CRITIQUE OF "KILLING THE RISING SUN" critique .com

sun-critique

1. FICTION: ON PAGE 14, BEGINNING WITH THE NEXT TO LAST SENTENCE IN THE THIRD PAGE THEY WRITE: BAUSELL SEES A STREAM OF TRACERS EMITTING FROM A SMALL CAVE WITH A COMMANDING VIEW OF THE BEACH. THE ENTRANCE IS CONCEALED BY SCRUB PLANTS AND THICK BRUSH." CONTINUING IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH: "TAKING CHARGE OF HIS SQUAD, HE MOTIONS FOR HIS MEN TO FOLLOW HIM TOWARDS THE CAVE'S LOCATION. REACHING THE CAVE FIRST, HE FIRES INTO A SMALL OPENING. LIEUTENANT JACK KIMBLE OF GREENVILLE, MISSISSIPPI, ARRIVES WITH A TWO MAN FLAMETHROWER TEAM; A STREAM OF FIRE IS LAUNCHED INTO THE JAPANESE POSITIONS IN THE HOPE OF FORCING THE ENEMY TO COME OUT. CORPORAL BAUSELL STANDS READY TO SHOOT THEM AS THEY EMERGE," CONTINUING ON IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH: "THE FIRST JAPANESE TO RUN SCREAMING FROM THE CAVE IS CARRYING A GRENADE. HE PULLS THE PIN BEFORE BAUSELL CAN FIRE HIS M1 CARBINE. NOT ONLY DOES THE EXPLOSION KILL THE JAPANESE SOLDIER BUT SHRAPNEL SLICES INTO SEVERAL NEARBY MARINES." CONTINUING ON TO PAGE 15: "MORE FLAME IS SHOT INTO THE CAVE. ANOTHER JAPANESE SOLDIER EMERGES. THIS TIME BAUSELL SHOOTS HIM DEAD. YET ANOTHER JAPANESE SOLDIER RUNS OUT OF THE CAVE, CHOOSING THE SURE DEATH BY RIFLE FIRE TO BEING ROASTED ALIVE. HE TOO CARRIES A GRENADE, HURLING IT AT THE AMERICANS AS BAUSELL RAISES HIS WEAPON. THE GRENADE IS LAUNCHED BEFORE BAUSELL SHOOTS, IT LANDS NEAR BAUSELL AND SEVERAL OTHER MARINES. THE BLAST MAY KILL THEM ALL. WITHOUT HESITATION, CORPORAL BAUSELL THROWS HIS BODY ONTO THE GROUND. HIS TORSO RISES OFF THE GROUND AS IT EXPLODES, SMOTHERING THE BLAST. NONE OF THE OTHER MARINES IS HURT."

FACT: THE INCIDENT IS REAL, BUT DRASTICALLY DISTORTED. FIRSTLY, BAUSELL'S MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION STATES IN PART: "CORPORAL BAUSELL LED THE CHARGE FORWARD AGAINST A HOSTILE PILLBOX WHICH WAS COVERING A VITAL SECTOR OF THE BEACH. THE FIRST TO REACH THE EMPLACEMENT, HE IMMEDIATELY STARTED FIRING HIS AUTOMATIC INTO THE APERTURE WHILE THE REST OF HIS MEN CLOSED ON THE ENEMY, SWIFT TO ACT, AS A JAPANESE GRENADE WAS HURLED INTO THE GROUP OF MARINES, CORPORAL BAUSELL THREW HIMSELF ON THE DEADLY WEAPON, TAKING THE FULL BLASE OF THE EXPLOSION AND SACRIFICED HIS OWN LIFE TO SAVE HIS MEN." SECOND: BAUSELL WAS CARRYING A 45 CALIBER AUTOMATIC PISTOL , NOT AN M1 CARBINE. THIRD, DURING DAYLIGHT, TRACERS COULD NOT BE SEEN EXCEPT BY SOMEONE BEHIND THE WEAPON FIRING THEM. FOURTH, TRACERS WERE PRIMARILY USED IN AIRCRAFT MACHINE GUNS. ADDITIONALLY, THE OTHER MARINES WOULD HAVE BEEN CARRYING M1 GRAND RIFLES, NOT CARBINES. LASTLY, FLAMETHROWERS WERE CARRIED BY ONE MAN, THERE WERE NO TWO MAN TEAMS.

2. FICTION: ON PAGE 19 THEY WRITE: "BLINDSIDED BY VIOLENCE ON THIS 'DATE WHICH WILL LIFE IN INFAMY', AMERICA DECLARED WAR ON JAPAN AND ITS ALLY GERMANY."

FACT: THE DECLARATION OF WAR ON JAPAN WAS MADE ON DECEMBER 8. THE DECLARATION OF WAR ON GERMANY WAS MADE THE AFTERNOON OF DECEMBER 11, AFTER GERMANY DECLARED WAR ON THE U.S. ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 11.

3. FICTION: ON PAGE 20 THE SECOND FULL PARAGRAPH READS: "FLEEING MANILA, MACARTHUR RETREATED TO FORTIFIED POSITIONS ON THE BATAAN PENINSULA, WHERE HE ASSURED HIS MEN THAT REINFORCEMENTS WERE ON THE WAY."

FACT: MACARTHUR WENT TO THE FORTIFIED ISLAND OF CORREGIDOR, IN MANILA BAY. THERE WERE NO FORTIFIED POSITIONS ON BATAAN, DUE TO A TREATY AT THE END OF WW ONE WHICH FORBADE BUILDING ANY ADDITIONAL FORTIFICATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, SO CORREGIDOR WAS THE ONLY FORTIFIED POSITION IN THE PHILIPPINES. THE ORIGINAL WAR PLAN ENVISIONED THAT HELP COULD ARRIVE WITHIN SIX MONTHS, BUT THE DESTRUCTION OF MOST OF THE PACIFIC FLEET AT PEARL HARBOR MADE THAT IMPOSSIBLE. I WORKED FOR A CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER NAMED HOLLEY L. WILKERSON, WHO WAS IN THE 34TH U.S. INFANTRY REGIMENT AND WAS A SURVIVOR OF THE BATAAN "DEATH MARCH". HE SAID THAT THEY ALL KNEW THAT HELP WAS NOT GOING TO ARRIVE BECAUSE OF THE ALMOST COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF THE FLEET AT PEARL HARBOR. THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD ON FOR THAT LONG IN ANY EVENT. - (THERE WERE NO STOCKPILES OF ANY KIND STORED ON BATAAN, THEY ONLY HAD WHAT THEY COULD BRING WITH THEM IN THE VEHICLES THEY HAD.)

4. FICTION/GROSS ERROR: THE MAP ON PAGE 20 ERRONEOUSLY IDENTIFIES AMERICAN AND FILIPINO UNITS AS DIVISIONS. THE 31ST WAS AN ALL AMERICAN REGIMENT. ALL OTHER UNITS WITH U.S. FLAGS WERE IN FACT PHILIPPINE UNITS, PART OF THE PHILLIPINE DIVISION. THE 26TH IS ERRONEOUSLY LISTED AS INFANTRY WHEN IN FACT IT WAS A CAVALRY UNIT.

5. FICTION 1: IN THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 22 THEY WRITE: "FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS THE JAPANESE CONTINUED THEIR ADVANCE. FICTION 2: THE SMALL AMERICAN AND FILIPINO FORCES UNDER MACARTHUR'S COMMAND WERE PUSHED BACK TO THE TIP OF THE BATAAN PENINSULA, WHERE MANY TOOK REFUGE IN A FORTRESS ON AN ISLAND KNOWN AS CORREGIDOR."

FACT 1: GENERAL JONATHAN WAINRIGHT WAS THE COMMANDER OF ALL FORCES ON BATAAN REPORTING TO GENERAL MACARTHUR. THE JAPANESE WERE HELD BACK, MAKING ONLY SMALL ADVANCES AND BY THE END OF JANUARY, THE JAPANESE COMMANDER, GENERAL HOMMA HAD TO REPLACE HALF OF HIS EXPERIENCED SOLDIERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INVASION OF THE DUTCH EAST INDIES. THOSE TROOPS WERE REPLACED BY GREEN TROOPS WHO HAD NO COMBAT EXPERIENCE. AS A RESULT AMERICAN AND FILIPINO TROOPS HELD OUT FROM EARLY DECEMBER TO EARLY APRIL, ALMOST FOUR MONTHS! IN THAT PERIOD THEY COMPLETELY WIPED OUT TWO JAPANESE AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS ON THE SOUTHERN TIP OF THE PENINSULA. BY THAT TIME THEY HAD NO MEDICAL SUPPLIES, FOOD OR AMMUNITION, SO WERE FORCED TO SURRENDER. FACT 2: ONLY A VERY FEW MEN OF THE 31ST REGIMENT ESCAPED BY TAKING A GUNBOAT FROM BATAAN TO CORREGIDOR. ALL OF THE REST OF THE FILIPINO AND AMERICAN SOLDIERS WERE SUBJECTED TO THE INFAMOUS BATAAN "DEATH MARCH".

6. FICTION: THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 22 READS: ON FEBRUARY 22, ROOSEVELT ORDERED MACARTHUR TO FLEE. THE NAVY SPIRITED HIS FAMILY AND 20 OF HIS STAFF ALONG WITH HIS SON'S NANNY OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES.

FACT: FEBRUARY 22 WAS THE FOURTH TIME PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ORDERED MACARTHUR OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES. THE FIRST THREE TIMES MACARTHUR DEFIED HIS COMMANDER, SAYING THAT HE SHOULD STAY WITH HIS MEN.

7. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE THIRD PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 23 READS: "ALL TOLD, THE GROUP, ALLOWED ONE SUITCASE EACH, WOULD UNDERTAKE A SIX-HUNDRED MILE VOYAGE IN FOUR PT BOATS, TRAVELING OVER THE OPEN OCEAN IN HOPES OF MAKING IT TO MINDANAO."

FACT: THEY DID NOT TRAVEL OVER THE OPEN OCEAN BECAUSE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING SPOTTED BY JAPANESE AIRCRAFT. THEY TRAVELED ONLY AT NIGHT, ANCHORING DURING THE DAY CLOSE TO SHORE OR IN INLETS WITH OVERHANGING BRANCHES. IT TOOK THEM 35 HOURS, TRAVELING ONLY AT NIGHT, TO TRAVEL THE 560 MILES TO REACH NORTHERN MINDANAO.

8. FICTION: THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 23 READS: "MEANWHILE, MACARTHUR'S JOURNEY EVENTUALLY LED HIM TO AUSTRALIA WHERE HE ASSUMED COMMAND OF ALL FORCES IN THE PACIFIC."

FACT: FACT 1: HE DID NOT "EVENTUALLY" GET TO AUSTRALIA. THE PT BOAT CARRYING MACARTHUR AND THREE OTHERS TOOK HIM TO A BASE IN NORTHERN MINDANAO WHERE B-17 BOMBERS WERE STATIONED. HE AND THOSE WITH HIM WERE FLOWN TO AUSTRALIA. FACT 2: THERE WAS NO OVERALL COMMANDER OF ALL AMERICAN FORCES IN THE PACIFIC. MACARTHUR ONLY COMMANDED ONLY ABOUT HALF OF AMERICAN FORCES IN THE PACIFIC. ADMIRAL NIMITZ COMMANDED AN EQUALLY LARGE FORCE.

9. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE LAST PARAGRAPH SAYS IN PART: "BUT SOME CONSIDERED THE DESERTION OF HIS MEN AN ACT OF COWARDICE.

FACT: SEE COMMENT ABOVE ABOUT PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ORDERING MACARTHUR TO LEAVE CORREGIDOR.

