The Bomber Mafia - Author's Note - PDF

# The Bomber Mafia - Author's Note ## Part Two Part Two of *The Bomber Mafia* takes place in Guam and Japan and all points east. However, before getting there, the author wants to tell a story from closer to the present. While researching the book, the author traveled to Tokyo with his podcast pr...

# The Bomber Mafia - Author's Note ## Part Two Part Two of *The Bomber Mafia* takes place in Guam and Japan and all points east. However, before getting there, the author wants to tell a story from closer to the present. While researching the book, the author traveled to Tokyo with his podcast producer, Jacob Smith. Immediately after landing, they visited a museum called the **Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage**. It is a memorial to the events described in the next few chapters: the outcome of the struggle between the **Bomber Mafia** and **Curtis LeMay**. ### War Museums The author visits war museums frequently, like the **Imperial War Museums in London**. However, the museum he is visiting in Tokyo was located in a regular-looking, three-story office building. While the author has experienced moving memorials like the **Vietnam Veterans Memorial** and **Yad Vashem**, the Tokyo museum was different. It felt like an appointment at the dentist's office. This museum focused on the time period between **November 1944** and the **late winter of 1945** when the aerial attacks began. The events during this period were *before* the **nuclear attacks on Japan**. The author continues by noting the historical significance of the atomic bombs, but states that the events of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage represent a period of history often relegated to the side streets. ## Chapter 6 The author proceeds to describe the events of the war in the Pacific. In particular, he notes that the geographic distance between the US and Japan created an absurdity: the Pacific theater of the war was geographically very different from the wars in Europe. The scale of the Pacific battleground had never been fought before. The author specifically discusses the use of the **B-17 bomber** (Flying Fortress) used by the US Army during World War II. It had a range of roughly two thousand miles. The B-17 was used in Europe, but in 1944, there were no Allied air bases within a thousand miles of Tokyo, and the Philippines were the only option that made sense. However, the Philippines had been captured by the Japanese and were not fully recaptured until late in 1945. In any case, Manila was 1,800 miles from Tokyo. The problem of how to attack Japan was solved by building the **B-29 Superfortress**. The B-29 had a long-range but, again, the author notes, the situation was still absurd. The closest spot for a runway was 1,500 miles from Tokyo, on a chain of islands controlled by the Japanese: **Saipan, Tinian, and Guam**. ## The Marianas The author describes the three islands as "tiny" but ultimately significant. He describes how the Marines fought an intense, difficult battle to secure the islands. The author notes that while the Imperial War Museum in London is located in a big, grand building, the Tokyo museum was more understated, with black and white photos on the walls and a classroom with folding chairs. There was also a scale model of a B-29 hanging from the ceiling. The author also refers to the intense experiences of those who fought in the Marianas. He notes the heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and torrential rain. He also mentions a Corporal Dalton and a second lieutenant Vivian Slawinski who made an observation: the planes were constantly being bombarded by rats while they lived in Quonset huts. ### The Super Fortress The author moves on to describe the use of the B-29. He notes that it was a brand new plane, still being tested, susceptible to engine fires and prone to breaking down. It took months for the crews to be trained to fly the aircraft and for the proper maintenance facilities to be built. The author describes the bombing missions to Japan. The first major mission was called **San Antonio One.** The goal was to attack the **Nakajima Aircraft Company** in Tokyo, a major producer of engines for Japanese combat aircraft. However, due to a lack of wind, the planes had to abort their mission on November 17, 1944. The mission was eventually carried out on November 24, 1944, with more favorable weather conditions. The author includes photos of the B-29s flying over Japan at the time of their missions. He notes that a lot of the photos were taken by a cinematographer named Ronald Reagan. The missions proved to be extremely challenging due to bad weather and the use of the B-29s, a flawed aircraft that was rushed into service. ## The Jet Stream In order to provide context for the story, the author explores the meteorological challenges faced by the American bomber pilots in the Pacific theater of the war. He describes a phenomenon known as a **jet stream**, a river of fast-flowing high-altitude air that circles the globe. The author explains that this phenomenon was discovered by a Japanese scientist, Wasaburo Ooishi, in the 1920s, but his findings were published in Esperanto and likely remained unknown to the American pilots who were flying at such high attitudes. It wasn't until the 1950s that the existence of the jet stream was fully understood. The phenomenon is a narrow band of high-velocity wind that moves to the poles in the summer and towards the equator in the winter. The wind can reach up to 140 miles per hour making it almost impossible for bombers to remain accurate on target. The author describes an incident in which a bomber pilot, Lieutenant Ed Hiatt, and his crew were caught in the jet stream over Japan. They were unable to get their telescope on target and ended up bombing twelve miles past their target while flying 480 miles per hour. The jet stream created a significant challenge for the American bomber crews and was the primary cause of the bombing missions failing. ## The Author's Concluding Thoughts The author leaves the reader with the question about the absurdity of the situation: why were the bomber pilots trying a mission that seemed to be entirely impossible? He concludes with the observation that a revolutionary idea can be thwarted by one small, unseen obstacle that can even be deemed "immovable". The author returns to the story about Hansell and his dilemma. He notes that the bomber pilot had all the power handed to him, but he still had to choose between his dream and his faith.