"A Deeper Dive into Hell to Pay " Topic

"In 2009, D. M. Giangreco's award-winning book Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945–1947 was published by the Naval Institute Press. We recently spoke with Mr. Giangreco about his latest book—a revised and expanded edition of Hell to Pay (Naval Institute Press, 2017).

Naval History: Tell us about the expanded edition of Hell to Pay.

D. M. Giangreco: The new Hell to Pay expands on several areas examined in the previous book and deals with three new topics: U.S.-Soviet cooperation in the war against imperial Japan; U.S., Soviet, and Japanese plans for the invasion and defense of the northernmost home island of Hokkaido; and Operation Blacklist, the three-phase insertion of U.S. occupation forces into Japan. Readers of the original work may recall General Douglas MacArthur's flagrant and repeated disregard of the "commander's intent" of his boss, General George C. Marshall, to put George Patton and his staff in command of a U.S. field army during the invasion of the Tokyo area in 1946. Revealed in this edition is that MacArthur had even devised—and was in the process of implementing—the sidetracking of General "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell, who had been picked by Marshall to lead the Tenth Army when its commander was killed on Okinawa. Additional details are also provided on the 1945 production of Purple Hearts as well as the decision to halt U.S. forces on Germany's Elbe River instead of having them become embroiled in a bloody street fight in Berlin that would disrupt the redeployment of American troops to the Pacific…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Interesting stuff! I had not heard about the huge masses of military aid the US gave the Soviets specifically to use in a war against Japan. (Not surprising, apparently since both sided tried to keep it a secret.)

But it is no surprise that MacArthur tried to keep Patton and Stillwell out of the picture. All through the Pacific War MacArthur made sure none of his subordinates got any sort of fame. Unlike Eisenhower who had a lot of famous subordinates, in the Pacific there was only MacArthur.

Interesting stuff! I had not heard about the huge masses of military aid the US gave the Soviets specifically to use in a war against Japan.

This information is not often discussed, but not really secret. Looking just at the naval / amphibious forces transferred to the Soviets in 1945, as well as the emphasis on the need for Soviet entry into the war set forth and agreed to at Yalta (which was met, to the day, by Stalin), it is pretty clear that the US was VERY active in getting the Russians involved against Japan.

These points are often missed by the anti A-bomb talking heads, who often look at the time through post-war / cold war perspectives and assert that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unnecessary / cynical / inhumane demonstrations to convince the Russians to stay out of Japan. In fact we were trying everything possible to get the Russians IN to Japan.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Glad you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand