tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post5582789741895906222..comments2024-03-24T01:57:23.238+08:00Comments on 漁人碼頭的戰爭 - The Battle of Fisherman's Wharf: Grumman FighterUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-111994336270462812018-04-11T21:08:07.530+08:002018-04-11T21:08:07.530+08:00Hi Mike, your message has been forwarded to Chosan...Hi Mike, your message has been forwarded to Chosan. Thank you very much.EyeDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00406602265159523372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-89929630929254397602018-04-11T18:12:13.991+08:002018-04-11T18:12:13.991+08:00This blog post is quite old now but the overall pa...This blog post is quite old now but the overall page is still active, so I'm hoping Cho-San still checks in on occasion. I'd love to hear more about Charlie Mallory! I have been researching Air Group 18 for some time now, but relative to other successful Navy fighter squadrons (Fighting 9, 2, and 15 all have books written about them) there is a serious lack of information about most of the men of his squadron. If you'd like to reach out to me and share some of your correspondence with Mr. Mallory I'd be seriously indebted. I can be reached at michael.isaac.fink@gmail.com <br /><br />Best Regards,<br />-Mike TwoADay18https://www.blogger.com/profile/10094479611703211182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-54485639539600836322009-09-28T12:01:47.596+08:002009-09-28T12:01:47.596+08:00Patrick’s grandpa must be a great common guy, that...Patrick’s grandpa must be a great common guy, that kind of gentleman whom I admire most. I wish I could meet and be friend with him. Certainly he is a straight forward fellow and so is Patrick, no wonder it says “like father, like son.” Now I know why Patrick’s grandma is living in Stockton, CA, a small town not far from where I am living.<br />EyeDoc’s father, Dr. Cheng 鄭子昌医師 was sent to the South Sea Islands by Japanese on board the ship named Sin-Sei-Maru 神靖丸 soon after the last family meeting at Takao高雄. The ship was sunken two months later by US air attack at Vietnam and DR. sunk with the ship, unfortunately. For detail see: http://shinseimaru.blogspot.com/ <br />I must be grateful that I met EyeDoc after so many years by the help of modern technology called Internet. <br />It was not an easy task to drop bombs on the target just by the simple instrument during WWII even under fine weather condition. Nowadays, the smart bomb can be programmed and fly with the guidance of GPS to hit the target within a few feet radius. I read an article that many firearms are remotely controlled from US while fighting in Middle East battle fields. Much like science fiction movie, the operator uses joystick in front of a monitor and fires the weapon by pushing a button. Not bad, after a day’s work, he can then go home to have dinner with his family. <br />Cho-SanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-58854869766547331752009-09-28T01:26:18.759+08:002009-09-28T01:26:18.759+08:00First, that was an unenforceable law - much like D...First, that was an unenforceable law - much like Danshui-ren's fishing in the no fishing zone; the problem is with the law, not the people. With the bombers overhead snowing some paper bills, people would know what they were. And after the first bombs hit, most evacuated to the countryside. There was no need to even pick up these leaflets.<br /><br />Second, even laser-guided bombs can stray. That actually brings up one point: with the leaflets, the raiders might feel that since the civilians had already been warned, they could now bomb with either clear conscience or reckless abandon. Pure conjecture on my part, of course.<br /><br />And we were there to visit my father who was waiting to be shipped out. I was only one year old at that time.EyeDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00406602265159523372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-73223819818886606502009-09-28T01:04:39.143+08:002009-09-28T01:04:39.143+08:00BTW, I don't think Grandpa Cowsill suffered fr...BTW, I don't think Grandpa Cowsill suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. I am not sure he benefitted from the GI Bill either (I'll have to ask my dad - it never occurred to me). <br /><br />He already had a degree when he went to the war. He came home to a four-year-old son he'd never met and my grandma was immediately pregnant with my dad. I think he went to work right off, as a bureaucrat in California. He was trained as an accountant. That is why I find his letters interesting. There is little room for soul-searching. He writes them without a flair, a straight-forward account for the war that an accountant would. He joined a tennis club right away, played golf and raised a family. He also prospered, and he died a rich man. I