Why were there so many US military deaths outside of the major battles in WW2?
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In almost every war, most deaths occur not in the major battles. In the Pacific war that you refer to most US death occurred from mines, bad weather conditions, accidents and diseases. Also the Japanese lost more ships to mines than in combat. This is a general pattern in all armed conflicts.
Upvote:2
Besides accidents and disease mentioned in other answers, there were many combat deaths outside of big battles. "Mines" were a reason. Also, there were many small actions outside of big battles. Armies ran "patrols," and fights would flare up between small groups. There would typically be a lot of artillery fire (more, perhaps in World War I than World War II) between battles that would kill soldiers. Soldiers would be killed by "bombing" (and airmen by anti-aircraft) between battles. Soldiers would get killed "moving," they have been known to collapse and die the ranks, and there were vehicle-related deaths "on the march." (Some would be classified as "accidents" but if they were incurred on the way to battle, or worse, on the retreat, they would be "combat" related.)
Big battles are when "most" (combat) deaths occurred, not when all of them occurred. The fighting and killing doesn't stop just because a battle is over; it just goes from "high" intensity to "low" intensity. Put another way, "war" goes on 365 days a year, while "battles" may occupy a multiple of ten days (for a given unit). Those battle days represent a minority of fighting time, although a disproportionate amount of killing does go on during those days.
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