10. FICTION: THE LAST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 27 STATES: "GENERAL MACARTHUR'S HOPES OF AN EASY VICTORY HAVE BEEN DASHED BY A DETERMINED ENEMY, POOR STRATEGIC PLANNING, AND SOMETHING NEW, THE KAMIKAZE."

FACT: FIRST, NO ONE EVER EXPECTED THAT DEFEATING JAPAN WOULD BE EASY. SECOND, ALL STRATEGIC PLANNING WAS DONE BY THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AND THEIR SUBORDINATES, SO ANY "POOR STRATEGIC PLANNING" WOULD HAVE BEEN THEIR FAULT.

11. FICTION: IN THE LAST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 37 IS THE STATEMENT: "WHEN THE JAPANESE RESPOND BY THROWING GRENADES OF THEIR OWN, AMERICANS PICK THEM UP AND THROW THEM RIGHT BACK."

FACT: THE STANDARD JAPANESE HAND GRENADE IN WW-2 HAD A FUSE WHICH HAD TO BE ACTIVATED BY STRIKING IT AGAINST A HARD OBJECT BEFORE IT WAS THROWN. THOSE FUSES HAD A DELAY OF ONLY 3 TO 5 SECONDS AND SOMETIMES THEY EXPLODED IN AIR. CERTAINLY THERE WOULD BE NO TIME FOR THEM TO BE THROWN BACK. AMERICAN GRENADES HAD A TIME DELAY OF FROM 5 TO 7 SECONDS. DURING ARMY BASIC TRAINING, WE STOOD BEHIND A BUILT UP WALL TO THROW OUR GRENADES. AS SOON AS THEY WERE THROWN, WE DROPPED DOWN BEHIND THE BARRICADE TO ESCAPE ANY FRAGMENTS COMING OUR WAY.

12. FICTION: THE THIRD PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 57 READS: "SOON BASILONE IS LEADING SOME OF THE SURVIVING MARINES FORWARD, AWAY FROM THE LANDING ZONE....". CONTINUING ON PAGE 71: "SERGEANT BASILONE, HOWEVER FINDS THE FLAMETHROWER TO BE A SUITABLE ANTIDOTE. HE DIRECTS CORPORAL WILLIAM PEGG TO POUR FIRE ON THE BESIEGED JAPANESE PILLBOX. BASILONE UNHOOKS PFC TATUM'S MACHINE GUN FROM ITS TRIPOD AND RUNS TOWARDS THE BUNKER...BUT BASILONE AND TATUM DON'T WAIT LONG, EIGHT JAPANESE SOLDIERS, THEIR BODIES ON FIRE..."

FACT: ACCORDING TO HIS NAVY CROSS CITATION, GUNNERY SERGEANT BASILONE WAS THE LEADER OF A MACHINE GUN SECTION. (AS HE WAS WHEN HE RECEIVED THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR FOR HIS ACTIONS AS THE HEAD OF A MACHINE GUN SECTION ON GUADALCANAL.) THE CITATION, IN PART, READS: "WHEN HIS COMPANY'S ADVANCE WAS HELD UP BY THE FIRE OF A HEAVILY FORTIFIED JAPANESE BLOCKHOUSE, GUNNERY SERGEANT BASILONE BOLDLY DEFIED THE SMASHING BOMBARDMENT OF HEAVY CALIBER FIRE TO WORK HIS WAY AROUND THE FLANK AND UP TO A POSITION DIRECTLY ON TOP OF THE BLOCKHOUSE AND THEN, ATTACKING WITH GRENADES AND DEMOLITIONS, SINGLE-HANDEDLY DESTROYED THE ENTIRE HOSTILE STRONG POINT AND ITS DEFENDING GARRISON. CONSISTENTLY DARING AND AGGRESSIVE AS HE FOUGHT HIS WAY OVER THE BATTLE-TORN BEACH AND UP THE GUN-STUDDED TERRACES TOWARD AIRFIELD NUMBER 1, HE REPEATEDLY EXPOSED HIMSELF TO THE BLASTING FURY OF EXPLODING SHELLS AND LATER IN THE DAY COOLLY PROCEEDED YO THE AID OF A FRIENDLY TANK WHICH HAD BEEN TRAPPED IN AN ENEMY MINE FIELD UNDER INTENSE MORTAR AND ARTILLERY BARRAGES, SKILLFULLY GUIDING THE HEAVY VEHICLE OVER THE HAZARDOUS TERRAIN TO SAFETY, DESPITE THE OVERWHELMING VOLUME OF HOSTILE FIRE. IN THE FOREFRONT OF THE ASSAULT AT ALL TIMES, HE PUSHED FORWARD WITH DAUNTLESS COURAGE AND IRON DETERMINATION UNTIL, MOVING TO THE EDGE OF THE AIRFIELD, HE FELL, INSTANTLY KILLED BY A BURSTING MORTAR SHELL."

13. FICTION: THE THIRD SENTENCE OF THE SECOND FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 82 READS: "TO MAKE ROOM FOR AN EXTRA TON OF BOMBS, EACH PLANE HAS BEEN STRIPPED OF MACHINE GUNS AND AMMUNITION, LEAVING MACHINE GUNS AND AMMUNITION, LEAVING THOSE SUPERFORTRESSES VULNERABLE TO JAPANESE FIGHTER AIRCRAFT. THE PILOTS AND NAVIGATORS WERE SHOCKED WHEN INFORMED OF THIS DURING THEIR BRIEFING.

FACT: ALL OF THOSE SUPERFORTRESSES, AT GENERAL LEMAY'S REQUEST, WERE MANUFACTURED WITHOUT ANY GUNS EXCEPT FOR TWO 50 CALIBER MACHINE GUNS MOUNTED IN THE TAIL. AT NORMAL OPERATING ALTITUDE, JAPANESE FIGHTERS WERE NOT AS FAST AS THE B-29'S, SO THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT RISK BY REMOVING ALL THE OTHER GUN STATIONS. THERE WAS NO WAY TO INCREASE BOMB CAPACITY WITHOUT INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE BOMB BAYS. REDUCING THE WEIGHT DID INCREASE THEIR OPERATING RANGE SO THEY COULD FLY SLIGHTLY LONGER MISSIONS.

14. FICTION: THE SECOND AND THIRD SENTENCES OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 83 READ: "SOME JAPANESE AVIATORS ARE AFRAID, UNAWARE THAT THE FORMIDABLE ARMADA HAS BEEN STRIPPED OF THE MACHINE GUNS THAT MIGHT SHOOT THEM DOWN. HARSH WINDS HAVE ALSO GIVE THE AMERICANS ANOTHER FORM OF COVER, DISTORTING RADIO AND RADAR SIGNALS."

FACT: FIRST, ANY JAPANESE PILOT WOULD WILLINGLY RAM AN AMERICAN PLANE, DYING IN ORDER TO DESTROY IT. SECOND, NO WINDS CAN DISTORT RADIO OR RADAR SIGNALS. THINK ABOUT IT, REPORTERS ARE ABLE TO SEND VIDEO SIGNALS THRU HIGH WINDS OF AN IMPENDING HURRICANE. THOSE SIGNALS ARE NOT EFFECTED BY ANY WEATHER CONDITIONS!

15: THE FIRST SENTENCE IN THE NEXT TO LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 84 READS: "AS THE HEAT RISES, UPDRAFTS REACH THOUSANDS OF FEET FEET HIGH, ACTUALLY BRINGING THE SMELL OF BURNING HUMAN FLESH INTO THE NOSTRILS OF THE AMERICAN PILOTS."

FACT: THOSE B-29'S FLYING AT ABOUT 5,000 FEET AND WERE PRESSURIZED, MEANING THAT THE AIRCREW WERE BREATHING OXYGEN CARRIED IN THE PLANES AND NO OUTSIDE AIR COULD GET INTO THE CREW AREAS. NO ODORS WOULD RISE THAT FAR.

16: FICTION: THE THIRD AND FOURTH SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 85 READS: "CITY CANALS BOIL. DEAD BODIES BOB IN THE ICY RIVERS. "

FACT: THERE IS ONLY ONE CANAL IN TOKYO AND IT CONNECTS TO ONE OF THE TWO RIVERS WHICH FLOW THROUGH TOKYO. THE IMPERIAL PALACE GROUNDS ARE SURROUNDED BY A MOAT, WHICH COULD POSSIBLY BE CONSIDERED A CANAL. THE ACCESS BRIDGES ACROSS IT ARE HIGH ENOUGH SO A SMALL BOAT COULD TRAVEL UNDER THEM. IN ANY EVENT, WHILE THE WATER IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDING AN INCENDIARY BOMB WOULD BOIL, NOT ENOUGH INCENDIARIES COULD BE DROPPED TO MAKE THE ANY LARGE AREA BOIL. AT NO TIME WOULD THE RIVER WOULD BE ICY, THE ONLY SNOW WHICH WOULD MELT WAS ON MOUNT FUJI AND ANY MELT WOULD BE ABSORBED BY THE LARGE TREED AREA AT THE BASE. I WAS IN THE TOKYO AREA FROM NOVEMBER 1947 THRU NOVEMBER 1949 AND THE ONLY SNOW I EVER SAW WAS ON MOUNT FUJI IN THE WINTER. DURING SUMMER MONTHS THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN WAS BARE!

17: FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE ON PAGE 101, CONTINUING ON TO THE TOP OF PAGE 102 SAYS: "ONE NOTABLE CASUALTY IS LEGENDARY AMERICAN JOURNALIST ERNIE PYLE, WINNER OF HE PULITZER PRIZE FOR JOURNALISM IN 1944, KILLED BY A SNIPER'S BULLET THROUGH THE TEMPLE.."

FACT: ALL ACCOUNTS (SEVERAL CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES) REPORT THAT HE WAS KILLED BY A BULLET FROM A JAPANESE MACHINE GUN WHICH PENETRATED HIS STEEL HELMET BEFORE HITTING HIS FOREHEAD.

18. FICTION: BEGINNING AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 102 AND CONTINUING ON PAGE 103 IS THE STATEMENT: "THE MEN OF B COMPANY, FIRST BATTALION, 77TH INFANTRY DIVISION ARE JUST MOMENTS FROM ASSAULTING THE MAEDA ESCARPMENT, A FOUR HUNDRED FOOT HIGH CLIFF STRETCHING THE FIVE MILE WIDTH OF OKINAWA.

FACT: THE UNIT INVOLVED WAS ACTUALLY ALL OF THE FIRST BATTALION, 307TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, WITH COMPANY A ERECTING LADDERS WITH CARGO NETTING STRETCHED BETWEEN THEM AND COMPANY B LEADING THE CLIMB UP THE LADDERS. DIVISIONS HAVE REGIMENTS, AND REGIMENTS HAVE BATTALIONS. ALSO, THE MAEDA ESCARPMENT "HACKSAW RIDGE" ONLY STRETCHES ABOUT A FOURTH OF THE WAY, OR ABOUT 3/4THS OF A MILE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN TIP OF OKINAWA, WHICH AT THAT POINT IS ONLY ABOUT THREE MILES WIDE.

19. FICTION: ON PAGE 103, STARTING AT THE SIXTH LINE DOWN,THEY WRITE: "FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT, THE ENEMY CAN MONITOR AMERICAN TROOP MOVEMENTS IN THREE DIRECTIONS, ALLOWING THEM TO LAY DOWN PINPOINT ARTILLERY FIRE.

FACT: THE JAPANESE COULD NOT EVEN SEE ANY ATTACKERS UNTIL THEY GOT TO THE TOP OF THE RIDGE, AT WHICH POINT THEY LAID DOWN MURDEROUS MACHINE GUN AND ARTILLERY FIRE FROM MULTIPLE CAVES LOCATED AT THE TOP OF THE ESCARPMENT.

20. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 103 READS: "TWO FULL AMERICAN DIVISIONS HAVE FAILED TO REACH THE CLIFF TOP. NOW, INSTEAD OF A FULL SCALE ASSAULT, THEY WILL TRY STEALTH, CONCEALING THEMSELVES AMONG THE BOULDERS IN ORDER TO REACH THE SUMMIT BEFORE THEY CAN BE DISCOVERED."

FACT: THERE WERE NO OTHER DIVISIONS INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK! BECAUSE OF THE TERRAIN, THE JAPANESE COULD NOT EVEN SEE ANYONE COMING UP THE FACE OF THE CLIFF. THEY COULD ONLY SEE THEM ONCE THEY GOT TO THE TOP.

21. FICTION: THE NEXT TO LAST SENTENCE OF THE THIRD FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 103 READS: "DOSS WAS OFFERED A DISCHARGE ON THE GROUNDS THAT HE WAS MENTALLY UNBALANCED."

FACT: THE MILITARY HAS NEVER "OFFERED" A DISCHARGE TO ANYONE. YOU ARE DISCHARGED OR YOU ARE NOT. THOUSANDS OF MEN WITH STRONG RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ABOUT KILLING ANOTHER HUMAN BEING SERVED AS COMBAT MEDICS IN ALL OF THE ARMED SERVICES, MANY OF THEM WITH VALOR LIKE DOSS!

22. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE THIRD PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 104, THEY WRITE: "WHILE THE OTHER MEN OF B COMPANY ATTACK THE JAPANESE WITH CARBINES AND GRENADES, AND AMONG THE MEDICAL CORPS MOST CARRY A PISTOL."

FACT: I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THE AUTHORS ARE SO FIXED ON CARBINES. ALL INFANTRYMEN, ARMY AND MARINES, EXCEPT OFFICERS AND SOME NONCOMS CARRIED THE M-1 GARAND RIFLE. BESIDES, MEDICS CARRIED ENOUGH MEDICAL GEAR. CARRYING A WEAPON WOULD BE JUST DEAD WEIGHT. IF THE PERSON HAS STRONG RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ABOUT KILLING ANOTHER HUMAN BEING, AS MANY MEDICS DURING WARTIME DID, THEY DID NOT AND WERE NOT EXPECTED TO, CARRY A WEAPON.

23. FICTION: THE LAST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 104 BEGINS: "NOT A SINGLE MAN WAS KILLED."

FACT: THE MINUTE THEY REACHED THE TOP, THE JAPANESE OPENED FIRE. INITIALLY EVERY MAN FROM COMPANY A WHO GOT TO THE TOP OF THE RIDGE WAS KILLED,. COMPANY B CLIMBED UP FURTHER WEST AND FINALLY SUCCEEDED IN GETTING ABOUT 80 MEN TO THE TOP. ABOUT 500 MEN OF THE FIRST BATTALION WERE KILLED OR WOUNDED IN THAT FIRST ASSAULT.

24. FICTION: THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 107 READS: "THE KAMIKAZE ATTACK HAS RATTLED MANY OF THE CREW, MANY OF WHOM HAVE REQUESTED TRANSFERS TO OTHER SHIPS BEFORE IT SAILS BACK INTO BATTLE."

FACT: DURING WARTIME, NO ONE IS TRANSFERRED UNLESS SOMEONE HIGH UP IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND DEEMS IT NECESSARY. DURING WARTIME, NO REQUESTS FOR TRANSFERS CAN BE MADE BY ANY INDIVIDUAL. EVEN WHEN AT PEACE, THEY ARE RELATIVELY RARE. BEING AFRAID WAS AND IS NO GROUNDS FOR TRANSFER!!

25. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE LAST SENTENCE ON PAGE 107 AND CONTINUING ON PAGE 108, THEY WRITE: "MACARTHUR DISAGREES WITH HIS NAVY AND AIR CORPS COUNTERPARTS. HE BELIEVES THAT AN ISLAND BLOCKADE WILL NOT RESULT IN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER." CONTINUING ON TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH: MACARTHUR BELIEVES HIS COMMAND OF THE LARGEST AMPHIBIOUS LANDING IN HISTORY WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.

FACT: MILITARY STRATEGY WAS PLANNED AND DIRECTED BY THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE AUTHOR'S FIXATION THAT BATTLEFIELD COMMANDERS COULD DICTATE OVERALL STRATEGY. SINCE THE AIR FORCE WAS PART OF THE ARMY AND AIR FORCE UNITES OPERATING IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC WERE UNDER HIS DIRECT COMMAND. GENERAL LE MAY WAS IN COMMAND OF ALL OTHER AIR FORCE UNITS IN THE PACIFIC THEATER. ALSO, ADMIRAL NIMITZ, WITH A COMMAND EQUALLY AS LARGE, WOULD PARTICIPATE. GENERAL EISENHOWER. IN CHARGE OF THE D-DAY INVASION IN EUROPE COMMANDED A MUCH LARGER FORCE. AGAIN, AS IN MANY OTHER PARTS OF THIS BOOK YOU WRITE AS IF YOU RETROACTIVELY KNEW WHAT INDIVIDUALS, PARTICULARLY GENERAL MACARTHUR!!

26. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE LAST SENTENCE AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 109 AND CONTINUING ON THE NEXT PAGE, THEY WRITE: B COMPANY HAS BEEN REDUCED FROM 200 TO 155 MEN,..."

FACT: A FULL STRENGTH INFANTRY COMPANY WOULD HAVE BETWEEN 300 TO 350 MEN AND B COMPANY WAS NOT THE ONLY UNIT INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK, THE ENTIRE FIRST BATTALION CONSISTING OF COMPANIES A, B, C, AND D WERE INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK.

27. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE ELEVENTH LINE ON PAGE 110, THEY WRITE: " 'I WANT TO SEE HOW OUR ARTILLERY IS DOING.'"

FACT: THERE WAS NO AMERICAN ARTILLERY ON THE TOP OF THE ESCARPMENT!! MOST OF PAGE 110 IS A FIGMENT OF THE AUTHOR'S IMAGINATIONS!!!!

28. FICTION: ON THE 16TH LINE ON PAGE 110 THEY WRITE: "DESPITE THE SABBATH."

FACT: WHAT HAS THE SABBATH GOT TO DO WITH SAVING LIVES?

29. FICTION: ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF THE WAY DOWN PAGE 110 IT READS: "........THEN PULLS A LITER OF PLASMA FROM HIS FIRST AID BAG."

FACT: DOSS'S BAG WOULD NOT HAVE CONTAINED A BAG OF PLASMA. BAGS OF IV SOLUTIONS DID NOT EXIST UNTIL AFTER THE KOREAN WAR. ALL HE WOULD HAVE WOULD BE MEDICAL TAPE AND SURGICAL DRESSINGS TREATED WITH SULFA TO HINDER INFECTIONS.

30. FICTION: THE THIRD PARAGRAPH FROM THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 110 READS IN PART: IN ORDER FOR THE PLASMA TO FLOW INTO THE COLONEL'S BODY, THE BAG MUST BE ELEVATED."

FACT: THE WHOLE EPISODE OF THE COLONEL IS A FIGMENT OF THEIR IMAGINATION. HAD A BAG BEEN AVAILABLE, THE STANDARD PRACTICE IS TO PLACE THE BAG UNDER THE PATIENT'S BODY SO HIS WEIGHT FORCES THE SOLUTION INTO HIM. AFTER THE KOREAN WAR, BECAUSE SO MANY AIR DROPPED IV SOLUTIONS IN BOTTLES WERE BROKEN, THE ARMY CONTRACTED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLASTIC IV BAGS.

31. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE ON PAGE 125 READS: "THE SECOND IS THE LARGEST ARMORED DIVISION ON EARTH....."

FACT: ALL AMERICAN ARMORED DIVISIONS ARE THE SAME SIZE, HAVE THE SAME NUMBERS OF MEN AUTHORIZED AND HAVE THE SAME TYPE AND NUMBER OF VEHICLES. SEE TABLE OF ORGANIZATION AND EQUIPMENT FOR LIGHT AND HEAVY ARMORED DIVISIONS.

32. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE SECOND PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 125 STATES: "ALREADY, ONE MILLION MEN, COMPRISING THIRTY DIVISIONS ARE MAKING THEIR WAY AROUND THE WORLD TO FIGHT THE JAPANESE."

FACT: THE AUTHORIZED STRENGTH OF ANY DIVISION RANGES FROM ABOUT 17,000 TO 19,000 MEN, SO THIRTY DIVISIONS AT FULL STRENGTH WOULD NOT EXCEED 570,000 MEN.

33. FICTION: THE FOURTH AND FIFTH SENTENCES OF THE FOURTH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 125 READ: "EACH CLUTCHES A SMALL PIECE OF LINCOLN SUPER VISIBILITY WELDERS GLASS, SPECIALLY DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE EYES FROM EXTREMELY BRIGHT LIGHT. AT THE SOUND OF THE BLAST THEY WILL BE ALLOWED TO ROLL OVER, SIT UP AND, THROUGH THIS SPECIAL GLASS, OBSERVE THE WORLD'S FIRST ATOMIC BOMB EXPLOSION."

FACT: THE GLASS DESCRIBED IS WHAT IS AND HAS BEEN THE STANDARD USED IN ALL WELDER'S HELMETS. ADDITIONALLY, SINCE LIGHT TRAVELS MUCH FASTER THAN SOUND, THE PEAK INTENSITY OF THE LIGHT WOULD HAVE FADED BY THE TIME THE SOUND REACHED THEIR EARS AND THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR ANY VISION PROTECTIVE GEAR!

34. FICTION: ON PAGE 127, IN THE PARAGRAPH THAT BEGINS JUST UNDER THE SMALL AMERICAN FLAG, BEGINNING WITH THE SECOND SENTENCE: "AT 4:00 A.M., TWO ARMY TRUCKS PULLED UP TO THE DOCKS;ONE CONTAINED A FIFTEEN FOOT CRATE AND THE OTHER A OTHER A SMALL TUBE.

FACT: FIRST, THERE WERE THREE CONTAINERS, A LARGE CRATE FOR LITTLE BOYS MAINFRAME AND TWO SMALLER ONES, ONE FOR THE GUN/RAIL AND ONE FOR THE TARGET! NO ARMY TRUCK HAD A LOAD CAPACITY OF 5 TONS, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN THE WEIGHT OF THE LARGE CONTAINER. THE LARGE CRATE WOULD BE NO LONGER THAN TWELVE FEET LONG. THE TRUCK CARRYING IT WOULD HAVE TO HAVE BEEN A COMMERCIAL TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCK AND THE TWO "GUN" PARTS OF THE BOMB WOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN ON THE SAME COMMERCIAL TRUCK. ACCORDING TO MAJOR ROBERT FURMAN, CHIEF INTELLIGENCE OFFICER FOR THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, THE SHIPMENT CONSISTED OF A CRATE CONTAINING THE BODY OF "LITTLE BOY" AND TWO BUCKET TYPE CONTAINERS, ONE CONTAINING CONTAINING THE 85 POUND TARGET, AND THE OTHER CONTAINING THE 55 POUND PROJECTILE. BOTH BUCKETS HAD HAD TWO EYE BOLTS ON TOP FOR PUTTING A ROD THRU. EACH CONTAINER WAS VERY HEAVY DUE TO THE SPECIAL THICK RADIATION STOPPING MATERIEL ON THE INSIDE OF THE CONTAINERS, WHICH MORE THAN DOUBLED THE WEIGHT OF THE LOADED CONTAINERS.

35. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE FOURTH LINE ON PAGE 128,THEY WRITE: " IF THE SHIP SHOULD SINK, THOSE PACKAGES SHOULD BE PLACED IN A LIFEBOAT AND SAVED AT ALL COSTS."

