Originally posted by Karnak
Well, not to go politcal, but that is a rather large exageration. We were never in danger of speaking Japanese and by the time the B-29s and P-51s were out, it was just a matter of "when", not "if", for the final day of the Japanese Empire.
They did a good job, but lets thank them for what they did, not something completely over the top.
One never really knows (thank God!). Japan was a force to behold. They still stand as the only country to have attacked the United States in the industrialized age with any real results. They had dominated the entire Pacific region from New Guinea to current day Alaska and China to near Hawaii and everything in between.
The Navy and Marines did a wonderful job of rooting the Japanese out of many islands in the Pacific, but the Japanese mainland was untouched (until the Doolittle raid which had little damage effect, but a large psycological impact). The major damage inflicted upon the Japanese mainland was done by B-29s. Everyone knows of the 2 atomic bombs that forced Japan to capitulate, but an even greater number of caualties and destruction was brought about by the B-29 firebombing that took place proir to the Atomic drops.
B-29s were the only aircraft big enough and with the range needed to inflict such damage. These bombers could not have been sucessful without the protection offered by the 506th.
"Over the top" is exactly what they did. Not that they served any more than any other serviceman/woman during that period (they are ALL heros), but they did provide protection for the machines that delt the death blow to the Japanese Empire.
As for "speaking Japanese today", you are reading too far into a figure of speech. One never really knows though. One thing is certain though: Had it not been for the sucess of the B-29 missions, we would have proceeded with our plan to invade Japan which would have caused us a casualty count never before seen in the history of warfare.
