When I still lived in Japan I saw a documentary from their POV about the fall of the battleship Yamato. Despite the level of gaslighting that was going on at the very highest levels of leadership in Japan (prosecuting the campaign against the US required a heavy amount of continuous deception of the Emperor and his high council from the beginning to the end of the war), the Imperial Navy and subsequently NSDF have a very sober and grounded understanding of the strategic errors they made in this and subsequent naval defeats. The Pacific theatre was never a sure thing for us- it was a series of major unforced errors by the Japanese borne of arrogance and overconfidence that made victory possible in the way we did it.
The Japanese were tenacious fighters who were poorly led. "First-rate soldiers in a third-rate army," was the analysis given by a British officer quoted in one of Max Hastings' excellent books on WW2.
My dear friend in Japan was a cop for a lot of his life, is pretty nationalist and as such is a pretty devoted hobbyist of Japanese military history. He has said much the same.
My American expat friend there, who I assume still lives in my old neck of the woods, many years ago met a elderly man that had been a commodore equivalent in the Imperial Navy who was a docent at some famous site, and was delighted by my friend's nerdiness and so engaged him for roughly an hour. He described the feeling of fleet leadership vs. high command as constant, intense frustration.
And there was no small amount of bitterness among many that had been lied to about Pearl Harbor. Quite a few never forgave their leadership for drawing them into what they saw as a deeply dishonorable act.
Growing up, my next door neighbor was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Being a kid, I never talked to him about it, but just a few years ago, after reading a book on that horror, I Googled his name hoping to find an online compilation of survivor stories, perhaps. Turns out, he wrote a book on it! The journey on the ships that ferried American POWs to Japan from the Phillipines was even more brutal than the earlier march to captivity. Unimaginable suffering.
Yeah, Congress. They’ve been ever so helpful during all this, haven’t they? A bunch of corrupted to the core criminals and puppets. I’m telling you - we cannot depend on them for ANYTHING.
TL;DR I couldn't continue reading I was getting violently ill. Wait, I mean I was getting nauseated and violently angry.
Governors Abbott and DeSantis need to make sure the next several bus loads ALL to go to New Jersey with their loads of unvaxxed illegals. Do it NOW, guys!
There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.
This statement seems to be bothering quite a few people understandably, so I'll attempt to clarify my meaning:
I believe our values and character as a nation have changed dramatically since the time described in this story, and am uncertain that a plurality of Americans could be expected to behave in the same way.
This is not to say that I believe such men and women no longer exist, or that they do not exist in any significant numbers.
Thank you for your response. Honestly, I have days when I have similar concerns and many days when those concerns truly get the better of me. When I compare what has been dubbed "the greatest generation" to the people of our own time, for example, I ask myself "How in hell will such weak, fearful and unwise people as we have today ever win a war?"
The more I learn about the history of America during WW1 and WW2, however, the more I realize that many people of those times had similar concerns about the people of their own time. And I also learned that (again arguably) what we often regard as characteristic of an entire generation was instead characteristic of that generation primarily during wartime. During WW2, for example, they were amazing in so many ways. After the war, however, they did things like help build Hugh Hefner's sex empire, start wife swapping clubs, and make divorce more likely than remaining married.
One final thing: during wartime, any disparaging or negative comment was likely to get jumped on no matter who said it, why they said it, or which war we are discussing. I think it says a lot about our state of mind, then, that you caught considerable flak for your understandable comment.
As long as no one's trying to kill me or get me killed, I don't worry too much about hot tempers. But your point about what raises our collective defensiveness is spot on.
I had an interesting conversation many years ago with the aforementioned Japanese friend regarding generational traits. He pointed out that, compared to the United States, a much greater percentage of Japanese men of that generation were killed- most of whom presumably did not have the chance to raise families beforehand. He wondered if the (more than) decimation of warriors actually affected the country's genepool and that this is why there is a common refrain that modern Japanese men are soft and callow ("herbivores"), descended from the men that had the temperaments to avoid dying in battle or to avoid fighting altogether.
Sorry for a delayed response that should have come earlier or not at all. For some reason, however, that "herbivores" comment kept whirling around in my head. When the whirling finally stopped, out popped the term "soy boys." If history is any guide, the so-called "herbivores" and "soy boys" will have an equally unflattering term for the generation they themselves have sired.
