Appearances are often deceiving. The island was poorly prepared for what came. They never had any real ability to stand the japs off. Stinks. But the decision to pull back rather than rush in was in the long run the wisest. Waiting to get a crystal clear picture of what was what would almost certainly have ended up w/ a US carrier sunk... probably worse. The carrier would be needed for more important things. The US would win in the PTO. But it would take more than thrown together haphazard emergency responses. It would be a long slog to the finish. Battleships, etc., could be lost with no real consequence. Carriers were critical. They could not be thrown away. Sincerely. bruce.
" Unlike most conservatives, libs have no problem exploiting dead children and dancing on their graves."