FACT: BOTH BUCKET TYPE CONTAINERS COULD BE LOADED ON A LIFEBOAT, AND WHILE THE CRANE IN THE AIRCRAFT HANGER COULD HAVE LIFTED THE CRATE, NO LIFEBOAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TAKE THE APPROXIMATELY 5 TON WEIGHT. OF LITTLE BOY'S FRAME. THOSE SO-CALLED INSTRUCTIONS ARE A FIGMENT OF THE AUTHOR'S IMAGINATIONS.

36. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE SECOND SENTENCE I N THE THIRD FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 133 THEY WRITE: "..ON JULY 10. THE UNITED STATES NAVY HAS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF NEWLY OPENED AIRFIELDS OF OKINAWA TO LAUNCH A STEADY STREAM OF AERIAL ATTACKS. NAVAL AVIATORS ARE NOW FLYING HUNDREDS OF SORTIES A DAY OVER THE NATIONS MAINLAND, DESTROYING THE NATIONS SHIPPING, RAILWAYS AND LIMITED AERIAL DEFENSES. INSTEAD OF ........MANY AVIATORS FLY SO LOW THAT THE JAPANESE PEOPLE ACTUALLY DUCK AS THE FIGHTER BOMBERS FLY OVERHEAD. OFTEN THEY CAN CLEARLY SEE THE PILOTS FACES."

FACT: PEOPLE ON THE GROUND COULD NOT SEE PILOTS FACES AS THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE AT THE SAME LEVEL AS THE PLANES AND THAT IS CLEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. MORE OF THE AUTHORS OVERACTIVE IMAGINATIONS.

37. FICTION: THE SENTENCE IN THE 8TH LINE ON PAGE 143 READS: IN ADDITION, THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY'S TWELFTH FLOTILLA BASED ON KYUSHU HAD NINE HUNDRED HIDDEN PLANES..."

FACT: HOW WOULD THEY BE ABLE TO HIDE 900 AIRCRAFT? WITH ALL THE BOMBING OF KYUSHU, WHERE WOULD THAT MANY AIRCRAFT BE HIDDEN IN A PLACE THAT WAS SAFE FROM BOMBING? IMPOSSIBLE ON THE FACE OF IT. IN THE ENSUING 26 YEARS SINCE THE END OF WW-1, NOT THAT MANY AIRCRAFT OF THAT ERA WOULD STILL BE IN EXISTENCE. ANY SUCH AIRCRAFT WOULD HAVE LONG SINCE BEEN CANNABALIZED FOR THE METAL IN THEIR ENGINES.

38. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 143 SAYS: VINTAGE WOODEN BIPLANES, INVISIBLE TO AMERICAN RADAR, ARE ALSO BEING RETROFITTED FOR NIGHTTIME SUICIDE ATTACKS."

FACT: RADAR WOULD REFLECT FROM THEIR METAL ENGINES. ANY WOODEN AIRCRAFT WOULD HAVE HAD THEIR ENGINES SCRAPPED FOR THE METAL IN THEM. RETROFITTING A 1918 ERA BIPLANE FOR NIGHT FLYING WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE EVEN IF ANY OF THEM WERE STILL IN EXISTENCE AFTER 26 YEARS.

39. FICTION: THE LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 143 READS: "TO MACARTHUR'S WAY OF THINKING, THERE ARE THREE WAYS FOR AMERICA TO KNOCK OUT JAPAN: A NAVAL BLOCKADE FOLLOWED BY AN INVASION; A NAVAL BLOCKADE FOLLOWED BY MASSIVE AERIAL BOMBING; OR A STRAIGHT-UP BEACH INVASION.".

"FACT: THERE THE AUTHORS GO AGAIN, READING MACARTHUR'S MIND RETROACTIVELY!! THE NAVAL BLOCKADE AND MASSIVE AERIAL BOMBING WERE ALREADY IN EFFECT AND THE THIRD OPTION WAS NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED BY THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF. DESTRUCTION FROM THE AIR TO REDUCE JAPAN'S ABILITY TO WAGE WAR WAS THE FIRST AND PRIMARY METHOD BEFORE CONDUCTING A GROUND INVASION WAS EVEN CONSIDERED. MACARTHUR WAS TOO GOOD A TACTICIAN TO EVEN THINK OF ANY OTHER OPTION.

40. FICTION: ON PAGE 145, IN THE SENTENCE WHICH CONTINUES FROM THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 143 READS: "AS AN ARMY OFFICER AND A GENERAL COMMITTED TO COMMANDING THE LARGEST MILITARY FORCE IN HISTORY, MACARTHUR REFUSES TO CONCEDE THAT THE NAVY AND ARMY AIR CORPS SHOULD DETERMINE THE OUTCOME OF THE WAR. PARANOID BY NATURE, CREATING CONFLICTS WHERE THEY MIGHT NOT OTHERWISE EXIST, MACARTHUR THINKS THE OTHER TWO SERVICES ARE ALIGNED IN A CONSPIRACY TO PREVENT HIS ARMY FROM GETTING THE GLORY."

FACT: THERE THE AUTHORS GO AGAIN, MIND READING AGAIN! IN 1945, THERE WERE ONLY TWO SERVICES, THE ARMY AND THE NAVY. MACARTHUR WAS IN COMMAND OF ALL AIR FORCE UNITS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC. HE DID NOT COMMAND THE LARGEST MILITARY FORCE IN HISTORY. GENERAL EISENHOWER AS SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER IN EUROPE, COMMANDED A LARGER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE FAR EXCEEDING MACARTHUR'S COMMAND. COMMAND IN THE PACIFIC WAS SPLIT, ADMIRAL NIMITZ COMMANDED AN EQUALLY LARGE FORCE OF, MARINES AND ARMY TROOPS.

41. FICTION: THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 145 READS: "FOOLISHLY, MACARTHUR IS OPENLY ANTAGONISTIC TO ADMIRAL CHESTER NIMITZ, HIS NAVAL EQUAL IN RANK AND POWER, CALLING HIS TACTICAL STRATEGIES 'JUST AWFUL.' THE NAVY, MACARTHUR BELIEVES, WANTS TO CONTROL ALL OVERSEAS POSITIONS AFTER THE WAR,..."

FACT: MIND READING AGAIN!!! AGAIN, I HAVE TO REMIND THE AUTHORS THAT OVERALL STRATEGY WAS DICTATED BY THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AND I DEFY THE AUTHORS TO COME UP WITH ANYTHING IN WRITING ABOUT MACARTHUR BEING OPENLY ANTAGONISTIC OF ADMIRAL NIMITZ! TALK ABOUT CREATING CONFLICT WHERE THERE IS NONE! THE AUTHORS ARE UNSURPASSED AT THAT!.

42. FICTION: THE NEXT TO LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 145 READS: "IT ALSO PUTS THE TIMING OF OPERATION OLYMPIC IN GRAVE DANGER, MACARTHUR CANNOT ATTACK FOR FOUR TO FIVE MONTHS AT THE EARLIEST, GIVING THE JAPANESE MORE TIME TO PREPARE."

FACT: THE INVASION OF JAPAN WAS NOT TO BE THE NEXT STEP. THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF HAD ISSUED A PLAN ON JUNE 30, 1944. IT WAS CALLED "OPERATIONS TO BE TAKEN PRIOR TO THE INVASION OF JAPAN." THAT PLAN CALLED FOR LANDING TROOPS AT INCHON, KOREA IN ORDER TO PROVIDE AIRFIELDS CLOSER TO THE JAPANESE MAINLAND AND ALSO AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR MOUNTING AN INVASION OF JAPAN. THERE WERE THREE AIRFIELDS CAPABLE OF TAKING FULLY LOADED C-54'S. ONE AT KIMPO, NEAR SEOUL, ONE AT SUWON SOUTH OF SEOUL AND ONE AT PUSAN ON THE SOUTHERN TIP OF KOREA. WITH MINIMAL WORK, THOSE AIRSTRIPS COULD HANDLE FULLY LOADED B-29'S AND B-24'S. ADDITIONALLY, AMERICAN FIGHTERS WOULD BE ABLE TO ESCORT BOMBERS TO THE JAPANESE MAINLAND, EVEN TO OSAKA, YOKOHAMA AND TOKYO IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN HONSHU. YOU WRITE AS IF MACARTHUR WAS GOING TO BE IN COMMAND OF THE LANDING ON JAPANESE SOIL. THE ATTACK WOULD BY SIMULTANEOUSLY BY MACARTHUR'S AND NIMITZ'S FORCES.

43. FICTION: ON PAGE 149 IN THE PARAGRAPH THAT BEGINS JUST BELOW THE LITTLE AMERICAN FLAG, THE FOURTH SENTENCE READS: THE TYPE 95, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS THE BEST TORPEDO IN THE WORLD.....WITH AN EFFECTIVE RANGE OF MORE THAN SIX MILES."

FACT: THEE JAPANESE TYPE 95 SUBMARINE TORPEDO AT A SPEED OF 45-47 KNOTS HAD A RANGE OF 13,100 YARDS,OR ABOUT TWO AND A HALF MILES. AT A SPEED OF 49-51 KNOTS, THE RANGE WAS 9,850 YARDS, OR JUST UNDER TWO MILES. MUCH BETTER THAN ANY AMERICAN SUBMARINE TORPEDO! ONLY THE LARGER, TYPE 93 SHIPBORNE TORPEDO, WHICH WAS MUCH TOO LARGE TO FIT ON ANY SUBMARINE HAD THAT MUCH RANGE!

44. FICTION: THE THIRD PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 161 SAYS: "MARKS AND HIS 8 MAN CREW..."

FACT: THE CATALINA PBY5A HAD A CREW OF 8, INCLUDING THE PILOT.

45: FICTION: THE NEXT-TO-LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 162 READS: "AN EMPTY METAL AMMUNITION CAN ON BOARD THE RAFT HAS BEEN PICKED UP BA A SEARCH SHIPS RADAR., AND RESCUE PLANES ARE QUICKLY DISPATCHED."

FACT: FIRST, IN ORDER FOR A SEARCH SHIPS RADAR TO PICK ANYTHING UP ON THE RAFT, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE VISIBLE FROM THE RAFT AND THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO SEND RESCUE AIRCRAFT. AGAIN A COMPLETELY ERRONEOUS STATEMENT. THE AUTHORS OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO IDEA HOW RADAR WORKS!

46. FICTION: IN THE THIRD FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 167 THE SECOND SENTENCE READS: "HE HAS BEEN PRACTICING THE BOMBING FOR WEEKS, FLYING OVER THE PACIFIC WITH A DUMMY VERSION OF LITTLE BOY AND DROPPING IT IN THE OCEAN."

FACT: THE "DUMMY" BOMBS WERE LOADED WITH ABOUT 5,000 POUNDS OF CONVENTIONAL EXPLOSIVES AND WERE DROPPED ON ACTUAL TARGETS IN JAPAN BY PILOTS IN TIBBETS' GROUP, NOT JUST BY TIBBETS!

47. FICTION: THE THIRD SENTENCE OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 168 READS IN PART: ....."STILL BELIEVING THAT THE SOVIET UNION WILL HELP BROKER A PEACE TO HIS LIKING WITH THE WEST..."

FACT: LOOK AT THE AUTHORS COMMENTS ON PAGE 114 THRU 116 ABOUT RUSSIAN HELP. MORE IMPORTANTLY THE RUSSIANS HAD NOT FORGOTTEN THE NEAR TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE RUSSIAN BALTIC FLEET BY THE JAPANESE FLEET IN THE TSUSHIMA STRAITS IN THE SEA OF JAPAN IN MAY 1905 AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF PORT ARTHUR AND THE SOUTHERN HALF OF SAKHALIN ISLAND TO THE JAPANESE AS A RESULT.

