Warren Kozak: Curtis LeMay

Biographer Warren Kozak discusses the American reaction and aftermath of the Japanese firebombings of WWII under General Curtis LeMay.

Warren Kozak's Book: LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis Lemay"

To view this entire program, visit: http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2009/06-04-front-and-center.jsp

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Education

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[trajan75]

Here's the way it is. After the Rape of Nanking, the sexual enslavement of Chinese Philippine and Korean women, the Bataan Death March, and the standing Order to kill all POWs if Japan was invaded LeMay developed a strategy to force the surrender of Japan without an invasion. This resulted in 300,000 thousand civilian casualties but may have saved 500,000 American lives and perhaps 1,000,000 or more Japanese lives. War is hell. Was LeMay wrong? I don't think so.

[whiskeyify]

LeMay flew many missions with his men...and his men respected him. Yes they dropped fire bombs on Tokyo. But the purpose was to knock out many of the factories in Tokyo that were building war materials. These factories were in the urban centers of Tokyo....and I think leaflets were dropped warning the people of the attacks.

[mcdade1984]

@dontleademsomuch exactly, Total War concept....kill more of theirs to save more of yours.

[mtracy9]

"Civilians can scarcely understand or even believe that many ambitious military professionals truly yearn for wars and the opportunities for glory and distinction afforded only in combat. Wars and emergencies put the military and their leaders on the front pages and give status and prestige to the professionals. Standing closely behind these leaders, encouraging and prompting them, are the rich and powerful defense industries. " --David Shoup, former Marine Corp Commandant, member of the JCS

[dontleademsomuch]

how else would we have dealed with japan. destroy as many civilians as we can till they surrender, better than allied soldiers dying. RIGHT?

[mtracy9]

As a member of the Joint Chiefs during the Cuban Missile Crisis, LeMay recommended that President John F. Kennedy send the navy and SAC to surround Cuba and if need be, "fry it." When the crisis ended peacefully, LeMay called it "the greatest defeat in our history."

[mtracy9]

As a member of the Joint Chiefs during the Cuban Missile Crisis, LeMay recommended that President John F. Kennedy send the navy and SAC to surround Cuba and if need be, "fry it." When the crisis ended peacefully, LeMay called it "the greatest defeat in our history."

[mtracy9]

"At a Georgetown dinner party recently, the wife of a leading senator sat next to Gen. Curtis LeMay, chief of staff of the Air Force. He told her a nuclear war was inevitable. It would begin in December and be all over by the first of the year. In that interval, every major American city -- Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles -- would be reduced to rubble. Similarly, the principal cities of the Soviet Union would be destroyed." 19 July 1961

[mtracy9]

Volume and page number please? Actual quote would also help.

[WarrenKozak]

@mtracy9

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