Leyte Gulf at 80 

Holy shit, way to go Drach!!!!!

At 1:11:05 A man who's father was on the USS Johnston asks a great question. And BRAVO to Drach for giving that man the answer that he already knew but didn't want to admit. And also the answer Drach gives too in my mind is exactly what Captain Evans must have been thinking because he was a very galante man & I'm sure he would not have risked the lives of his crew any further than he already had unless he knew there was a serious NEED to do so. He was trying to protect six escort carriers & each one had about 900 sailors. So 6 × 900=5400 + sailors that Captain Evans & the other destroyers & destroyer escorts were trying to protect & those carriers can barely make 18-20 knots. And most of the Japanese ships are considerably faster.

Sirs, with no offense to yourselves or the institute, this was in moments intensly interesting; but was largely a series of rambling and disjointed narratives that gave no coherence to the timeline of the engagements.

Mr. Pocklington: I attended this interesting discussion at the Naval Academy and want to highlight one significant item. I happened to be sitting a few feet from the gentleman at the microphone who identified himself as the son of Lt JG Royal Snyder who was lost in this action aboard the USS Johnston. I believe that he was asking a deeply personal question about the value of Johnston's response to the obviously hopeless situation experienced during her final moments of battle. The other panelists gave reasonable answers to his inquiry, but I was tremendously impressed by your summation of the duties of command and the role that CMD Ernest Evans took to protect his charges in Taffy 3. I would urge anyone to review this segment of the video starting at 1:11:07 for Bill Snyder's question and your thorough response which clearly defines the dichotomy of duty to crew and duty to mission and country. CMD Evans had stated during his ship's commissioning that "I intend to go in harms' way" but the circumstances he found himself in put that promise to the ultimate test. His actions confirmed that commitment and I believe were supported by his crew and his nation.

My grandfather's doctor suggested he take a nip of whiskey before bed, to improve circulation to the feet. Doctors did this, but carefully, as his doctor said, "Tom, you are one of the few men I trust to take only one shot."

While all the panelists, including the moderator Alex Pocklington were astute, I want to draw attention to Trent Hone's great analysis of the Japanese strategic aims all along during the war. From Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines onward, they always felt that if they could cause enough casualties and destruction to the Americans that we would pack it in and negotiate for peace. The idea of a Kentai Kessan, or decisive battle to bring this about was one of their goals. Even after they realized this wasn't going to materialize in the way they conceived it to, they never gave up on the idea that we would not stomach the casualties. The Japanese should have studied our civil war where we demonstrated the American resolve to endure hardship and loss.

I am very deeply impressed by all these folk and the presentation. Respect!

At 24 min he says in the beginning everything was going good? What about Iron bottom sound?

My Father Kenneth McLaughlin WT/3 served on USS Gambier Bay.

Well done. Fascinating information.

today there is far less fog of war than before, more target seeking weapon, US needs more hulls conventionally to protect other assets and counter enemy submarines