48. FICTION: THE FIRST AND SECOND SECOND SENTENCES OF THE SECOND PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 154 READS: " HANDY PROTESTED PUTTING SUCH AN ORDER COMPROMISED SECURITY. EVEN HARRY TRUMAN HAD REFUSED TO AFFIX HIS SIGNATURE TO ANY ORDER CONNECTING HIM TO DROPPING THE A-BOMB.

FACT: MAKING UP STORIES AGAIN! "THE BUCK STOPS HERE". TRUMAN HAD NO MISGIVINGS ABOUT ORDERING THE DROP OF THE A-BOMBS. ANOTHER COMPLETELY FICTITIOUS STATEMENT FROM THE AUTHOR'S FERTILE MINDS!

49. FICTION: ON PAGE 154, THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE PARAGRAPH IMMEDIATELY BELOW THE LITTLE JAPANESE FLAG SAYS: "THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING COMFORTABLE ABOUT THESE FLIGHTS ABOARD LUMBERING MILITARY TRANSPORT PLANES, WHOSE ENGINES DRONE SO LOUDLY THAT MEN CANNOT SPEAK WITHOUT SHOUTING:"

FACT: GENERAL SPAATZ WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE FLOWN MOST OF HIS TRIP ABOARD A DOUGLAS C-54 TRANSPORT. IT WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT AS A COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PLANE JUST BEFORE THE WAR BEGAN. WHEN THE WAR STARTED, THE MILITARY TOOK ALL OF THE EXISTING AIRCRAFT AND ALL SUBSEQUENT PRODUCTION UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR. NOISE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM. I HAVE BEEN A PASSENGER ABOARD C-54 TRANSPORTS FOR A TOTAL OF ABOUT 3,000 MILES AND ENGINE NOISE WAS NO MORE OF A PROBLEM THAN ON A CIVILIAN AIRLINER. I COULD CONVERSE WITH MY FELLOW PASSENGERS EASILY!

50. FICTION: THE LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 154 READS: "YET GENERAL SPAATZ BARELY RESTED AFTER REACHING HIS NEW HEADQUARTERS IN GUAM, EVEN THOUGH THE LUXURY OF A VILLA AND THE COMFORT OF A HORIZONTAL BED AWAITED. THE CAREER AVIATOR PRESSED ON, INCREASING THE LENGTH OF HIS JOURNEY BY ANOTHER TWO DAYS TO MEET WITH MACARTHUR IN PERSON."

FACT: THE C-54 HAD A TOP SPEED OF 275 MILES PER HOUR AND A CRUISING SPEED OF 190 MILES PER HOUR. THE FLIGHT DISTANCE FROM GUAM TO MANILA IS ABOUT 1,600 MILES. AT 190 MPH, THE FLYING TIME WOULD BE ABOUT 8 HOURS, NOT TWO DAYS.

51. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE PARAGRAPH AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 169 READS: "TIBBETS WEARS SHORTS ON THIS HOT SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MAKING THE MOMENT APPEAR ALMOST CASUAL."

FACT: THIS IS THE MOST BLATANT EXAMPLE OF THE AUTHORS MANUFACTURING FACTS TO SUIT THEIR FANCY. THE PHOTOGRAPH ON THE NEXT PAGE IS A PICTURE OF THE BRIEFING ROOM AND ALL THE CREW MEMBERS AT THE BRIEFING. THAT PHOTO CLEARLY SHOWS THAT EVERYONE IN THE ROOM, INCLUDING TIBBETS, IS WEARING LONG KHAKI TROUSERS!!

52: FICTION: THE SENTENCE WHICH BEGINS AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 170, CONTINUING ON TO PAGE 171 READS: "VERY RECENTLY THE WEAPON WE ARE ABOUT TO DELIVER WAS SUCCESSFULLY TESTED IN THE STATES."

FACT: THE WEAPON TESTED IN THE STATES WAS THE PROTOTYPE OF "FAT MAN". THERE WAS NEVER A TEST OF LITTLE BOY, WHICH WAS THE ONE DROPPED ON NAGASAKI, AS EVERYONE KNEW IT WOULD WORK.

53. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 171 READS, IN PART..."MAJOR CHARLES SWEENEY'S 'THE GREAT ARTISTE' WILL MEASURE THE BLAST BY DROPPING SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS THAT WILL FLOAT TO THE GROUND BY PARACHUTE AND THEN RADIO DETAILS BACK TO GUAM AND TINIAN."

FACT: RADIO SIGNALS FROM THE GROUND WOULD NOT REACH GUAM OR TINIAN. THE TRANSMISSIONS WERE MONITORED AND RECORDED BY INSTRUMENTS ON THE GREAT ARTISTE.

54. FICTION: THE FIFTH AND SIXTH SENTENCE OF THE LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 171 READ: '''THEY PRACTICED DROPPING JUST ONE ROUND 'PUMPKIN' BOMB." AT FIVE TONS, TWELVE FEET IN LENGTH AND FIVE FEET IN DIAMETER THE PUMPKIN BOMB APPROXIMATED THE SIZE OF THE ATOMIC BOMB KNOWN AS FAT MAN."

FACT: FIRST. ALL OF THE 'PUMPKIN' BOMBS ON TINIAN WERE FILLED WITH CONVENTIONAL EXPLOSIVES AND THEY WERE DROPPED ON REAL TARGETS IN JAPAN. FAT MAN WAS EXACTLY 10 FEET, EIGHT INCHES LONG! A TWELVE FOOT LONG BOMB WOULD NOT FIT INTO THE BOMB BAY OF THE MODIFIED B-29'S AS THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE BOMB BAY WAS EXACTLY TWELVE FEET!.

55: FICTION/NO PROOFREADING: THE FOURTH LINE ON PAGE 124 READS IN PART".....THE TOKYO FIREBOMBINGS OF MARCH 1944"

FACT: THE TOKYO FIREBOMBINGS WERE IN 1945!!

56. FICTION: THE SIXTH SENTENCE ON PAGE 178 SAYS: "SHOULD THE PLANE BE SHOT DOWN......AND IF CAPTURE BECOMES A POSSIBILITY, HE CARRIES TWELVE CYANIDE PILLS, ONE FOR EACH MEMBER OF HIS CREW."

FACT: RECORDS SHOW THAT THERE WERE THREE B-29'S ON THE MISSION AND SINCE THEY WOULD BE FLYING AT 30,000 FEET, THERE WERE NO JAPANESE FIGHTER PLANES FAST ENOUGH TO CATCH THEM AT THAT ALTITUDE.AND ONLY THE HEAVIEST JAPANESE ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS HAD THAT MUCH RANGE. ADDITIONALLY, SHOULD THEY BE SHOT DOWN, HE WOULD HAVE NO OPPORTUNITY TO DISTRIBUTE THOSE PILLS. BESIDES, THE FOOTNOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE SAYS ONLY THREE MEN ON THE FLIGHT HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BOMB. A "SEA STORY" AS ONE OF OUR INSTRUCTORS AT SANDIA BASE USED TO SAY!

57. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE ON PAGE 178 READS, IN PART: "INSIDE THE FORWARD BOMB BAY, SAFELY CONCEALED FROM VIEW, IS THE BULBOUS, 8,900 POUND SHAPE OF LITTLE BOY,....."

FACT: LITTLE BOY WEIGHED 9,700 POUNDS AND AT 28 INCHES IN DIAMETER, LITTLE BOY WAS HARDLY BULBOUS.

58: FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE ON PAGE 180 READS: "CAPTAIN DEAK PARSONS ENTERED THE BOMB BAY AT 3:30 TO PRACTICE THE ELEVEN STEPS NECESSARY TO ARM THE BOMB MID-FLIGHT."

FACT: THERE WERE NOT ELEVEN STEPS,THERE WERE ONLY FOUR. FIRST, OPEN A SMALL PANEL LOCATED NEAR LITTLE BOY'S NOSE. SECOND, REMOVE THE DUMMY PLUGS, THIRD, INSERT THE LIVE PLUGS AND FOURTH, REPLACE THE PANEL.

59: FICTION: ON PAGE 182, JUST BELOW THE PICTURE OF LITTLE BOY BEING LOADED INTO THE BOMB BAY OF ENOLA GAY, THE FIRST FULL SENTENCE READS" JUST THIS MORNING, FOUR B-29'S CRASHED ON TAKEOFF, DETONATING ALL THEIR EXPLOSIVES. PARSONS IS OPENLY FEARFUL THAT A SIMILAR CRASH WILL WIPE TINIAN OFF THE MAP."

FACT: SINCE THE THE BOMB WAS NOT ARMED ON TAKE OFF, THAT SCENARIO COULD NEVER HAPPEN. WHILE MANY B-29'S DID CRASH ON TAKE OFF, MOST OF THEM NEVER EVEN CAUGHT FIRE. ADDITIONALLY, SILVERPLATE B-29'S WERE MODIFIED AND HAD MANY OF THE DEFECTS OF EARLIER MODELS CORRECTED! THERE ARE MULTIPLE PICTURES OF B-29'S AT TINIAN WHICH CRASHED ON TAKE-OFF, THEY ARE ALL ALMOST INTACT AND ONE PHOTO EVEN SHOWS A FIRE TRUCK PUTTING OUT A FIRE ON ONE OF THOSE PLANES. NONE OF THOSE PLANES IN THE PHOTOS SHOWED ANY INDICATION OF HAVING BEEN THRU AN EXPLOSION. OBVIOUSLY ALL OF THE CREWS ABOARD THOSE PLANES SURVIVED.

60. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE ON THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 182 AND CONTINUING ON THE TOP OF PAGE 183 READS: "THIS INFORMATION WAS PARTICULARLY VITAL BECAUSE THE US NAVY HAD JUST ISSUED A WARNING FOR ALL SHIPS TO STAY AT LEAST FIFTY MILES AWAY FROM HIROSHIMA. THIS REDUCED THE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL RESCUE VESSELS."

FACT: ONE ONLY HAS TO LOOK AT A MAP OF JAPAN. HIROSHIMA IS IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF HONSHU, ON THE STRAIT BETWEEN SOUTHERN HONSHU AND THE ISLAND OF SHIKUOKO. NO U.S. SHIP COULD GET WITHIN FIFTY MILES OF HIROSHIMA UNLESS THEY WENT INTO THAT STRAIT, WHICH ALSO HAS THE SOUTHERN ISLAND OF KYUSHU IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF HIROSHIMA.

61. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE IN THE 4TH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 185 READS: "WITH SEVEN THOUSAND GALLONS OF FUEL AND A FOUR TON BOMB, SHE IS ALMOST SEVEN TONS OVERWEIGHT. "

FACT: THE NORMAL FUEL LOAD WAS 6,343 GALLONS IN THE MAIN TANKS AND THE 640 GALLON TANK IN THE AFT BOMB BAY, WEIGHED JUST 3,840 POUNDS. NORMAL BOMB LOAD WAS 20,000 POUNDS. LITTLE BOY WEIGHED 9,700 POUNDS, JUST A LITTLE UNDER FIVE TONS, NOT FOUR! THE ENOLA GAY WAS STILL UNDERWEIGHT BY A LITTLE OVER TWO TONS ON TAKE OFF!

62. FICTION: THE THIRD SENTENCE OF THE SECOND FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 189 READS: "LITTLE BOY ALMOST ENTIRELY FILLS THE CAVERNOUS SPACE."

FACT: AT 28 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND TEN FEET LONG, LITTLE BOY WAS DEFINITELY NOT BULBOUS! THAT DESCRIPTION WOULD ONLY APPLY TO FAT MAN.