My father was born in 1925 and was raised by a single mom during the depression. At age 17 in 1942 he enlisted in the US Navy and became a corpsman (the S is silent Barack). He ended up in the South Pacific assigned to the Marine Corps medical service and was in the battle for Iwo Jima among other postings. He spent 20 years in the Navy/Marines and was part of helping evacuate our forces from the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. I was raised to support and defend this country and until about ten years ago I strongly did that. My dad died in 1993 and I am glad he can’t see the shit show it has become and all the lives we have wasted at home and abroad in the last 20 years.
My Dad was born in 1925 and enlisted in the Navy at age 18. He had bad eyesight and was assigned to the Sea Bees, where he was one of the many building the air field on Okinawa when it was taken. He died in 2006. I, too, am so glad he isn't here to see the mess our country has become. He didn't talk much about his time on Okinawa, but the stories he did tell were the funny ones. I think that helped him put other things he saw and had to do behind him. God bless them all!
Wow Randy this is close to home. My father was also born in ‘25 and enlisted in the Navy as soon as he was 18. He is part of my Covid story if you have time for the read. His stories from the war were fascinating.
Reading "Ordered Disobedience" finally convinced me to pitch in for an annual membership. Although this piece was not an editorial per se, it impressed me how much Chris Bray understands the value of Freedom, Bravery and Americanism. This has been apparent in his other writings but compelling in this referential article. Also, I thought my donation might finally provide him the money he needs to jump out of the dumpster fire known as California... (Kansas beckons)
Just before he married my mom my dad drove across country with a couple of lodge buddies. His impression of late 40s Kansas was, “some wide spaces and a road.” I suppose by now there’s a Stuckey’s.
We've lived in MN for over thirty years now, but growing up in the San Fernando Valley, probably couldn't have picked out Iowa on a map. Kidding aside, it's surprisingly beautiful, the home of both "Field of Dreams" and "Bridges of Madison County."
I would be curious as to why. Social pressure I'm sure. But I wonder if testosterone being half of what it was for the greatest generation has anything to do with it?
And I wonder if the effects of "social pressure" (men being pussified) had a ratcheting effect on testosterone?
No offense guys, but blaming a lack of manliness on society and your diet is kind of a sissy move. Just go be a badass and you will have testosterone when you need it.
I agree. It is part of it. But we have to break out of the mindset of letting the outside world rule us. If we act more like men then our bodies will too. The inner man has to lead and the world will align itself to him.
What a treeeemendous story. As a reader of military history I’ll look for that book. Lt. Lupo, wow. If you believe in what’s right, you won’t be wrong.
Feb 10, 2023·edited Feb 10, 2023Liked by Chris Bray
When I was a young Infantry Officer going through training at Ft Benning in 1979, every class started with a very short story of an enlisted man or officer who had won a valorous award (SS, DSC, CMH) in combat, many times at the cost of their lives. It may have been rote to some of my comrades, but what it said to me was that Americans of every background are capable of incredible feats under the worst possible conditions. You never know who will step up when it gets really bad. Great lesson we should continue to teach.
Yes, IOBC. My son went through IOBC in 2008 (it has a different name now) and when I asked, he said they were not opening classes with those stories....so I am afraid the practice is not continuing. But I dont know that to be a fact.
Great story making a great point. My father-in-law had 4 battle stars from the Pacific on the Raleigh, a light cruiser, ending up at Guam. He never bragged or felt he did anything particularly special, even when, as he explained it, he was cutting open capsized or sunk ships at Pearl to rescue trapped sailors. We have men and women like this now: we just don't have many leaders worthy of them.
Thank you Chris. Mindful disobedience...what the resisters of all-things Covid practiced, steeling us with grit and resolve for the next challenge. We are strong, and we are ready.
Great book. Enjoyed it very much. Brave men who understood the Churchill adage:
“It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”
The right thing is usually the hard thing.
We are living through historical times.
