Wings of Freedom land in Porter County
VALPARAISO As the B-17 climbed from the runway its propellersloudly sliced the air, swirling memories for the quintet of WorldWar II veterans aboard the Flying Fortress.

There were several war time figures that dominated the stage of the Pacific Theatre. One, FDR, from afar, who made or didn't make, decisions that led to untold thousands of American casualties. At the scene, it was Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur, both of whom played "oneupmanship" throughout the entire Pacific conflict, their games seemingly always more important than the lives and welfare of the soldiers and sailors in their command.

Another important figure, General George Marshall, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, could have stopped the petty dispute between his subordinates, Nimitz and Marshall, but chose to let it continue, even though he had ample authority to do so. His failure to take needed action is even more puzzling when considering that Marshall's "Great Objective," as stated in his memos to General MacArthur and others, was "the early conclusion of the war with Japan with the fewest casualties." This would not happen; the war would drag on for the entire four years of the conflict, with tragically needless loss of American lives.

Thus we have a MacArthur railing against the Navy's "cabal," as he repeatedly called it, while importuning William ("Bull") Halsey, Nimitz's most senior Admiral, to "Come with me and I'll make you greater than Nelson ever dreamed of being." Not to be outdone by MacArthur, Nimitz would allow the General command over HIS admirals and HIS ships only under rigorously defined conditions.

By far the greatest fault in this destructive command structure lay with FDR, the Commander in Chief"s

seeming unwillingness to put a stop to this never-ending rivalry, even though he most surely have been aware of the magnitude of the problems it was creating. FDR and all others in Washington had always viewed the War in Europe as the major conflict; the Pacific War was merely a side show.

For this reason, it was deemed essential that someone, in this case, Eisenhower, be appointed Supreme Commander at the very outset of the European War. It would not be until the War in Europe began to wind down that Washington would turn its attention to the Pacific. However, the disastrous command structure would continue unchanged.

Typical of the murky, muddled chain of command structure is the language that appeared in SOPAC COMMAND ORDER (South Pacific Command) in connection with the New Guinea/Solomons campaign: "Admiral Halsey's operations are under General MacArthur's strategic direction. Halsey is subordinate administratively and logistically to Admiral Nimitz." (One must wonder what Halsey was supposed to do had Nimitz and MacArthur disagreed on any matter of substance during that campaign)

If, early during the Pacific War, FDR had declared unequivocally who was in sole command, as he had done for the War in Europe, the many casualties stemming from this rivalry would have been avoided. Instead, late in the War, Roosevelt would compound the problem by overruling an essential, far-reaching decision by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, siding with MacArthur. There is good reason for believing that FDR did this because he wanted the General to remain in the Pacific and not return home to compete with him for the Presidency in the upcoming election.

President Truman would perpetuate FDR's bad judgment by allowing Macarthur, rather than, say, General Marshall, to take center stage by presiding over the Japanese surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri. Nimitz, now a minor player, must have given serious thought to staying away.

Leon Cooper has had a varied work career in civilian life: inventor, with patented products used throughout the world, including a product used by all air lines that tests for the proper operation of fire alarm systems aboard their commercial airplanes; CEO of his own computer company, CFO of major corporations; now a successful writer, including co-author of an award-winning screenplay.

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