Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
While in many ways the fighting in the Pacific was different from the other theaters of WWII, in one respect it was very different. Infantry fighting is the most dangerous form of battle, but in the Pacific it was particularly lethal.
For example, the US Army Infantry received, on average, one Medal of Honor for every 800 soldiers killed. The US Army Cavalry received one MoH for every 550 troopers killed. The US Navy received one MoH for every 550 sailors killed.
But the Marines had the most impressive ratio of dead to Medals of Honor, receiving one MoH for every 369 marines killed.
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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