Existing comment:
War Without Mercy: The Combatants:
The battlefields of the Pacific were hellish for both sides. Americans often faced a well-entrenched foe ready to die rather than surrender. The Japanese were frequently outgunned, outnumbered, and unable to unwilling to retreat. Warfare under such circumstances often involved close action and terrible casualties. Men fought not only with artillery and rifles, but also with satchel charges, flame-throwers and bayonets. Racial hatred and stereotyping and atrocities by both sides added to the brutality of the fighting.
The brutality increased as the war dragged on. The Japanese treated American wounded and POWs with great cruelty. Some Americans responded in kind. Then, as its cause became more desperate, Japan unveiled a frightening new weapon; the kamikaze, or "divine wind." Thousands of young men volunteered to fly aircraft loaded with explosives on suicide missions aimed at American ships. The results were both terrifying and deadly. |