Being under artillery attack was like being tied to a stake and having somebody swinging at your head with a sledge hammer over and over again. Surviving that artillery barrage while you run and try to avoid getting hit is the sort of thing that will give you nightmares the rest of your life. It's another thing to hit your own guy in the head with an entrenching tool and kill him. And this is like horror movie stuff, like freddie cruger jump scare horror stuff. But the japanese at night, with their infiltration tactics, drove the americans crazy. Over and over you read veterans saying, i hated the night. I don't feel bad about it.
When do spirit, tenacity, resilience and bravery cross into madness? When cities are incinerated? When suicide attacks become the norm? When atomic weapons are used? Japan's leaders test the limits of national endurance in the war's last year.