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Two sergeants instruct soldiers on the firing range at this sniper school. Sniping required skill and patience as sniper teams, usually consisting of a shooter and a spotter, often waited for long periods of time for targets to appear. Snipers on both sides were notoriously accurate. A head jutting above a trench parapet could be spotted and shot in seconds.
Flamethrower teams look futuristic as they leave their assembly area heading for the frontlines. The casualty rate for flamethrower operators was high, since they were prime targets for Japanese fire, easily identifiable due to the profile they had with the flamethrowers strapped to their backs. When they fell, others took their places.
Almost hidden by smoke, the crew of the USS Intrepid turn their hoses on many small fires started on the flight deck of the carrier after a Japanese suicide plane crashed into the ship while it was operating off the coast of Luzon, the Philippines, 1944
…and it was this sort of butcher’s-shop horror, with hot iron reducing the complex and fragile human body in to its component parts that shocked and broke many strong men’s wills.