Nobody is coming to save us. We either save ourselves or we become slaves. In many ways we already are slaves to our government. We aren’t safe by being silent. They’re already killing us. COVID wasn’t an accident. The “vaccines” were made before the outbreak. The ongoing push to give them to children in spite of myriad safety signals tells you all you need to know about the group behind the virus. They’re already making a mockery of the nation over and over. They’re already dragging us into a completely unnecessary and unjustified war against Russia. They got richerfrom COVID. They’ll get richer from another pointless war. You lose- freedom, income, loved ones. It’s not that ambiguous at this point as to what’s going on. It’s been a problem for longer than must of us realized, and at a level we could not have imagined. Standing up doesn’t mean being stupid or gratuitously foolhardy. It does mean fighting for what you believe. Those sailors did what was necessary. They were all afraid. They did it anyway. We all have that capacity inside of us, but most will not rise to the occasion. Sometimes you have to defy authority, especially when the authority is based on false pretenses and is regularly abused. Otherwise you’re a doormat for every bully and thief. Courage.
Bill Whittle wrote and narrated a 7 episode podcast series titled America's Forgotten Heroes, produced by Daily Wire. One episode featured the story of Taffy 3 and Ernest Evans.
Ernest Evans Orders Left Full Rudder
America's Forgotten Heroes
As a young officer on an obsolete destroyer in the opening days of World War Two, Ernest Evans had watched a combined American, British and Australian fleet get decimated by the seemingly unstoppable Imperial Japanese Navy. Forced to cover the humiliating retreat, he swore if given a fighting ship of his own he would never run from enemy forces again. Made captain of a brand-new Navy destroyer, the USS Johnston, this full-blooded Cherokee drilled his crew endlessly, turning his command into a finely balanced, well-oiled fitting ship. On October 24th, 1944, Evans found himself confronted with a force of 19 Japanese battleships, heavy cruisers and destroyers. Without orders, he turned his unarmed Tin Can around and sailed directly at the Yamato, the most powerful warship ever created, any one turret of which weighed more than his entire ship. Following his example, the remainder of the unarmored destroyers and destroyer escorts guarding Task Force Three —callsign Taffy 3 — turned into utterly overwhelming odds, and fought so ferociously that the Japanese fleet abandoned their mission and turned around. For his actions that day in the Battle Off Samar Island, Ernest Evans was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the story of Taffy 3 would enter the history books as the most amazing David vs. Goliath battles ever fought. and produce the most glorious two hours in the history of the United States Navy.
Nimitz’s signal (with the appendage still erroneously (sic?) attached) still applies in our covid age when looking for leadership: “Where is Task Force 34? The world wonders”.
Those were different men in a different time.
But we'll see.
Beautiful read nonetheless. Thanks.
Very much so, and hard times make strong men, etc. But we can get it back.
When I still lived in Japan I saw a documentary from their POV about the fall of the battleship Yamato. Despite the level of gaslighting that was going on at the very highest levels of leadership in Japan (prosecuting the campaign against the US required a heavy amount of continuous deception of the Emperor and his high council from the beginning to the end of the war), the Imperial Navy and subsequently NSDF have a very sober and grounded understanding of the strategic errors they made in this and subsequent naval defeats. The Pacific theatre was never a sure thing for us- it was a series of major unforced errors by the Japanese borne of arrogance and overconfidence that made victory possible in the way we did it.
The Japanese were tenacious fighters who were poorly led. "First-rate soldiers in a third-rate army," was the analysis given by a British officer quoted in one of Max Hastings' excellent books on WW2.
My dear friend in Japan was a cop for a lot of his life, is pretty nationalist and as such is a pretty devoted hobbyist of Japanese military history. He has said much the same.
My American expat friend there, who I assume still lives in my old neck of the woods, many years ago met a elderly man that had been a commodore equivalent in the Imperial Navy who was a docent at some famous site, and was delighted by my friend's nerdiness and so engaged him for roughly an hour. He described the feeling of fleet leadership vs. high command as constant, intense frustration.
And there was no small amount of bitterness among many that had been lied to about Pearl Harbor. Quite a few never forgave their leadership for drawing them into what they saw as a deeply dishonorable act.
Very interesting.
Growing up, my next door neighbor was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Being a kid, I never talked to him about it, but just a few years ago, after reading a book on that horror, I Googled his name hoping to find an online compilation of survivor stories, perhaps. Turns out, he wrote a book on it! The journey on the ships that ferried American POWs to Japan from the Phillipines was even more brutal than the earlier march to captivity. Unimaginable suffering.
"HOWEVER WE WILL NEVER, I STRESS NEVER, CALL INTO QUESTION THE SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF VACCINES."
We shall not yield, Mr. Speaker, to the force of mere evidence!
