Jambo called today and we talked about a show he was watching that focused on the operations of the USAAF during WWII. We specifically discussed "Big Week", which happened in late Feb of 1944, where the USAAF and the RAF conducted massive operations against strategic targets deep within the German heartland.
Jambo was very impressed with the fact that the US Eighth Air Force, flying out of High Wycombe, England, suffered more casualties than the entire US Marine Corps during WWII. That does seem wrong, doesn't it? I mean, think about Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Saipan, Truk, Okinawa... and the image conjured is one of rank after rank of Marine storming the beaches amidst a hail of bullets and bombs, right?
The United States Marine Corps suffered a total of just under 24,000 casualties during WWII, from beginning to end. More than two entire Marine divisions KIA or dead of injuries received in battle. The USAAF in the ETO suffered more than 55,000 casualties, and the Eighth Air Force accounted for nearly 25,000 of those casualties. That's more than 1,600 B-17 crews dead (but, of course, not all died in B-17s).
I don't want to seem like I'm taking anything away from the Marines, or Army, or the Navy here... but I know that when I think of sacrifice and risks taken during WWII, the first thought into my head isn't always the men that served in the USAAF. The ONLY branch that suffered higher losses than the Air Forces in WWII was the Army, and today of all days, we should all remember that.
I had wanted to post about Big Week itself... but I'm afraid I'll distract from the Veteran's Day feel of the post as it stands now. More later, perhaps...
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WOW, I didn't know that. I was looking at aircraft losses during vietnam several weeks ago as part of a conversation I was having with another friend of mine. I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head but UH-1 losses alone were somewhere in the 5500 range.
I'm ready for a little peace.
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