Posted on 08/01/2015 4:52:36 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Here is the Truman library Aug 6 warning?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/truman-leaflets/
Interesting info here:
http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_23.htm
There was a lot of discussion about warning here by Stinson. But no documentation of what was actually done.
I guess this this was logical operations but we don’t think about it. It was very dependent on weather.
At General Arnold’s insistence, the responsibility for selecting the particular target and fixing the exact date and hour of the attack was assigned to the field commander, General Spaatz. In orders issued on 25 July and approved by Stimson and Marshall, Spaatz was ordered to drop the “first special bomb as soon as weather will permit visual bombing after about 3 August 1945 on one of the targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki.” He was instructed also to deliver a copy of this order personally to MacArthur and Nimitz. Weather was the critical factor because the bomb had to be dropped by visual means, and Spaatz delegated to his chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, the job of deciding when the weather was right for this most important mission.
There was a warning.
From the dating of the order to General Spaatz it has been argued that President Truman was certain the warning would be rejected and had fixed the date for the bombing of Hiroshima even before the issuance of the Potsdam Declaration
The LeMay Bombing Leaflet
http://www.smv.org/blog/2011-01-12/lemay-bombing-leaflet
Here it says the leaflet was dropped over Hiroshima. It is not specific and couldn’t be but we did warn them...........
LeMays Combat Crew Manual Dec, 1944
https://archive.org/stream/B-29CombatCrewManual#page/n1/mode/2up
And yet another source regarding the bombing warnings.
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/008604.html
Interesting aspects?
“What the CIA article reveals is that the leafleting of August 1 was the culmination of a months’-long campaign by the U.S. Office of War Information to give the Japanese people true information on the status of the war (which they were not getting from their own government) and to persuade them to surrender. “
Lemay was in charge of leaflets (at lease those dropped by his command)?
“Even today, members of the B-29 crews recall their fears that the warnings would make them easier targets for Japanese planes and antiaircraft artillery. However, they concurred with Gen. Curtis LeMay’s proposal at the time. Military newspapers featured the unprecedented action under such headlines as “B-29 Command Now Calling Its Shots” and “580 B-29s Follow Up Leaflet Warnings With 3800 Tons Of Fire And Explosives….”
“Postwar surveys showed that the Japanese people trusted the accuracy of the leaflets and many residents of the targeted cities prepared immediately to leave their homes. The Japanese government regarded the leaflets with such concern that it ordered the arrest of those who kept or even read the leaflets and did not turn them in to their local police stations. Outside Japan, leaflets promoting the surrender of individual Japanese soldiers and civilians were dropped near cave and tunnel hideouts on islands that had been captured by the Allies.5”
The specific warning issue was an early discussion by the scientific committee:
“No one at this time, or later in the conference, raised the question of whether the Japanese should be informed of the existence of the bomb. That question, it will be recalled, had been discussed by the Scientific Panel on 16 June and at the White House meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the service Secretaries, and Mr. McCloy on 18 June. For a variety of reasons, including uncertainty as to whether the bomb would work, it had been decided that the Japanese should not be warned of the existence of the new weapon. The successful explosion of the first bomb on 17 July did not apparently outweigh the reasons advanced earlier for keeping the bomb a secret; and evidently none of the men involved thought the question needed to be reviewed. The Japanese would learn of the atomic bomb only when it was dropped on them. “
Very interesting, thanks.
My great-uncle was in the second wave scheduled to hit the home islands of Japan. 100% casualties predicted.
Most of the O-10 Commanders have names like the German General Staff? I guess interning all the Americans with German names was a bad idea.
Obviously, the Babe, with 714 by his retirement in '35. But, from memory, can you name the other? Hints below:
American Leaguer
Righty
First baseman
primarily Philadelphia Athletics, then Red Sox, finally short stints with Cubs & Phillies
"There's no crying in baseball."
"Double X"
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/foxxji01.shtml
My brother and sister and I like A-bombs.
I'm guessing that Truman was our last President to travel intercontinentally by ship.
Millions of Japanese do, too, even if they don’t realize it. They were going to lose at least as many as we did, plus have their entire country devastated, inch by inch.
I probably read it when henkster brought it up, too. My father was born in 1936, and his father was in an exempt occupation: rural doctor.
(It’s confusing to be talking about events that haven’t happened yet!)
Yes, I’m all for waiting to be confused when events actually happen, which is my normal and preferred state of affairs.
My uncle married an Aussie. Great gal with a great sense of humor. Still gets around and still has her marvelous Aussie accent.
Jimmie Foxx, “Double X,” also known as “The Beast.” With so many regular players called to the armed forces, he did a comeback stint during the war. But he wasn’t what he had been.
Watching the All Star Game with my son, we went down the lists of top 4 players for each franchise with me guessing the players. Foxx was the first member of the A’s I named and my son gave me that “how do you know this stuff” look.
I take that as a given. But neither did the mid-20th Century history books.
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