GUILDERLAND — Stories of chivalrous acts and countless feats of bravery. Fighting an invisible enemy that seems to attack from every pit, hole, crack, and crevice. The sobering realities of war and the grisly sight of dead bodies intertwined with firsthand personal accounts of being there.
A new Hollywood release at the local cinema"

No, just a Friday night at the Guilderland Public Library.

Last Friday, a room full of library visitors were treated to a presentation by Professor Richard Kendall, Ph.D., of a week-by-week account of the battle of Okinawa. This Friday, history buffs can listen to Professor Daniel White, Ph.D., speak on the Holocaust.

Every week until Nov. 17, the Guilderland Public Library will explore an aspect of World War II in a series that began on Sept. 29. With professors from the University at Albany, Siena, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, the library has been presenting and analyzing the deadliest conflict in world history through documentaries and discussion.
"Typhoon of steel"

Kendall, is an associate professor of history at the University at Albany, took the reins of the presentation at the last minute after Lt. Col. James Seidule, Ph.D., of West Point was unable to attend due to last-minute family obligations.
"Okinawa should be seen as the bigger battle after the shorter battle of Iwo Jima," Kendall said, opening the presentation. "This is the last part of the war where some of the most intense fighting took place. It showed how the Japanese went down, fighting to the last man."
The initial invasion and landing on Okinawa was dubbed "Operation Iceberg" by the Allied forces.

The nearly three-month battle was fought on an island in the Ryukyu Islands, south of the four main islands of Japan. The harbors and air strips on these islands were essential if American forces were to invade the main island of Japan, he said.

The dropping of two atomic bombs ended the war and prevented a mass invasion.
The fierce fighting that took place on Okinawa is often referred to as tetsu no ame, which translates into English as "typhoon of steel," and refers to the intense gunfire in the battle and the sheer number of American boats and tanks that landed there.

On the American side, 33 ships were sunk, well over 500 aircraft were destroyed aboard carriers, and 368 ships were damaged — more than 50 of them seriously. There were 72,000 casualties, with 12,500 killed or missing.

On the Japanese side, 16 ships were sunk and over 7,800 aircraft were destroyed. More than 110,000 Japanese were killed with only a few thousand being taken alive as prisoners.

Graphic film

Like the other presentations in the library’s series, Friday’s on Okinawa began with a brief introduction by the guest speaker before a documentary is shown; then a discussion period concluding with questions and answers.

Friday’s film, Okinawa: The Last Battle, depicts the battle through archive photographs and video clips, as well as interviews with officers, veterans, professors, and historians.

With a completely packed house, many attendees were forced to find alternative parking because the library’s lot was full. As the lights dimmed and the film began to roll, the library’s meeting room was transformed into a theater for the next hour and 15 minutes.
"Someone said it looked like every ship in the world was there," boomed the commentators’ voice. "It was the most overwhelming and spectacular landing in the Pacific War."
Kamikaze attacks began taking their toll on the American Navy, with one veteran describing an instance where the pilot of a kamikaze plane actually fell out of his cockpit and crashed onto the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri as flames and shrapnel flew in every direction. The sailors gave the Japanese pilot a "dutiful burial," the next day, saying, "We commit you to the sea."

The documentary continued with graphic details of the battle.
"Many bodies could not be recovered. Maggots got into them and, as shells would land, bits and pieces of the bodies would blow apart," the commentator said. "Officers were very often the first to die because of Japanese snipers. Some first sergeants came one day and died that night."

After the film, Kendall explained that the Japanese never intended to invade America, but that they were going to take Southeast Asia for their empire.
"They thought they could beat us in the Pacific," Kendall told the crowd. "They thought, if they inflicted enough casualties, we would just drop out"They did their best to kill and maim as many Americans as they could to get us to leave them alone.
"We said no," he concluded.

The bomb

When Kendall talked about the Allies preparing to invade Japan, several veterans who served in the Pacific Theater commented that using the atomic bomb saved many thousands of lives.
"Some young historical revisionists and peaceniks say the atomic bomb should not have been dropped," one vet told Kendall.
"Well, I’m not one of those," the professor responded.
Kendall said that scientists in particular were "squeamish" about dropping the bomb, but that President Harry S. Truman wanted to end the war with the least amount of American casualties.
"They would have died to the last man," Kendall said of the Japanese. "They wanted to have a coup and continue the war after we dropped the bomb"Yes, it saved lives. It saved Japanese lives; it saved lots of lives.
"Polls at the time showed Americans overwhelmingly wanted to drop those bombs to end the war," Kendall concluded.

Another veteran spoke about how he and the men in his unit tried to prevent literally thousands of Japanese civilians and soldiers from jumping off of cliffs to their deaths once the Americans occupied the island.
"They were told we were terrible devils," he said of the Japanese propaganda which depicted Americans as murderous invaders who would destroy everything in their path. "Men, women, and children jumped off the cliffs, and some were shot if they didn’t jump."

Kendall said there was no connection between Japanese kamikazes and modern day Islamic militant suicide bombers.
"Although they were all young men under tremendous social pressure, and there is a level of fanaticism in both, they are very different," said Kendall.

Kendall said that he has enjoyed doing discussions at the Guilderland Public Library.
"My students watch the History Channel all the time," Kendall said about the interest in documentaries. "Now," he quipped, "if I could only get them to read their books."

Coming up

Next week Professor White will present the film Conspiracy. He will talk candidly about the Holocaust and the Nazis’ attempt to exterminate the Jewish people from Europe and possibly the world.
The film is a dramatization of the Wannsee Conference that took place on Jan. 20, 1942, in a Berlin suburb. The meeting was held to discuss the "final solution," or what was to be done with the Jews in the German territories.
"This was a conference with various top leaders of government agencies," said White. "I don’t know how people will react." Some parts of the film have been cut, according to White, but the meeting in its entirety will be in the dramatization.

The top-secret meeting convened by Reinhard Heydrich, who was Heinrich Himmler’s second in command of the S.S., the Schutzstaffel, an elite quasi-military unit of the Nazi party that served as Hitler’s personal guard and as a special security force.

Although the minutes from the meeting were taken, a protocol was written up stemming from the outcome of the meeting. Out of 31 copies, the Allies only recovered one.

White said he is unsure of who now has possession of the original copy, but he thinks it may be in Berlin, Germany.
"The film shows you how comprehensive the undertaking was," said White, referring to the logistics surrounding the mass murder of the Jewish people by Germans. "It was a coordination," he said.
"They were also debating the classification of half-Jews," he added. "The film will try to explain the major players to the audience."

Overall, White said he was impressed with the level of interest in the programs running at the library and that he enjoys doing the presentations.

Coming up at the library:

— Nov. 3, The Holocaust, presented by University at Albany Professor Dan S. White, Ph.D.;

— Nov. 8, Double Victory: The African-American Experience, presented by University at Albany Professor Allen Ballard, Ph.D.;

— Nov. 10, Women on the Homefront: Rosie the Riveter, presented by Siena College Professor Karen Mahar, PhD.;

— Nov.13, The Nuremberg Trials, presented by author Joseph E. Persico; and

— Nov. 17, Hiroshima: The Decision, the Aftermath, by West Point Professor Lt. Col. James Seidule.