If we could just capture the gas from these gas bags we would truly be energy independent!
Yeah, Congress. They’ve been ever so helpful during all this, haven’t they? A bunch of corrupted to the core criminals and puppets. I’m telling you - we cannot depend on them for ANYTHING.
TL;DR I couldn't continue reading I was getting violently ill. Wait, I mean I was getting nauseated and violently angry.
Governors Abbott and DeSantis need to make sure the next several bus loads ALL to go to New Jersey with their loads of unvaxxed illegals. Do it NOW, guys!
Our elites and "leadership" stink...
Long winded asshole
There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.
Mario Savio
And expect them to react just the way they did on January 6. Throw you in jail, call you a traitor, throw away the key.
Nothing genetically has changed.
And there are men out there preparing themselves.
You have more faith than I do. I pray you're correct!
You may not understand the military mind.
It's there... just not in the leadership... It's there.
I would argue that it is in certain echelons of the leadership.
Not in the Mo-rines from IN! RINOs!
"Those were different men in a different time."
What am I missing here? The same thing could be said of every American who fought in every war after the American Revolution.
This statement seems to be bothering quite a few people understandably, so I'll attempt to clarify my meaning:
I believe our values and character as a nation have changed dramatically since the time described in this story, and am uncertain that a plurality of Americans could be expected to behave in the same way.
This is not to say that I believe such men and women no longer exist, or that they do not exist in any significant numbers.
Thank you for your response. Honestly, I have days when I have similar concerns and many days when those concerns truly get the better of me. When I compare what has been dubbed "the greatest generation" to the people of our own time, for example, I ask myself "How in hell will such weak, fearful and unwise people as we have today ever win a war?"
The more I learn about the history of America during WW1 and WW2, however, the more I realize that many people of those times had similar concerns about the people of their own time. And I also learned that (again arguably) what we often regard as characteristic of an entire generation was instead characteristic of that generation primarily during wartime. During WW2, for example, they were amazing in so many ways. After the war, however, they did things like help build Hugh Hefner's sex empire, start wife swapping clubs, and make divorce more likely than remaining married.
One final thing: during wartime, any disparaging or negative comment was likely to get jumped on no matter who said it, why they said it, or which war we are discussing. I think it says a lot about our state of mind, then, that you caught considerable flak for your understandable comment.
As long as no one's trying to kill me or get me killed, I don't worry too much about hot tempers. But your point about what raises our collective defensiveness is spot on.
I had an interesting conversation many years ago with the aforementioned Japanese friend regarding generational traits. He pointed out that, compared to the United States, a much greater percentage of Japanese men of that generation were killed- most of whom presumably did not have the chance to raise families beforehand. He wondered if the (more than) decimation of warriors actually affected the country's genepool and that this is why there is a common refrain that modern Japanese men are soft and callow ("herbivores"), descended from the men that had the temperaments to avoid dying in battle or to avoid fighting altogether.
Sorry for a delayed response that should have come earlier or not at all. For some reason, however, that "herbivores" comment kept whirling around in my head. When the whirling finally stopped, out popped the term "soy boys." If history is any guide, the so-called "herbivores" and "soy boys" will have an equally unflattering term for the generation they themselves have sired.
I'm very interested to see how that theory plays out.
Not all of us are different
My father was born in 1925 and was raised by a single mom during the depression. At age 17 in 1942 he enlisted in the US Navy and became a corpsman (the S is silent Barack). He ended up in the South Pacific assigned to the Marine Corps medical service and was in the battle for Iwo Jima among other postings. He spent 20 years in the Navy/Marines and was part of helping evacuate our forces from the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. I was raised to support and defend this country and until about ten years ago I strongly did that. My dad died in 1993 and I am glad he can’t see the shit show it has become and all the lives we have wasted at home and abroad in the last 20 years.
My Dad was born in 1925 and enlisted in the Navy at age 18. He had bad eyesight and was assigned to the Sea Bees, where he was one of the many building the air field on Okinawa when it was taken. He died in 2006. I, too, am so glad he isn't here to see the mess our country has become. He didn't talk much about his time on Okinawa, but the stories he did tell were the funny ones. I think that helped him put other things he saw and had to do behind him. God bless them all!
Wow Randy this is close to home. My father was also born in ‘25 and enlisted in the Navy as soon as he was 18. He is part of my Covid story if you have time for the read. His stories from the war were fascinating.
Would like to see it
Surviving both Iwo Jima and the Chosin Reservoir was a miracle.
Greatest generation to be sure.
Always had the highest respect for my grandfathers and uncles who fought.
Yeah some of them weren't the greatest civilians. But hey, none of us are perfect
Reading "Ordered Disobedience" finally convinced me to pitch in for an annual membership. Although this piece was not an editorial per se, it impressed me how much Chris Bray understands the value of Freedom, Bravery and Americanism. This has been apparent in his other writings but compelling in this referential article. Also, I thought my donation might finally provide him the money he needs to jump out of the dumpster fire known as California... (Kansas beckons)
Many thanks! I'm trapped in the dumpster fire by family ties, but there are places in Kansas that I find very compelling.
https://www.basecamphumboldt.com/articles/humboldt-revival-midwestliving
Hoping for a road trip in the next year.
Agree. I just clicked the button on the "Chris Bray to Kansas" fund.
I think I can use this to tell my wife that I can't possibly not drive to Kansas.
Just before he married my mom my dad drove across country with a couple of lodge buddies. His impression of late 40s Kansas was, “some wide spaces and a road.” I suppose by now there’s a Stuckey’s.
Related:
https://youtu.be/eMYGbRO-jmE
We've lived in MN for over thirty years now, but growing up in the San Fernando Valley, probably couldn't have picked out Iowa on a map. Kidding aside, it's surprisingly beautiful, the home of both "Field of Dreams" and "Bridges of Madison County."
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 I've never been through Kansas, but that is exactly how I picture it!
Good job, Doc. BTW. We carry our six guns with pride in The Sunflower State and don't need no stinkin' permit.
Awesome essay Chris.
Sadly we have a shortage of real men these days.
I would be curious as to why. Social pressure I'm sure. But I wonder if testosterone being half of what it was for the greatest generation has anything to do with it?
And I wonder if the effects of "social pressure" (men being pussified) had a ratcheting effect on testosterone?
My bet is precisely on a ratcheting effect in which lower testosterone leads to behaviors that lower testosterone. But the sludge we call food.....
A lot has to do with what is put into our food products and the packaging (plastics) that it comes in.
Yeah. Agree. It's just amazing It's declined 50% in 70 years.
Those environmental aspects you mention must have a profound effect.
Do you mean testosterone has literally declined? Men have less of it? Is that possible, some weird genetics at play?
https://www.urologytimes.com/view/testosterone-levels-show-steady-decrease-among-young-us-men
Oh my. That explains a lot. I wonder if this is just in the US? Wonder if Russian men have lower testosterone?
Yes! "Soy boys" is not just an insult.
Sorry meant this as a reply to you and not as a separate comment.
If you have access to Fox Nation I would recommend Tucker Carlsons “The End of Men”, very interesting.
Will do. Tuckers about the only person I keep up with outside of the Stacks anymore
No offense guys, but blaming a lack of manliness on society and your diet is kind of a sissy move. Just go be a badass and you will have testosterone when you need it.
I do think that's a part of it.
I agree. It is part of it. But we have to break out of the mindset of letting the outside world rule us. If we act more like men then our bodies will too. The inner man has to lead and the world will align itself to him.
Agree
Soy and parabens everywhere! Kills testosterone. So....they really ARE soy boys.
Ha! So true
What a treeeemendous story. As a reader of military history I’ll look for that book. Lt. Lupo, wow. If you believe in what’s right, you won’t be wrong.
When I was a young Infantry Officer going through training at Ft Benning in 1979, every class started with a very short story of an enlisted man or officer who had won a valorous award (SS, DSC, CMH) in combat, many times at the cost of their lives. It may have been rote to some of my comrades, but what it said to me was that Americans of every background are capable of incredible feats under the worst possible conditions. You never know who will step up when it gets really bad. Great lesson we should continue to teach.
GREAT lesson for young officers. Brilliant teaching. Hope they still do that -- IOBC?
Yes, IOBC. My son went through IOBC in 2008 (it has a different name now) and when I asked, he said they were not opening classes with those stories....so I am afraid the practice is not continuing. But I dont know that to be a fact.
The name of the course was clear and effective, so of course they changed it.
This caused many tears for me.
My father, who was born in 1918, served in Europe during WWII.
