircraft carrier Kaga. That one clutch decision on the part of Best to in effect disobey orders took out the Japanese aircraft carrier, Akagi, in the early stages of the battle and ultimately brought the US Navy into parity with the Imperial Japanese Navy in the War in the Pacific.
Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese aviator who had led the attack on Pearl Harbor, was on Akagi when it was hit, and described the attack:
A look-out screamed: "Kyukoka bakugeki-ki" "Hell-Divers!" I looked up to see three black enemy planes plummeting towards our ship. Some of our machineguns managed to fire a few frantic bursts at them, but it was too late. The plump silhouettes of the American Dauntless dive-bombers quickly grew larger, and then a number of black objects suddenly floated eerily from their wings.
The Japanese were never able to take the initiative again after losing all four aircraft carriers, Kaga, Akagi, Soryu and Hiryu on June 4, 1942.
The Progressive Shamanists are currently working on the composition, adding instrument parts. What is currently available is otherwise a work in progress.
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