The War in The Pacific: A Retrospective

by Leon Cooper

Many books have been written about the bloody conflict in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. But until now, no book has told the complete story about… ---Battles that need not have been fought; ---The tragic errors made by area commanders; ---A 20th Century War based on 19th Century concepts; ---The consequences of the ongoing rivalry between the Navy and the Army; The author of The War in the Pacific-A Retrospective was Boat Group Commander for his ship, leading Higgins Boats carrying assault troops in six major battles during his three years in the Pacific. Thus, he was able to see firsthand the tragic results of the major mistakes compounded by those in command in the Pacific Theatre.

108 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2006

About the author

Three of my four years' Naval service during WWII was in the Pacific. I was a landing craft officer, Boat Group Commander for my ship, landing assault troops on the beaches of Japanese island strongholds. I was in six major invasions: Tarawa, Kwajelein, New Guinea, Guam, Philippines, Iwo Jima.

In civilian life I've been CEOs and CFOs of major corporations. During a ten-year period my marketing company sold my patented products throughout the world.

I'm a film producer, screen writer and published author of three books about the Pacific War:http://www.90daywonder.net;
http://http://www.warinthepacific.net....

My documentary film, "Return to Tarawa-the Leon Cooper Story" can be seen on Netflix, Hulu and Snagfilms. It has been shown on History Channel and Military Channel. I've licensed it to TV companies in Russia, New Zealand and Australia.

My screenplay, "90 Day Wonder" won Honorable Mention among 18,000 contestants in Writer's Digest 2005 Screenplay/TV contest.

I'm president of a 5013c corporation set up to receive charitable contributions which will fund a series of films publicizing the urgent need to recover the remains of the tens of thousands of WWII "Missing-in-Action" (MIAs) who still lie where they fell in ancient WWII battlefields, mostly in the Pacific.

My fim, "Return to Tarawa" had the desired effect of causing the Department of Defense to send a team to Tarawa to investigate my claim that the remains of hundreds of Americans were still there, in unmarked graves in that tiny islands. My new proposed films will undoubtedly have the same effect for the tens of thousands of Americans lying elswwhere in the Pacific. hundx=

Reviews

[Dennis Littrell]

Limited but largely convincing and strongly felt

Leon Cooper, who was a landing craft Naval officer during World War II, argues that it was a waste of human lives and resources to attack the Japanese on some of the islands in the Pacific. Furthermore, he believes we should not have invaded Okinawa or the Philippines. Instead we should have waited a few months longer until the Manhattan Project had reached fruition. We could have left the Japanese soldiers on islands such as Peleliu and Tarawa to whither away after cutting their supply lines. Cooper asserts that had we not attacked those islands and the Philippines and Okinawa the result of the war would not have changed and we would have saved tens of thousand of lives.

Cooper also contends that the main reason we did invade the Philippines was to satisfy the egomania of Gen. Douglas MacArthur who wanted to fulfill his promise to "return." Additionally, Cooper argues that President Roosevelt supported this foolish venture because MacArthur would then be occupied and not able to run for president against him.

In a larger sense Cooper contends that our strategy in the Pacific followed antiquated "island-hopping" plans outlined long before the war began, plans that did not take into consideration the way naval warfare had changed in the interim. Furthermore, Cooper condemns FDR for allowing the wasteful command rivalries between a "vainglorious General MacArthur and a stiff-necked Admiral Nimitz" (p. 13) to compromise the war effort.

Cooper also asserts in particular that we invaded Iwo Jima ("with 26,000 casualties") "primarily because the B-29 was not an airworthy plane. Iwo Jima, it was decided would be a safe harbor for air crews flying to and returning from Japan." (p. 64) He indicts the Boeing company, which built the B-29 for not making it a safer plane. I am reminded of the current controversy over the body armor worn by our soldiers in Iraq. Have considerations of profit margins for the manufacturers taken precedence over the safety of our soldiers?

In a wider sense I would ask to what extent are political and economic considerations more important that the lives of fighting men and women? It would appear that it is often the case that politicians and CEOs make decisions that are good for their careers and their economic well-being while being detrimental to the lives of our soldiers. Finally I would ask, wasn't it ever thus? Politicians and heads of corporations tend to be experts at furthering their own interests regardless of how that might affect others. The populace is expected to give everything to the war effort and to make every imaginable sacrifice, including going into a battle (as was the case in some of the battles in the Pacific) in which the casualty rate was expected to exceed thirty percent or more. Meanwhile FDR and MacArthur might occupy themselves primarily with the gratification of their egos.

Such is human nature and the nature of politics and the nature of "politics by other means"--that is, warfare on the grand scale.

Cooper's arguments make eminent sense and I have little doubt that he is substantially right. The horrific casualties that we suffered in those battles seem pointless in retrospect. Once the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the unconditional defeat of Japan was assured. How sad it is to think about all those lives that could have been spared given better leadership.

This is a short and incisive book, clearly written and deeply felt. There are some black and white photos and some maps. Unfortunately the maps are rather small and the details too fine for these old eyes, and some of the photos are blurred. There are three appendices. One lists "all of the 146 U.S. Navy aircraft carriers that saw action during the War in the Pacific"; another is a document of "the detailed order...by the Japanese High Command...to commence hostilities against the U.S., Great Britain, and Holland"; and the third is a declassified memo written by Vannevar Bush and James Conant of the Office of Scientific Research and Development advising Secretary of War Henry Stimson of the progress toward creating an atomic bomb.

In addition to the blurry photos and the not very readable maps, the book is marred by table of contents and index references to the wrong pages. Despite these faults Cooper is to be commended for reminding us that, although WWII and the immediate aftermath may have been the time of America's greatest glory, we and our leaders were far from perfect.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”

[Leon Cooper]

“The War in the Pacific-A Retrospective”
Many books have been written about the Pacific War, but no book has told the complete story about—battles that need not have been fought; tragic mistakes made by area commanders; a 20th Century War based on 19th Century concepts; the consequences of the ongoing rivalry between the Navy and the Army