63. FICTION: THE THIRD FULL SENTENCE IN THE THIRD FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 189 READS: "STANDING ON A CATWALK, PARSONS POSITIONS HIMSELF TO THE REAR OF THE DEVICE. HE NEEDS LIGHT TO SEE WHAT HE IS DOING, SO JEPSON...........PROVIDES IT."

FACT: THE CATWALK RUNS ALONG THE SIDE OF THE BOMB BAY, NOT ACROSS IT. ALSO, SINCE LITTLE BOY WAS TEN FEET LONG AND THE BOMB BAY WAS TWELVE FEET LONG, NO ONE WOULD BE ABLE TO STAND TO THE REAR OF LITTLE BOY. EVEN IF THEY COULD, LOOK AT A PICTURE OF LITTLE BOY. ACCESS FROM THE REAR WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE! ACCESS WAS FROM THE SIDE, CLOSE TO THE NOSE !

64. FICTION: THE FIRST LINE BELOW THE SMALL JAPANESE FLAG ON PAGE 191 STATES: "INSTANTLY, ENOLA GAY LURCHES UPWARD, FINALLY RID OF THE FOUR EXTRA TONS BENEATH HER NOSE."

FACT: LITTLE BOY WEIGHED 9,700 POUNDS, ALMOST FIVE TONS, NOT FOUR! THE BOMB BAY DOORS WERE NOT BENEATH THE NOSE, THE FORWARD PART OF THE BOMB BAY WAS PARALLEL WITH THE FORWARD EDGE OF THE WING. ONLY THE RETRACTED NOSE WHEEL IS AT THE NOSE, WITH THE CREW ACCESS HATCH AFT OF THAT AND AHEAD OF THE FORWARD BOMB BAY!!

65. FICTION: THE SENTENCE IN THE SECOND PARAGRAPH BELOW THE JAPANESE FLAG ON PAGE 191 READS, IN PART: "....BOMBARDIER FEREBEE KEEPS HIS LEFT EYE AFFIXED TO HIS NORDEN BOMBSIGHT, ALLOWING HIM TO WATCH LITTLE BOY PLUMMET TO EARTH."

FACT: THE BOMBARDIER WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO SEE THE BOMB AS IT LEFT THE BOMB BAY AS THE FORWARD PART OF THE BOMB BAY WAS PARALLEL TO THE FORWARD EDGE OF THE WING, WHICH WAS ABOUT TEN FEET BEHIND THE BOMBARDIER'S POSITION IN THE MOST FORWARD PART OF THE NOSE. EVEN THE BOMB BAY CAMERA WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TRACK THE BOMB FOR MORE THAN A FEW SECONDS AS THE ENOLA GAY WOULD BE TRAVELING AT MAXIMUM SPEED, OVER 350 MILES PER HOUR IN ORDER TO PUT AS MUCH DISTANCE AS POSSIBLE FROM THE BOMB BLAST.

66. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE ON PAGE 191 AND CONTINUES ON PAGE 192 READS, IN PART: "LITTLE BOY'S RADAR PROXIMITY FUZE DETONATES."

FACT: NEITHER LITTLE BOY NOR FAT MAN HAD RADAR. THEY BOTH HAD BAROMETRIC PRESSURE SENSORS WHICH TRIGGERED THEM AT A PRESET ALTITUDE. RADAR WOULD TAKE TOO MUCH ROOM AND THE BUILT IN BATTERY THAT FURNISHED THE POWER TO OPERATE THE SENSOR AND FURNISH CURRENT TO INITIATE THE DETONATION DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO DO THAT AND POWER A RADAR SYSTEM.

67. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 193 READS, IN PART: "HE FEELS A STRANGE 'TINGLING SENSATION' IN HIS MOUTH, THE RESULT OF HIS FILLINGS INTERACTING WITH THE RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS NOW BILLOWING THOUSANDS OF FEET INTO THE AIR."

FACT: RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES WOULD NOT BE TRANSPORTED THAT FAR THAT SOON. NONE OF THE OBSERVERS AT THE TRINITY TEST SITE REPORTED ANY SUCH SENSATION AND THEY WERE CLOSER TO THE BLAST THAN THOSE AIRCREWS WERE.

68. FICTION: THE THIRD SENTENCE IN THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 202 READS: "FOR A REMINDER OF THE AMERICANS DOMINANCE, HIROHITO NEED ONLY LOOK AROUND THE IMPERIAL PALACE: DESPITE STANDING ORDERS BY THE US MILITARY THAT THE EMPERORS PALACE SHOULD NOT BE BOMBED, FIRES STARTED BY B-29 RAIDS ON TOKYO HAVE LEAPED THE GREAT STONE WALLS AND MOATS SURROUNDING HIS FORTRESS AND BURNED HIROHITO'S WOODEN RESIDENCE TO THE GROUND."

FACT: I WAS STATIONED IN TOKYO FROM OCTOBER 1947 THRU MAY 1949. BETWEEN THE INNER SIDE OF THE MOAT SURROUNDING THE EMPEROR'S GROUNDS, THERE WERE TREES THAT HAD TO BE 20 TO 30 YEARS OLD. THE BRIDGES ACROSS THE MOAT WERE ALL STONE, HAVING REPLACED THE WOODEN ONES DESTROYED BY A 1923 EARTHQUAKE. NEITHER THE DAI ICHI BUILDING, WHICH WAS ON A STREET BORDERING PART OF THE MOAT, NOR ANY OTHER BUILDINGS ON THAT SAME STREET HAD ANY DAMAGE TO THEM. ADDITIONALLY, WE WERE HOUSED IN THE BARRACKS USED BY THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL MARINES WHO GUARDED THE EMPEROR AND THERE WAS NO FIRE DAMAGE TO ANY OF THEM.

69. FICTION: THE SENTENCE BEGINNING ON THE FOURTH LINE ON PAGE 203 READS: "TRUMAN COULD HAVE FLOWN HOME AFTER HIS THREE WEEK STAY AT THE POTSDAM CONFERENCE IN GERMANY. BUT HIS SECURITY AGENTS RECOMMENDED MAKING THE FIVE DAY TRANSATLANTIC JOURNEY BECAUSE THEY FEARED AN ATTACK FROM THE SKY."

FACT: HOW WOULD THERE BE AN ATTACK FROM THE SKY? GERMANY AND ITALY HAD SURRENDERED AND NO JAPANESE AIRCRAFT HAD ENOUGH RANGE TO REACH ANYWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC!

70. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE SECOND PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 206 READS: "HE DOES NOT NEED TO ORDER A SECOND BOMB TO BE DROPPED ON JAPAN, FOR THAT COMMAND WAS GIVEN TWO WEEKS AGO ON THE SAME DATE HE APPROVED THE HIROSHIMA ATTACK. IN FACT THE ORDER ALLOWS FOR BOMBINGS TO CONTINUE AS LONG AS THERE IS A SUPPLY OF ATOMIC BOMBS."

FACT: NO SUCH COMMAND WAS GIVEN. PRESIDENT TRUMAN WAS HOPING THAT THE ONE ATTACK WOULD CONVINCE THE TOP JAPANESE MILITARY THAT CONTINUING THE WAR WAS FUTILE. IN ADDITION, THERE WAS ONLY ONLY ONE FAT MAN AVAILABLE. A SECOND ONE WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, BUT WITH NO ESTIMATE OF A COMPLETION DATE. AFTER THE HIROSHIMA ATTACK, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BOMB LEFT, ONE FAT MAN!

71. FICTION: THE THIRD SENTENCE IN THE 4TH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 206 READS: "FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, MACARTHUR HAS WAGED WAR ON HIS TERMS, ATTACKING WHEN AND WHERE HE WANTS."

FACT: MACARTHUR OPERATED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AS DID ADMIRAL NIMITZ, MACARTHUR'S NAVAL COUNTERPART IN THE PACIFIC.

72. FICTION: THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE FIFTH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 206 READS, IN PART: EVEN THOUGH MACARTHUR WEARS THE FIVE STAR RANK OF GENERAL OF THE ARMY, PRESIDENT TRUMAN HAS RARELY CONSULTED HIM ABOUT THE STATE OF THE PACIFIC CONFLICT. "

FACT: AGAIN THE AUTHORS HAVE PROVEN THEMSELVES TOTALLY IGNORANT OF MILITARY PROTOCOL. THE PRESIDENT NEVER DIRECTLY WORKS WITH MILITARY FIELD COMMANDERS, EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, WHO REGULARLY HOLD BRIEFINGS WITH THE PRESIDENT AND OTHER CABINET OFFICIALS. HE ALSO NEVER PERSONALLY CONSULTED WITH GENERAL EISENHOWER, THE OTHER FIVE STAR GENERAL OF THE ARMY.

73. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE THIRD PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 207 READS: HOWEVER THIS COURTESY ALSO CONTAINED A KEY ELEMENT OF MISDIRECTION: INSTEAD OF HIROSHIMA, THE COURIER FROM WASHINGTON INFORMED THE GENERAL THAT GROUND ZERO WOULD BE A LIGHTLY POPULATED INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT SOUTH OF TOKYO."

FACT: SEE MY FICTIONS #51. ALSO SEE PAGES 154 AND 155 WHERE THE AUTHOR'S DESCRIBE HOW GENERAL SPAATZ DELIVERED THE INFORMATION TO GENERAL MACARTHUR. THE AUTHORS CONTRADICT THEMSELVES AND APPARENTLY THINK A READER CANNOT REMEMBER WHAT THEY WROTE ONLY 53 PAGES PREVIOUSLY. IN ADDITION, THERE WAS NO INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT SOUTH OF TOKYO. I MADE A NUMBER OF TRAIN TRIPS THROUGH THAT AREA WHEN I WAS STATIONED IN TOKYO FROM FALL 1947 THRU MAY 1949. THERE WAS NO SIGN OF ANY PARTIALLY DESTROYED BUILDINGS AS THERE WERE IN TOKYO. I HAVE PICTURES THAT I TOOK OF PARTIALLY DESTROYED BUILDINGS IN TOKYO WHICH HAD BEEN DAMAGED BY THE BOMBINGS THERE. THERE WERE NO SUCH STRUCTURES SOUTH OF TOKYO ALONG THE RAIL LINE, WHICH MANUFACTURING FACILITIES WOULD HAVE TO HAVE CLOSE BY IN ORDER TO SHIP THEIR PRODUCTION. JAPAN'S ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE WAS NOT WELL DEVELOPED, MOST ROADS, EXCEPT FOR THOSE IN CITIES WERE STILL GRAVEL ROADS WITH NO PAVING.

74. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE FIFTH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 207 READS. "ON THE MORNING OF THE HIROSHIMA EXPLOSION, STILL NOT KNOWING ITS TRUE LOCATION..."

FACT: SEE FICTION 51 AND FICTION 73 ABOVE.

75. FICTION: THE FIRST TWO SENTENCES OF THE SIXTH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 207 READS: "THE TRUTH IS THAT MACARTHUR APPROVED OF THE TOKYO STRIKE."

FACT: THERE THE AUTHORS GO AGAIN, EXPOUNDING ON A TOTALLY FICTITIOUS SITUATION!

76. FICTION: THE 3D SENTENCE OF THE SIXTH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 207 READS: "WHEN JAPANESE COMMANDERS ACCUSED HIS TROOPS OF FIRING ARTILLERY AT A HOSPITAL IN RABAUL, ON THE ISLAND OF NEW BRITAIN, MACARTHUR IMMEDIATELY DENIED........"

