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"AMONG THE BEST ACCOUNTS OF THE PACIFIC WAR, AND DISTINCTLY READABLE.'' KIRKUS REVIEWS POINT OF HO RETURN WILBUR MORRISON H. AN EPIC SAGA OF DISASTER AND TRIUMPH SPECIAL ACTION PHOTO EDITION ' THE EPIC STORY OF THE MEN WHO BUILT THE TWENTIETH AIR FORCE INTO THE MOST ADVANCED STRATEGIC WEAPON OF WORLD WAR II 4'Morrison, a veteran of the Twentieth Air Force, gives a vivid account of men and machines in this carefully researched history" ^Publishers Weekly "A detailed tale of the creation of one large air unit, practically independent and subject to no one. Recommended without qualification to every reader interested in military affairs! BestSellers POINT OF RETURN WILBUR MORRISON H. * POINT OF NO RETURN © Copyright 1979 by Wilbur H. Morrison Cover illustration copyright © 1980 by PEI Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by an electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording means or otherwise without prior written permission of the author. Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada by Playboy Paperbacks, New York, New York. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 80-81000. Re- printed by arrangement with Times Books. Books are available at quantity discounts for promotional and indus- trial use. For further information, write to Premium Sales, Playboy Paperbacks, 747 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10017. ISBN: 0-872-16716-X First Playboy Paperbacks printing September 1980. DedicatedtothememoriesofGeneralsoftheArmy HenryH. "Hap" ArnoldandGeorgeC. Marshall, withoutwhosecommitmenttherewouldhave beennoTwentiethAirForce. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is basically a story of people rather than of events. The history of the operations of the Twentieth Air Force has been told before, including my own personal memoir, Hettbirds: The Story of the B-29s in Combat. The complete story, involving world figures and the behind-the-scenes decision- making that changed our world, has never been told in its entirety. I've tried to tell that story while the few remaining decision-makers are still alive. Without retired General Curtis E. LeMay toguide me through the intricate operational decisions, and provide his intimate thoughts on people and events, and retired Major General Haywood S. Hansell, Jr., who gave un- stintingly of his time and recollections, I couldn't have completed the book. There were literally hundreds of men who provided reminiscences and each one is recorded in the book. Among those to whom I'm most in- debted are Denny D. Pidhayny, recording and historical secretary of the 58th Bomb Wing Association, who, without question, is the leading authority on all aspects of the Twentieth Air Force, and retired Colonel Victor N. Agather. For those familiar with the excellent source materials in the Albert F. Simpson Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, it will be apparent after reading this book that the facts and figures may be on file there but most of the human element is not because operational records were not designed for such reporting. The courtesies extended to me by James Eastman and his associates at the center are hereby acknowledged with appreciation. INTRODUCTION Japan was defeated by August 1, 1945, before the first atomic bomb was dropped. Her mighty navy had been destroyed by the U.S. Navy, her merchant ships were either sunk or confined to harbors after ex- tensive mining around her home islands, and most of her cities lay in ruins following massive bombing attacks by B-29s of the Twentieth Air Force. By this date, her destruction was almost total as B-29s roamed at will over her main islands. The war ended so suddenly after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that many people still believe they caused Japan's surrender when, in fact, they merely precipitated that action a few weeks sooner than anticipated. The belief that the atomic bombs won the war caused some decision-makers in the U.S. Government to place a tragic overreliance on nuclear and thermonuclear weapons for massive retaliation in the event of a third world war. I've used the word "tragic" deliberately because the United States has fought two wars since World War II with conventional weapons because use of atomic and hydrogen weapons was inconceivable for moral andpoliticalreasons. After World War II, when the United States had a monopoly on nuclear weapons, the concept of massive retaliation was a deterrent to war. Therefore, the decision to maintain a nuclear and thermonuclear force was not only wise but absolutely essential until all countries agreed to outlaw such weapons with sufficient safeguards to prevent their un- authorized use. Now that the United States and the Soviet Union are roughly equal in their capability of waging nuclear war, the chances of such a holocaust are remote; not for moral reasons butbecause there wouldbeno"victor" in the accepted sense. In essence, the use of atomic and hydrogen bombs would devastate both nations. Due to the huge cost of maintaining a strategic force of bombers and missiles equipped with such weapons, conventional airpower was shortchanged after World War II. As a result, the United States was ill equipped to fight the kind ofwar it foughtin Korea and Vietnam. In the future, the free world must maintain a nuclear capability to in- INTRODUCTION viii hibit initiation of nuclear war by those forces inimical to it. It must also provide a capability to wage strategic air warfare with conventional wea- pons and adequate tactical support of ground troops. The United States has twice fought the kind of war which proponents of massive nuclear retaliation said we'd never have to fight again. Also, the United States Strategic Air Command must retain a nonnuclear capability with con- ventional weapons. SAC's aging B-52 fleet should be replaced despite the high cost. Total reliance upon ground- or sea-based missiles, or those of the cruise variety, would be disastrous to the free world because they are worthless without their nuclear warheads. This book tells the story of how Japan was defeated without a costly ground invasion of her homeland, and describes how this was done without the cooperation of the Russians, or the need for the atomic bombs. WILBUR H. MORRISON
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