'Strangling the Home Islands' with John T. Kuehn, James M. Scott & Jonathan Parshall

[@michaelinhouston9086]

Actual talk starts at 4:01

[@philip8551]

You're a gentleman and a scholar.

[@navyreviewer]

Only one person could end this war short of the invasion of Japan. That person was Hirohito, which is why the radio address was so important. It wasnt for the Japanese people, it was for the army. He was not going to make that broadcast until the math (in his head) said he had a better chance of surviving this by surrendering than by fighting on. The lives of the 70-ish million Japanese people was irrelevant. How can their lives compare to that of a god? Operation starvation (airbourne mining of the home waters,) operation barney (the submarine mining of the sea of Japan,) and meeting house (the firebombing) threatened the social order. Now the emperor had cause to fear his own people turning on him in desperation. This was bourne out poat war when the US had to import several shiploads of food to avert a catastrophic famine. Throw in an under the table agreement that Hirohito would avoid prosecution while everyone else would take the blame and you have a deal. On the US side, especially Truman, really wanted that deal. Okinawa gave a taste of what the battle of Japan would look like, and he didnt like it. Digging the Japanese out of the Japanese alps would cost millions of American lives. Getting one guy wasnt worth it. So America got the W and someone(s) paid the price.

[@georgecox2924]

👍👌

[@PalleRasmussen]

Jon 😀 Gods I hate audience who starts their own lecture when given the possibility to ask some of the leading specialists in their field a question, and usually what they say is so basic...

[@michaelinhouston9086]

Completely agree. The method to prevent that is to ask for questions in writing.

[@HealthySkepticism1775]

Amateur historians love to pontificate. I hate it.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Even worse when they have an axe to grind.

[@m1t2a1]

Doesn't Jon make this "unauthorized?" lol.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

😁😁😁

[@ganndeber1621]

Only when hes wearing his shirts

[@m1t2a1]

@@ganndeber1621 Thanks for not nailing me for typing unofficial instead of "unauthorized."

[@m1t2a1]

@@ganndeber1621 Recently all three were wearing his shirts. lol. Ten-Ichi-Go

[@ganndeber1621]

@@m1t2a1 Yeah I've seen it, thats why I was so disappointed by today's shirt

[@28lobster28]

Someone needs to wipe their camera lens and/or refocus