don't think it fits the bill for someone who suffered post traumatic stress disorder. He just came from a different time, when people thought you didn't complain about stuff too much (actually not at all) and that you simply counted your blessings. He didn't like remembering the war because he was a peaceful man. He didn't mind discussing it with me, when he found I was interested in history either. Having said that, I can't claim to have known him too well. He wasn't the most expressive person I have ever met.Patrick Cowsillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12904899672214340947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-91513168450685432112009-09-28T00:49:57.790+08:002009-09-28T00:49:57.790+08:00Lots of comments here:
"Anybody who finds th...Lots of comments here:<br /><br />"Anybody who finds the leaflets must submit to Military Police at once or punished if hide the leaflet." Yes, but they had to read them first to know what they were. This topic could use some work.<br /><br />On the atrocious aim, one thing of a positive note came out of this point. Pilots used to have to visually identify their bomb sights. My Grandpa wrote back that they were not able to do this in Taoyuan in July, 1945, so they were forced to turn back (too much cloud cover). Granted, the pilots often got confused and had to make last minute decisions. But it was not clinical, like the video game bombing that goes on today. They had to look at their sites, so they were unable to feel their missions were "clean, surgical hits". A lot of research has gone into the bombing that goes on today as compared to 60 years ago. Today, it is easier to disregard the civilian damage that goes on, because it can't be seen. The air force members have become a lot less emotionally involved; killing has become a lot easier for them. They are thousands of times more desensitized now than a couple of generations ago.<br /><br />"Those air raids starting on Oct 12, 1944, came without any warning. My mother and I ran into one in Takao." Sounds like a post is in these two lines somewhere. What were you doing down there?Patrick Cowsillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12904899672214340947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-45585981594558375742009-09-27T22:34:26.031+08:002009-09-27T22:34:26.031+08:00二世 or not, that leaflet was a literal failure anyw...二世 or not, that leaflet was a literal failure anyway. Plus:<br /><br />"これを拾った人は、憲兵に届けなければならなかったので、これを密かに持ち帰るのは、なかなか度胸がいったようです、 もし、隠し持っているのが見つかると、大変な事になりました。"<br /><br />The mere mention of the Kempei(tai) was enough of a deterrence. The whole US leaflet dropping effort seemed a colossal waste.EyeDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00406602265159523372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-65519469887866382452009-09-27T04:13:45.446+08:002009-09-27T04:13:45.446+08:00The leaflets were made mostly by those people who ...The leaflets were made mostly by those people who fought against the Japanese government and escaped aboard. Some by the native born Japanese descendents called Nisei as well as by Chinese whoever available, to them Japanese and Chinese were almost the same. <br />Cho-SanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-39799785503232591152009-09-27T01:34:42.237+08:002009-09-27T01:34:42.237+08:00The one specifically for Taiwanese is quite strang...The one specifically for Taiwanese is quite strange. It says 粉碎日寇之殘暴武力,必需轟炸其軍事設備 - an explanation of why the bombing was necessary; although the term 日寇 was not in use in Taiwan at that time. Also, in front of the factory being bombed, there is: 日本軍用工廠 which is more a caption than a real sign. <br /><br />The US did bomb quite a few sugarcane processing plants and power plants often with atrocious aims. Many residential houses were destroyed and civilians killed as a result. One of the main objectives of neutralizing the Japanese air power certainly was achieved.<br /><br />Those air raids starting on Oct 12, 1944, came without any warning. My mother and I ran into one in Takao.EyeDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00406602265159523372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-19818069537172537462009-09-26T02:25:22.307+08:002009-09-26T02:25:22.307+08:00Patrick,
I am not a collector of the leaflets but ...Patrick,<br />I am not a collector of the leaflets but I can Google the Japanese sites and come up with some. See http://www.geocities.jp/kyo_oomiya/newpage2.html <br />It is interesting to learn that the propaganda bills or leaflets are tossed out from the windows of the B24 bomber most of the time and it is considered very dangerous tasks for those airmen. It was like the shower of papers falling down from the sky, the eyewitness described. Anybody who finds the leaflets must submit to Military Police at once or punished if hide the leaflet. <br />Among the leaflets, I have discovered one that is written with Kanji, which is prepared especially for Taiwanese. I wonder how many people are there in the island at that time who can read such a complicated Kanji documentation. Wish Patrick can read it. <br />I met many WWII veterans while working at an engineering office here in the States around 70s. 7 feet tall George was a tail-gunner and Ben was a bomber pilot. My neighbor, Dr. Hutchinson was a former Navy fighter pilot. They all return to school after the war with the GI bill. Presume Patrick’s grandpa did the same though he resented the war. The mental disease called PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is not yet popular at that time or half of those veterans would be in the hospital beds instead. <br />Cho-SanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-29990920752400616402009-09-25T20:33:50.648+08:002009-09-25T20:33:50.648+08:00Yes, I see it (though it probably said "Formo...Yes, I see it (though it probably said "Formosa".)<br /><br />People of Taiwan! <br /><br />"Residents with families should quickly find a way to remove their old and weak from the vicinity of docks, railroad stations, fortifications, shipyards, munitions factories, depots, barracks and all other buildings and installations of value to the Japanese military forces.<br /><br />Those with relatives or friends in the countryside would do well to send their parents, women, and children to temporarily live with them in order to escape the bombing of innocent people."Patrick Cowsillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12904899672214340947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-25576104645282493022009-09-25T20:09:31.256+08:002009-09-25T20:09:31.256+08:00Examples of those leaflets can be seen here:
http...Examples of those leaflets can be seen here:<br /><br />http://www.psywarrior.com/B52leaflets.html<br /><br />Scroll down to see those for the Japanese.EyeDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00406602265159523372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-55860661518725970082009-09-25T19:54:06.273+08:002009-09-25T19:54:06.273+08:00Chosan,
They were very green airmen. They just wa...Chosan,<br /><br />They were very green airmen. They just wanted to go home. They were hastily trained and not prepared for the harshness of war. I asked my grandpa, upon seeing him wearing a Jolly Rogers sweatshirt that my grandma bought at K-Mart why he never went to vet meetings. I told him he could probably get a sweatshirt for free. He answered, "Who would want to listen to people talking about that stuff. Actually, I don't care to remember it."<br /><br />I've seen a couple of the leaflets, with CKS on them saying they'd liberate Taiwan. Little did the authors understand that liberation would spell 2-28 and some 30,000 murders of Taiwan's most able individuals. The men that fought for the US would have been disgusted to understand they cleared the way for White Terror, I am certain.<br /><br />I am not sure I have seen a SENDEN-BIRA 宣伝ビラ. Do you have a copy?Patrick Cowsillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12904899672214340947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-77922810135202947172009-09-25T03:09:28.049+08:002009-09-25T03:09:28.049+08:00The leaflets called SENDEN-BIRA 宣伝ビラin Japanese we...The leaflets called SENDEN-BIRA 宣伝ビラin Japanese were dropped later in some places at different spots but none whatsoever in the October 12, 1944 attacks as I remembered.<br />Japanese were so worried that citizens may confused or learned the true news by reading the leaflets; it was strictly prohibited to read and to keep them.<br />I was interesting to learn from his grand father's letter that all those participated in the Taiwan bombings were amatures in the battle fields. <br />Cho-SanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811556140606524073.post-58035276039483622882009-09-25T01:41:50.037+08:002009-09-25T01:41:50.037+08:00Did the Americans also drop leaflets on Taiwan as ...Did the Americans also drop leaflets on Taiwan as a warning to civilians to get out of the way? My grandpa also flew on these raids as part of the Jolly Rogers 90th Bombardment Unit. His letters back to my grandma in Stockton, California express a kind of distress for innocent civilians and screwed up bombings (which he was able to see pics of). Interestingly, the censors let the letters pass. Either they had their hands full or they felt a kind of empathy for what was going on.<br /><br />I've often talked to my wife's grandma, who lives with my father-in-law in Manka, Taiwan about the raids. She lost a little sister here in Taipei during one of the bombings.Patrick Cowsillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12904899672214340947noreply@blogger.com