FACT: NO ALLIED FORCES EVER ATTACKED RABAUL, EXCEPT FOR AIR ATTACKS ON THE AIRFIELDS THERE. THE ISLAND WAS BYPASSED AND JAPANESE FORCES REMAINED IN CONTROL UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR! IT TOOK SEVERAL MONTHS AFTER THE WARS END TO REPATRIATE ALL OF THE TROOPS STATIONED THERE BACK TO JAPAN. THE AUTHORS AGAIN ARE MANUFACTURING A TOTALLY FICTITIOUS EVENT!

77. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 208, THE AUTHORS WRITE: "MACARTHUR ONCE SPOKE ELOQUENTLY TO ME ABOUT IT," RICHARD NIXON WILL ONE DAY RECOUNT TO REPORTERS..........HE THOUGHT IT A TRAGEDY THAT THE BOMB EVER EXPLODED. . . .HE BELIEVED IN USING FORCE ONLY AGAINST MILITARY TARGETS, AND THAT IS WHY THE NUCLEAR THING TURNED HIM OFF."

FACT: SEE MY FICTION 75 ABOVE! THEY WRITE ONE THING ON ONE PAGE AND THEN TOTALLY CONTRADICT IT ON THE NEXT!!

78. FICTION: MOST OF PAGE 211 DESCRIBES ALLEGED BROADCASTS FROM JAPAN DIRECTED TO THE U.S. AND FRANCE, CITING THE HAGUE CONVENTION OF 1907 AND THE GENEVA CONVENTION."

FACT: THE UNITED STATES DID NOT RATIFY THE HAGUE CONVENTION UNTIL 1 JANUARY 2017. JAPAN DID NOT BECOME A PARTY TO THE GENEVA CONVENTION UNTIL 1953. THE PROTOCOL THAT ADDED PROTECTIONS FOR CIVILIANS WAS NOT EVEN MADE A PART OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION UNTIL 1977.

78. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE FOURTH PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 215 READS: "THE JAPANESE HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO SURRENDER, AND MACARTHUR IS STILL HOPING TO LEAD THE GREATEST AMPHIBIOUS INVASION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD."

FACT: THERE THEY GO AGAIN,. MIND READING! FIRST, MACARTHUR WAS TOO GOOD A TACTICIAN. SECONDLY, GENERAL EISENHOWER COMMANDED THE LARGEST INVASION FORCES IN EUROPE, IN COMMAND OF ALL BRITISH, FREE FRENCH AND AMERICAN FORCES , INCLUDING THE NAVY! IN ADDITION, THE INVASION OF JAPAN WOULD BE BY THE MILITARY UNITS UNDER HIS COMMAND AND ALSO BY THE UNITS UNDER THE COMMAND OF ADMIRAL NIMITZ! MACARTHUR ONLY COMMANDED ABOUT HALF OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES IN THE FAR EAST!!

80. FICTION: THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 221 UNDER THE LITTLE AMERICAN FLAG READS: THE COMPLICATIONS BEGAN THE DAY BEFORE TAKEOFF, WHEN ENGINEERS ASSEMBLING FAT MAN'S FIRING UNIT ALMOST DETONATED THE DEVICE BY INSERTING A CABLE INTO THE ASSEMBLY BACKWARD. THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED, BUT NOT BEFORE THE TWO ENGINEERS SPENT SEVERAL NERVOUS HOURS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT SWEATING FEARFULLY AS THEY SWITCHED AND RESOLDERED THE CONNECTIONS....."

FACT: NONE OF THAT HAPPENED, FAT MAN WAS COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED, LESS THE CORE, WHEN IT ARRIVED ON TINIAN. THE ONLY THING NEEDED WAS TO REMOVE THE NOSE CONE, DISCONNECT SEVERAL PRE-WIRED DETONATORS, INSERT THE CORE, RECONNECT THE DISCONNECTED DETONATORS, REATTACH THE NOSE CONE, SEAL IT, AND THE BOMB WAS READY TO GO. THAT WAS ALL DONE PRIOR TO LOADING. FAT MAN WAS ARMED BEFORE TAKEOFF!!

81. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE SECOND PARAGRAPH UNDER THE AMERICAN FLAG ON PAGE 222 READS: IN THE BOMB BAY, COMMANDER ASHWORTH AND HIS ASSISTANT WEAPONEER, LIEUTENANT PHILIP M. BARNES, REMOVED THE BOMB'S GREEN SAFETY PLUGS."

FACT: FAT MAN HAD BEEN ARMED BEFORE IT WAS LOADED ONTO BOCK'S CAR. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE AUTHOR'S CREATING AN ENTIRELY FICTITIOUS SITUATION!! THERE WERE NO WEAPONEERS ABOARD BOCK'S CAR SINCE FATMAN HAD BEEN ARMED PRIOR TO LOADING ON THE AIRCRAFT!!

82. FICTION: THE FOURTH PARAGRAPH BELOW THE AMERICAN FLAG ON PAGE 222 READS: "THREE HOURS LATER, SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE, RED LIGHTS ON THE WEAPONEER'S CONTROL PANEL BEGAN FLASHING IN RAPID SEQUENCE, INDICATING THAT DETONATION COULD TAKEN PLACE AT ANY SECOND. TERRIFIED, LIEUTENANT BARNS HURRIED TO ALERT ASHWORTH, WHOM HE FOUND ASLEEP IN THE BOMB BAY, USING FAT MAN AS A PILLOW."

FACT: FIRST, THERE WAS NOTHING CONNECTED TO THE BOMB. SECOND, THE BOMB WAS ACTIVATED BY A BAROMETRIC SENSOR WHICH WAS SET AT ABOUT TWO THOUSAND FEET. THIRD, AGAIN, THERE WERE NO WEAPONEERS ABOARD BOCK'S CAR!!

83. FICTION: THE LAST PARAGRAPH, AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 222 READS: ".....FOR TEN ANXIOUS MINUTES, THEY ANALYZED THE BOMB'S BLUEPRINTS, SEARCHING FOR A CLUE TO THE PROBLEM. FINALLY, AFTER REMOVING THE BOMB'S OUTER CASING........."

FACT: FIRST, FAT MAN WAS COMPLETELY ARMED BEFORE IT WAS LOADED INTO BOCKS CAR'S BOMB BAY AND THERE WERE NO WEAPONEERS ABOARD!!

84. FICTION: THE FOURTH LINE ON PAGE 223 READS: "ASHWORTH RESTED HIS HEAD ON THE BOMB AND WENT BACK TO SLEEP."

FACT: AGAIN, THERE WAS NO SPACE FOR ANYONE IN THE BOMB BAY FOR ANYONE TO BE ON TOP OF FAT MAN. ASHWORTH WAS NOT EVEN ABOARD!!

85. FICTION: THE TWENTY SECOND LINE ON PAGE 223 READS: "BUT HOPKINS WAS AT AN INCORRECT ALTITUDE, NINE THOUSAND FEET ABOVE BOCKSCAR AND THE GREAT ARTISTE."

FACT: EVEN THE SILVERPLATE B-29'S HAD A MAXIMUM ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 32,000 FEET AND SINCE BOCKSCAR AND THE GREAT ARTISTE WERE FLYING AT ABOUT 30,000 FEET, HE COULD HAVE BEEN NO MORE THAN 2,000 FEET HIGHER.

86. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE NEXT TO LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 223 READS: "ALL SHIPS AND PLANES STANDING BY FOR RESCUE OPERATIONS ARE NOW TOLD TO STAND DOWN AS BOCKSCAR WAS CONSIDERED LOST."

FACT: IN SUCH A CASE, ALL SHIPS AND PLANES WOULD BEGIN INTENSIVE EFFORTS TO LOCATE THE DOWNED PLANE.

87. FICTION: THE FOURTH SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 225 READS: "YET THERE IS LITTLE ANYONE BUT SWEENEY CAN DO TO GET BOCKSCAR SAFELY TO OKINAWA; ALL RESCUE OPERATIONS WERE SUSPENDED WHEN IT WAS FEARED BOCKSCAR HAD CRASHED."

FACT: AGAIN, THE AUTHOR'S DON'T GET IT! WHEN A PLANE IS REPORTED DOWN, RESCUE OPERATIONS INTENSIFY, NOT SHUT DOWN!

88. FICTION: THE LAST TWO SENTENCES OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 229 READS: "TRUMAN MUST DECIDE WHETHER, ONCE THE WEATHER CLEARS, THE UNITED STATES SHOULD DROP A THIRD ATOMIC BOMB. TARGET: TOKYO."

FACT: FIRST, TOKYO WAS NEVER ON THE LIST OF INTENDED TARGETS. THE OIL REFINERY IN THE TOKYO AREA HAD BEEN DESTROYED IN THE FIRE BOMBING, IT HAD NO OTHER MAJOR ANUFACTURING PLANTS AND THE FIREBOMBING RAIDS HAD PRETTY MUCH LEVELED THE CITY. SECOND, ANOTHER FAT MAN HAD NOT BEEN COMPLETED!

89. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE NEXT TO LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 249 READS: "THE IMPERIAL PALACE'S GREAT STONE WALLS, A HAVEN FOR SO LONG, HAVE NOW BECOME A PRISON."

FACT: SEE MY FICTION 68, WHERE THE AUTHORS PROPERLY DESCRIBED THE EMPEROR'S PALACE AS BEING CONSTRUCTED OF WOOD. ONLY THE IMPERIAL GUARD BARRACKS WERE CONSTRUCTED OF FIREPROOF AND EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT CONCRETE. THE SECOND BRIGADE OF THE 8TH CAVALRY REGIMENT OF THE FIRST CAVALRY DIVISION USED THEM AS BARRACKS WHILE I WAS THERE IN 1947-1949.

90. FICTION: THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH UNDER THE AMERICAN FLAG ON PAGE 267 READS, IN PART: ".....ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1945, THE YOUNG ENSIGN FROM BROOKLYN IS TERRIFIED THAT A TYPHOON MAY SINK HIS SHIP EIGHT HUNDRED MILES SOUTHWEST OF TOKYO."

FACT: TYPHOON URSULA PASSED OVER OKINAWA ON SEPTEMBER 11 AFTER HAVING ORIGINATED EAST OF THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINES ON SEPTEMBER 8. ON SEPTEMBER 11 IT HIT OKINAWA. IT STRUCK THE CHINESE MAINLAND ON SEPTEMBER 12. ON SEPTEMBER 13 IT CROSSED SOUTHERN KOREA, THEN ON SEPTEMBER 14 IT STRUCK THE NORTHERNMOST JAPANESE ISLAND OF HOKKAIDO AND CONTINUED I A NORTHEASTERLY DIRECTION UNTIL DYING OUT IN THE NORTHERN PACIFIC. EIGHT HUNDRED MILES SOUTHWEST OF TOKYO WOULD PUT HIM ABOUT TWO HUNDRED FIFTY MILES SOUTH OF THE SOUTHERN TIP OF KYUSHU THREE DAYS AFTER THE TYPHOON DIED DOWN AT HOKKAIDO, ABOUT 800 MILES NORTH OF TOKYO ON SEPTEMBER 14!

91. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE THIRD PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 267 UNDER THE AMERICAN FLAG READS: "AIRCRAFT TRANSPORTING AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR HOMEWARD WERE CAUGHT IN THE DEADLY STORM. TRAGICALLY THESE MEN WHO HAD ENDURED YEARS OF TORTURE AND STARVATION WOULD NEVER SEE AMERICA AGAIN: ALL NINE HUNDRED OF THEM DIED WHEN THE STORM FORCED THIRTY AIRPLANES INTO THE SEA OF JAPAN."

