So many blunders in military history. I can think of a zillion as most here can as well. I recall reading of a trooper at Bastogne, I believe it was, who went to retrieve his BAR that had been laid atop a stack of weapons of the other troopers who had climbed in the back of the deuce and a half. As they were disembarking, he grabbed the muzzle to slide it off the pile , but a bolt from a Springfield caught in the trigger guard, pulling the trigger and shooting him in the chest, dead.

For me though the one that troubles me as much as any other is Bull's Run at Leyte. It was such a monumental blunder, and so obvious that he was going after a decoy. That it happened at all is shocking to this day. And not only were there heavy, completely avoidable losses of men and ships, as tragic a consequence as that is, it robbed us armchair historians of the showdown between Musashi (if she had survived in this alternate history), Yamato and the Iowas.

I completely understand that wishing for death and destruction is reprehensible in the modern sensibility, and don't wish to argue that point and I reckon the folks around here understand where I am coming from. But this is the pinnacle of my naval curiosity, and to have had this clash of the Center Force and Task Force 34 occur would have been fascinating from that point of view. I know what I think would have happened, as I have debated it and voiced my view countless times through the years. From a clinical perspective though I feel like Halsey robbed those of us who are interested in this, the chance to know the outcome and settle the debate through his own stupidity, vainglory and arrogance. For me Halsey swept away his legacy with one of history's most blatant blunders. The world wonders, indeed!