He never talked about it much, until he was older, but I have SO much respect for all those who served, whether they really wanted to or not.
Almost everyone he started with died, so I was blessed to be born!
He also told the story of how he was demoted...
He had to deliver mail to a huge area with tents.
He went in delivered the mail...he heard a noise & walked outside as all the tents were blown away.
He was demoted “for leaving his post”!
...but he lived because of it!
Great story making a great point. My father-in-law had 4 battle stars from the Pacific on the Raleigh, a light cruiser, ending up at Guam. He never bragged or felt he did anything particularly special, even when, as he explained it, he was cutting open capsized or sunk ships at Pearl to rescue trapped sailors. We have men and women like this now: we just don't have many leaders worthy of them.
Danny Huckabee
Thank you Chris. Mindful disobedience...what the resisters of all-things Covid practiced, steeling us with grit and resolve for the next challenge. We are strong, and we are ready.
Made me cry, their heroism.
Thank you; I’m buying the book today and praying for modern-day heroic insubordination everywhere. 🇺🇸
Brilliant piece! Just bought the book.
Great book. Enjoyed it very much. Brave men who understood the Churchill adage:
“It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”
The right thing is usually the hard thing.
We are living through historical times.
Nobody is coming to save us. We either save ourselves or we become slaves. In many ways we already are slaves to our government. We aren’t safe by being silent. They’re already killing us. COVID wasn’t an accident. The “vaccines” were made before the outbreak. The ongoing push to give them to children in spite of myriad safety signals tells you all you need to know about the group behind the virus. They’re already making a mockery of the nation over and over. They’re already dragging us into a completely unnecessary and unjustified war against Russia. They got richerfrom COVID. They’ll get richer from another pointless war. You lose- freedom, income, loved ones. It’s not that ambiguous at this point as to what’s going on. It’s been a problem for longer than must of us realized, and at a level we could not have imagined. Standing up doesn’t mean being stupid or gratuitously foolhardy. It does mean fighting for what you believe. Those sailors did what was necessary. They were all afraid. They did it anyway. We all have that capacity inside of us, but most will not rise to the occasion. Sometimes you have to defy authority, especially when the authority is based on false pretenses and is regularly abused. Otherwise you’re a doormat for every bully and thief. Courage.
Bill Whittle wrote and narrated a 7 episode podcast series titled America's Forgotten Heroes, produced by Daily Wire. One episode featured the story of Taffy 3 and Ernest Evans.
Ernest Evans Orders Left Full Rudder
America's Forgotten Heroes
As a young officer on an obsolete destroyer in the opening days of World War Two, Ernest Evans had watched a combined American, British and Australian fleet get decimated by the seemingly unstoppable Imperial Japanese Navy. Forced to cover the humiliating retreat, he swore if given a fighting ship of his own he would never run from enemy forces again. Made captain of a brand-new Navy destroyer, the USS Johnston, this full-blooded Cherokee drilled his crew endlessly, turning his command into a finely balanced, well-oiled fitting ship. On October 24th, 1944, Evans found himself confronted with a force of 19 Japanese battleships, heavy cruisers and destroyers. Without orders, he turned his unarmed Tin Can around and sailed directly at the Yamato, the most powerful warship ever created, any one turret of which weighed more than his entire ship. Following his example, the remainder of the unarmored destroyers and destroyer escorts guarding Task Force Three —callsign Taffy 3 — turned into utterly overwhelming odds, and fought so ferociously that the Japanese fleet abandoned their mission and turned around. For his actions that day in the Battle Off Samar Island, Ernest Evans was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the story of Taffy 3 would enter the history books as the most amazing David vs. Goliath battles ever fought. and produce the most glorious two hours in the history of the United States Navy.
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-forgotten-heroes/id1553324105?i=1000527859448
The whole series is well worth a listen and I highly recommend it.
Missed that -- glad to know about it.
Thanks for this. I buy literally every book Chris recommends, and I am like seven books behind at the moment! But this I can slip in now.
Which is why I have always had a healthy contempt for unearned authority. And no authority extant today has earned respect.
Nimitz’s signal (with the appendage still erroneously (sic?) attached) still applies in our covid age when looking for leadership: “Where is Task Force 34? The world wonders”.
My own school board was off chasing meaningless covid metrics when the real battle was back in the schools.