FACT: FIRST: THERE WERE ONLY SIX AIRCRAFT. AT LEAST THREE OF THEM WERE B-24 BOMBERS AND THEY WERE TRANSPORTING LIBERATED PRISONERS OF WAR TO THE PHILIPPINES. SECOND, THERE WERE ONLY A TOTAL OF 120 FORMER POW'S AND AIRCREW WHO DIED.. THIRD, THE PLANES CRASHED INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN SOUTH OF OKINAWA ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN OKINAWA ANT THE NORTHERNMOST PART OF THE PHILIPPINES ON SEPTEMBER 10. AFTER CROSSING OVER SOUTHERN KOREA ON SEPTEMBER 13, TYPHOON URSALA PASSED OVER THE SEA OF JAPAN, DYING DOWN AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THE ISLAND OF HOKKAIDO ON SEPTEMBER 14.

92. FICTION: THE SECOND FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 273 READS, IN PART: "NOW AS TOJO SITS IN THE DOCK, A DERANGED JAPANESE CIVILIAN DEFENDANT, HOPING TO PLEAD INSANITY STEPS FORWARD AND SLAPS HIM ON THE BACK OF THE HEAD."

FACT: ALL ACCUSED WAR CRIMINALS WERE CONFINED TO THEIR CELLS EXCEPT WHEN IN COURT AT THEIR OWN TRIAL. I WAS STATIONED IN TOKYO FROM LATE 1947 THRU MAY OF 1949 AS A MEMBER OF HEADQUARTERS COMPANY, 8TH CAVALRY REGIMENT. COMPANIES FROM OUR BATTALION, IN ROTATION, SERVED AS GUARDS AT SANGAMO PRISON.

93. FICTION: THE FOURTH SENTENCE IN THE THIRD FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 273 READS, IN PART: "BUT UNBEKNOWNST TO TOJO, THE WORDS 'REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR' WILL BE DRILLED INTO THE FALSE TEETH IN MORSE CODE......RUNNING HIS TONGUE ALONG HIS DENTURES, WONDERING ABOUT THE CURIOUS BUMPS AND DIVOTS STUDDING THE OTHERWISE SMOOTH PORCELAIN SURFACES."

FACT: ADULTS HAVE 32 TEETH, INCLUDING 4 WISDOM TEETH. THAT MESSAGE REQUIRES 44 DOTS AND DASHES, SO THERE WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TEETH. THREE OF THE LETTERS REQUIRE FOUR DOTS/DASHES AND AND SEVEN REQUIRE THREE. YOU CANNOT BELIEVE ANYTHING ON WIKIPEDIA. MOST OF THE SO-CALLED FACTS ARE NOT VERIFIABLE.

94. FICTION: THE NEXT-TO LAST SENTENCE IN THE LAST PARAGRAPH AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE OF PAGE 274 READS: "TIBBETS WAS AMONG THE FIRST PILOTS TO FLY INTO TOKYO WITH THE OCCUPATION FORCES. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY UPON BEING BILLETED AT THE DAI iCHI BUILDING NEXT TO THE IMPERIAL PALACE IN DOWNTOWN TOKYO....."

FACT: NO ONE WAS BILLETED AT THE DAI ICHI BUILDING. ALL AIRCRAFT CREWS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR STATUS, WERE BILLETED AT HANEDA AIRFIELD, WHICH WAS THE AIRPORT SERVICING TOKYO AND WHERE MACARTHUR KEPT THE "BATAAN".

95. FICTION: THE THIRD FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 277 READS: "PRIVATELY, TRUMAN NOW BELIEVES THE APPOINTMENT WAS A MISTAKE."

FACT: TRUMAN WAS ADAMANT THAT MACARTHUR SHOULD OVERSEE THE RECONSTRUCTION OF JAPAN! AGAIN THE AUTHORS HAVE BECOME MIND READERS OF SOMEONE'S PAST THOUGHTS.

96. FICTION: THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 277 READS, IN PART: "..........WHICH SHOCKED THE JAPANESE BECAUSE HEAVY AMERICAN BOMBERS WERE LAUNCHED FROM AIRCRAFT CARRIERS-"

FACT: B-25'S WERE NEVER CONSIDERED HEAVY BOMBERS, THEY WERE CLASSIFIED AS ATTACK BOMBERS, THE LIGHTEST BOMBERS IN THE U.S. INVENTORY!

97. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 279 READS: "AS THE CLOCK TICKS TOWARD TWELVE, EACH CRIMINAL IS CLOTHED IN THE UNIFORM OF AN AMERICAN ARMY GARBAGEMAN,....."

FACT: THERE IS NO SUCH DESIGNATION IN THE ARMY AS "GARBAGEMAN". DURING COMBAT, TRAINING MANUEVERS, ETC. SOLDIERS, INCLUDING OFFICERS, WORE A TWO PIECE UNIFORM, OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED AS "HERRINGBONE TWILL", AND REFERRED TO AS "FATIGUES" WHICH WERE KIND OF DARK GREEN IN COLOR.

98: FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE FOOTNOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 280 READS: "SHORTLY BEFORE HIS SENTENCE WAS CARRIED OUT, TOJO GAVE HIS MILITARY RIBBONS TO ONE OF HIS AMERICAN JAILORS."

FACT: NEITHER TOJO NOR ANY OF THE OTHER MILITARY CRIMINALS HAD POSSESSION OF ANY MEDALS. TOJO HAD NO MEDALS IN HIS POSSESSION TO GIVE! AS STATED BEFORE, i WAS IN HEADQUARTERS COMPANY OF THE BATTALION THAT FURNISHED THE GUARDS AT THE PRISON AND WE WOULD HAVE HEARD ABOUT IT!!

99. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 292 READS: "TRUMAN WAS RANKLED THAT MACARTHUR DELAYED EXITING FROM HIS PLANE FOR FORTY-FIVE MINUTES , EFFECTIVELY KEEPING THE PRESIDENT WAITING."

FACT: ALL ACCOUNTS SHOW THAT MACARTHUR ARRIVED AT WAKE ISLAND A FULL TWELVE HOURS BEFORE OF PRESIDENT TRUMAN ARRIVED. ANOTHER FABRICATION BY THE AUTHORS!

100. FICTION: THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 292 READS: "TRUMAN WAS DEEPLY UPSET THAT MACARTHUR HAD PUBLICLY QUESTIONED THE PRESIDENT'S FOREIGN POLICY IN THE PACIFIC AS A STRATEGY OF 'APPEASEMENT AND DEFEATISM'- A MATTER THAT WAS READ INTO THE OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL RECORD."

FACT: THE ONLY ENTRIES IN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ARE PROCEEDINGS CONDUCTED BY CONGRESS AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, INCLUDING INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION, RESULTS OF VOTING ON PROPOSED LEGISLATION AS WELL AS VERBATIM RECORDING OF ALL PROPOSED LEGISLATION. ONE OF THE DUTIES OF ONE OF MY JOBS WAS TO READ THE DAILY ISSUES OF THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANY PROPOSED LEGISLATION WHICH MIGHT AFFECT OUR OPERATIONS.

101. FICTION: THE SECOND SENTENCE OF THE SECOND FULL PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 292 READS: "THE GENERAL DID NOT RETURN PHONE CALLS, THINKING IT BENEATH HIS POSITION AS 'HEAD OF STATE'....."

FACT: THERE WERE NO DIRECT PHONE CONNECTIONS FROM THE U.S. TO THE FAR EAST. THERE WAS NO UNDERSEA CABLE ACROSS THE PACIFIC AS THEE WAS TO EUROPE AND HAWAII. ALL COMMUNICATIONS WERE BY TELETYPE. THERE THE AUTHOR'S GO "READING MACARTHUR'S MIND RETROACTIVELY!" AS LATE AS JULY 1950 ALL DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS WERE BY TELETYPE. ON JULY 31, 1950, THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF NOTIFIED THAT THERE WERE TEN ATOMIC BOMBS, LESS THEIR NUCLEAR CORES AND THAT IF MACARTHUR HAD ANY KOREAN TARGETS WHICH WOULD WARRANT THEIR USE. HE WOULD HAVE TO GET PRESIDENT TRUMAN'S APPROVAL FOR THEIR USE AND THAT UPON RECEIVING SUCH APPROVAL, THEY COULD BE DEPLOYED WITHIN 72 HOURS. (INCIDENTALLY HE DECLINED, SAYING THERE WAS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THEIR USE IN KOREA!)

102. FICTION: BEGINNING WITH THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE LAST PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 292 THE AUTHOR'S WRITE: "THE TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAR TURNED AGAINST MACARTHUR FOLLOWING THE WAKE ISLAND MEETING. CHINESE FORCES JOINED THE NORTH KOREANS TO HALT THE AMERICAN ADVANCE. IN DEFIANCE OF DIRECT ORDERS FROM TRUMAN, MACARTHUR SOUGHT TO EXPAND THE SIZE OF THE WAR BY PUSHING NORTH INTO CHINA TO CONFRONT THE INVADING COMMUNISTS. ON APRIL 5, 1951, IN DIRECT CONTRAVENTION OF THE WISHES OF PRESIDENT TRUMAN, MACARTHUR AUTHORIZED A PENETRATING AMERICAN STRIKE INTO CHINA."

FACT: BY JANUARY 1951, CHINESE AND NORTH KOREAN FORCES HAD PUSHED ALLIED FORCES TO A POINT SOUTH OF THE 38TH PARALLEL ON APRIL 5, GENERAL RIDGEWAY BEGAN "OPERATION RUGGED", WHICH SUCCEEDED IN DRIVING THE CHINESE AND NORTH KOREANS TO POINTS JUST NORTH OF SEOUL AND THE 38TH PARALLEL. AT NO POINT IN TIME AFTER MID DECEMBER 1950 WERE ANY ALLIED FORCES EVEN WITHIN A HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE MILES OF THE YALU RIVER. WITH SOVIET MIG 15'S BASED JUST ACROSS THE RIVER IN MANCHURIA, ANY AIR STRIKE BY OUR SLOWER B-29'S WOULD BE DOOMED TO FAILURE. IT MUST BE NOTED THAT THE ADVANCE NORTH TO THE 38TH PARALLEL WAS PERSONALLY AUTHORIZED BY PRESIDENT TRUMAN, EVEN THOUGH MANY OF THE TROOPS INVOLVED WERE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH, FRENCH AND TURKISH, NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE PRESIDENT! AMERICAN FORCES WERE FURTHEST NORTH IN EARLY NOVEMBER 1950 WHEN PART OF THE 7TH INFANTRY DIVISION WAS IN THE TOWN OF HYSENGIN ON THE YALU IN WESTERN NORTH KOREA FOR A PERIOD OF THREE DAYS BEFORE THEY WITHDREW AHEAD OF A MAJOR CHINESE INTERVENTION IN THAT AREA. MACARTHUR HAD REQUESTED AUTHORITY TO BOMB CHINESE BASES NORTH OF THE YALU RIVER IN MID-NOVEMBER 1950. PERMISSION WAS DENIED, BUT HE WAS AUTHORIZED TO DESTROY THE NORTH KOREAN HALF OF ALL BRIDGES CROSSING THE YALU. THE TOTAL STOCK OF RADAR GUIDED BOMBS WAS EXPENDED, WHICH RESULTED IN THE PARTIAL DESTRUCTION PART OF ONE SPAN ACROSS THE YALU! THE MAIN REASON FOR MISSING MOST TARGETS WAS THAT EVEN THOSE RADAR GUIDED BOMBS HAD AN ACCURACY OF PLUS OR MINUS 150 FEET.

AS A MATTER OF RECORD, ON APRIL 5,1951 GENERAL RIDGEWAY WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF TO ATTACK ENEMY AIR BASES IN MANCHURIA AND THE SHANTUNG PENINSULA IN THE EVENT OF A MAJOR ENEMY AIR STRIKE FROM OUTSIDE KOREA! THIS IS THE SO-CALLED STRIKE THE AUTHORS ARE REFERRING TO!!

FACT

1