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A week after Nagasaki, Tokyo had still not surrendered. A third weapon was already on its way and a dozen were to follow.LONDON — American military archives reveal that if the Japanese had not surrendered on August 15, 1945, they would have been hit by a third and potentially more powerful atomic bomb just a few days later and then, eventually, an additional barrage of up to 12 further nuclear attacks. Documents highlighted during commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima on August 6, and Nagasaki on August 9, which forced the end of World War...

VJ Day Kiss - 70 years ago 70 years ago ... August 14, 1945 was the dawn, ending those dark days from 1939 - 1945 which were marked by a horrific world war. World War II left no continent untouched and a devastating body count. With causalities approaching 70 million, it may have been the worst war in recorded human history, such seen in this interactive video: The Fallen of World War II on Vimeo But as the Psalmist wrote: "... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5 (KJV) Finally the night of...

Seventy years ago, the B-29 Enola Gay, piloted by Paul Tibbets, Jr., dropped an atomic bomb, Little Boy, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The blast and ensuing radiation killed an estimated 150,000 people. Though the devastation from the bombing was astounding, it did not bring American’s war with Japan or World War II to an immediate end. Three days later, the United States dropped another atomic bomb, Fat Man, on Nagasaki, and the Empire of Japan’s leaders finally capitulated.

The party started early on VJ Day. Though the official announcement that World War II ended wasn't made until closer to 7pm on Aug. 14, 1945, a scientific assessment of the famous photo of the couple kissing in celebration, called "VJ Day in Times Square" and widely known as "The Kiss," reveals the duo actually locked lips before then—at 5:51pm Eastern, to be precise. So reports a team of scientists that includes a physicist and astronomer in the August issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. While they can't say with certainty who the couple is, they've used clues in the...

The news from England this week made my heart heavy. Sir Nicholas Winton has passed away. The Mackinac Center first learned of Nicky when our then-President Lawrence W. Reed met and interviewed him. I will be forever grateful to Lawrence W. Reed for bringing his story to Michigan and inviting me to visit England with him to meet this exceptional man. Sir Nicholas Winton spent the war years as Nicholas Winton and was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his valor, compassion and heroic measures exhibited during the fight to save children from certain death in concentration camps. He has...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sidestepped a question on whether he would apologize for the sexual enslavement of women by Japan’s army during World War II. Abe instead said he was “deeply pained” by the suffering of “comfort women.” He was using a euphemism for tens of thousands of Asian women who were forced to serve Japanese troops. …

On May 9, Russia is holding an enormous military parade to commemorate the end of World War II 70 years ago. With tensions between Russia and the West high, most European Union leaders are staying away from the event. […] Russia would have liked to showcase the Armata and a host of other military technology to the foreigners who were supposed to be sitting in the VIP stand on May 9. The Kremlin had invited 68 leaders of foreign countries to the victory celebration, including the most important politicians in the Western world. So far, only 25 have accepted Moscow’s...

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe will "express remorse" for World War II, the Associated Press reports. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that his government would express remorse for World War II on the 70th anniversary of its end in August. [Snip] He said the government would draft a new statement "that includes Japan's remorse for the war," though he stopped short of saying it would apologize. The Japan Times has more on the move:

Autumn,1942: It came down to one Marine, and one ship. October 26 falls on a Thursday this year. Ask the significance of the date, and you're likely to draw some puzzled looks -- five more days to stock up for Halloween? It's a measure of men like Col. Mitchell Paige and Rear Adm. Willis A. "Ching Chong China" Lee that they wouldn't have had it any other way. What they did 58 years ago, they did precisely so their grandchildren could live in a land of peace and plenty. Whether we've properly safeguarded the freedoms they fought to leave us,...

Of all the memorable dates of World War II, this one somehow got lost in the jungle. Remember Aug. 7, 1942? Quiz your friends. Note the silence. To veterans who landed 60 years ago today on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal, it is a silence almost as eerie and inexplicable as the quiet of the early hours of their raid -- the first U.S. offensive of the war. "So many people today don't even know what Guadalcanal is," said Rudy Bock, 82, of Overland Park, who stormed in with fellow Marines and caught the Japanese with their guns down. "You...

