S8 Ep272: MCNAMARA'S ROLE IN THE FIREBOMBING OF TOKYO Colleague William Taubman. William Taubman discusses Robert McNamara's service in the Pacific during World War II, specifically his role as a stat

MCNAMARA'S ROLE IN THE FIREBOMBING OF TOKYO Colleague William Taubman. William Taubmandiscusses Robert McNamara's service in the Pacific during World War II, specifically his role as a statistician under General Curtis LeMay in the Marianas. McNamara's analysis revealed that B-29 bombers were missing targets because they flew too high, advising LeMay to order low-altitude firebombing raids on Tokyo, a tactic that devastated the city. Although LeMay made the final decision and flew the lead plane, McNamara later admitted that had the United States lost the war, they would likely have been prosecuted as war criminals for the high civilian death toll. NUMBER 1 B-29 ENGINEER