Sunday, March 2, 2008

Training > Dedication

What was it that allowed the Marines in the Pacific Theater to inflict greater casualties to the Japanese in almost every major land-based conflict we've studied?

In the Battle of Tarawa, the Marines lost 1200 while the Japanese fought to the death, losing 4483 of their 4500 soldiers. During the fighting near Guadal Canal, the Japanese lost nearly 30000 men, while the Marines lost 1200, along with 560 losses from the Army.

In the first case, the Japanese even had the defensive position. Psychologically, I would expect the Japanese to have an advantage, being brought up and trained to follow bushido, they were certainly willing to do whatever it took to attain victory. Granted, the US troops were mentally tough in their own right, but nobody wanted a glorious death. The goal was victory, rather than glory.

The Banzai charges must account for most of this discrepancy, similar to "over-the-top" charges of WWI trench warfare. But even in situations where close combat was initiated by the Japanese, as in the fight on "Bloody Ridge", the Marines are able to hold off the Japanese, inflicting huge losses.

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