I probably blew the format for starting a thread...and didn't see posted elsewhere. A true hero has moved on. My 56 year old self just went outside, faced the sky, and offered the best salute I've snapped in 35 years. Rest In Peace, Mitch....proud and honored to have had your aquaintance.

On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the first U.S. offensive of the war, by landing on Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands. On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. Operation Watchtower was the codename for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands. During the attack, American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tananbogo...

, Calif.(Nov. 23, 2003) -- A quiet chill settled over the Riverside National Cemetery. Six Marines gripped the polished metal rails of a casket. They moved in unison, carrying the flag-draped coffin for one final honor for a Marine hero. Col. Mitchell Paige, recipient of the Medal of Honor, was laid to rest near the Medal of Honor Memorial here Sunday. Hundreds of mourners turned out to watch as an honor guard and honor platoon from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment based at Marine Corps Air-Ground Center Twentynine Palms, the 1st Marine Division Band and Lt. Gen. James T. Conway,...

This Day In History | World War II August 7 1942 U.S. forces invade Guadalcanal On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the first U.S. offensive of the war, by landing on Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands. On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. Operation Watchtower was the codename for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands. During the attack, American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese...

Hope you have a nice Fourth of July. Maybe you'll watch the fireworks, grill a few hot dogs, give a little thanks to those keeping watch — now and then. Dave Cohea knows where he was on the Fourth of July in 1944: on board the USS Boston, which was shelling the island of Iwo Jima, softening it up for invasion the following spring. The Boston was Cohea's second ship, the first having been blasted out of the water 18 months earlier at Guadalcanal. "We were torpedoed. The ammo blew up, and fuel was all over me," says Cohea, 85,...

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni - 10,409 miles, 6,500 gallons, 11 days, 10 islands and nine people. Add up the numbers and it equals a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Marines here embarked on the 11-day expedition Aug. 3 to various locations across the Pacific to commemorate the Marine Corps 67th anniversary of World War II’s Guadalcanal campaign. The nine Marines were able experience to witness and experience firsthand what was left of seven historic battle sites, including Saipan, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu, Guam and Iwo- Jima.

Memories of fallen consecrate name of Solomons' airportBy Tom HennessyStaff columnistHenderson Field is one of those place names that still resonates with most Americans who lived through World War II. And even with some of their descendants. U.S. Marines seized the airfield Aug. 7, 1942, when they invaded Guadalcanal in our first offensive of the Pacific War. They finished the construction the Japanese had started and named the airfield for Lofton Henderson, a Medal of Honor aviator killed in June at the battle of Midway. It was one of the war's most significant airfields. Whoever held Henderson pretty much...

Just returned from having my boots on the ground in the Solomon Islands. Bit of a working holiday of sorts – had the best time imaginable, despite a fair bit of hard yakka. While I was there I heard a little gem of some news from a primary source: According to the prime minister, the right honourable Sir Allan Kemakeza KBE, Henderson International Airport, formerly Henderson Airfield, and formerly planned to be known by some Japanese name that’s been mostly erased from history by an assault by the US Marines and months of heavy fighting… will be retaining its present...

Here is an e-mail I received from the webmaster, 1st Marine Division Associaion, involving the name of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, named after a KIA Marine just prior to that great battle of the Corps and WW II.

It's hard to envision -- or, for the dwindling few, to remember -- what the world looked like on Oct. 26, 1942, when a few thousand U.S. Marines stood essentially stranded on the God-forsaken jungle island of Guadalcanal, placed like a speed bump at the end of the long blue-water slot between New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the most likely route for the Japanese Navy to take if they hoped to reach Australia. On Guadalcanal, the Marines struggled to complete an airfield. Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto knew what that meant. No effort would be spared to dislodge these upstart...