Posted on 08/06/2012 11:59:49 PM PDT by Noremac
We have readers all over the globe and some of them are from the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. I heard from one of them today, reminding me of the 67th ‘anniversary’ of the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
I have been reading a book called ‘The Fall of Japan’. It brings out a considerable amount of evidence indicating that most of the Japanese government officials, diplomats and many of the top officers in the Imperial Navy were trying to influence their government toward suing for peace with the Americans, but the very top dogs in the military snuffed out those reasonable and sensible proposals.
This effort reached its zenith in the days and weeks following March 9, 1945 – the day we burned Tokyo. 63 percent of Tokyo’s business and manufacturing were decimated, and whole residential areas were incinerated; the heat in some spots reaching over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit!
We thought surely that this would cause the national will to sustain the war to crumble. The Japanese surely saw what we were capable of less than 3 weeks earlier in February of that same year in Dresden, Germany.
As my reader correctly observes, the Japanese people were exhausted and sick of the death and destruction, but the most powerful of the ‘Supreme Council of War Ministers’ stubbornly resisted.
One credible explanation has to do with Japanese tradition, in which to some at that time at least, death was preferable to surrender. ‘Saving Face’ has survived WWII, but Japanese military instincts suffered a crushing blow.
As to the viciousness and ugliness of the Japanese atrocities against China, Korea, the Philippines and other areas in Asia, I can show you brutality on behalf of Stalin, Hitler and the Ottoman Empire (the Armenian Holocaust), that in no way takes second place to the unimaginable inhumanity of the Japanese forces.
The 20th century was the most evil, most deadly, most savage century in human history – and if you are a serious student of history, you know that is a dubious accomplishment.
What you will read next, is little known and little reported in history – for what reason, I’m not exactly certain although I can guess.
America produced and dropped one million leaflets over Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and 33 other Japanese cities, warning that those cities were going to be destroyed within a few days and advising the residents to leave to save their lives.
One side of the leaflet had a photo of five U.S. bombers unloading bombs and a list of the targeted cities. The other side had the text. The English version of the leaflet is included in an article at the CIA website, “The Information War in the Pacific, 1945,” by Josette H. Williams. OWI stands for Office of War Information. Here is the text of the leaflets in full:
“Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or friend. In the next few days, some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs. These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories which produce military goods. We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique which they are using to prolong this useless war. But, unfortunately, bombs have no eyes.
So, in accordance with America’s humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives. America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique which has enslaved the Japanese people.
The peace which America will bring will free the people from the oppression of the military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan. You can restore peace by demanding new and good leaders who will end the war. We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked but some or all of them will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately.”
An unheeded warning. An unnecessary outcome.
My late father was then a member of the US Marine Corps, on Okinawa. His life was almost certainly saved by the two weapons dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We would have lost well over two million soldiers, sailors and Marines in the invasion of Japan. The Japanese would have lost 10 or 20 times that many people. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t post a thread here about it, because you’ll get shredded like cole slaw.
If it saved one lowly Marine, it was absolutely worth it. And Japan has turned into a darned friendly peaceful, productive nation after 2 nukes. WE should have done it to Mecca after 911 without a single press release.
The world would have been very different today.
Pearl Harbor. The Bataan Death March. The Rape of Nanking. Unit 731.
Then look up Operation Olympic.
Our enemies had best remember it, as well.
To be blunt: when the Europeans become convinced that a race of people are a big enough problem, they build Auschwitz. When America becomes convinced that another nation is a big enough problem, we build atomic bombs. Hear that, Pan-Arabia? Hear that, Islamic States?
“An ‘Anniversary’ we’d prefer to forget - but can’t.”
It was NOT for US to be sorry. Therefore, it is NOT necessary for anyone to forget.
God Bless Harry S Truman for having the guts to give the order.
The Japanese started World War II in the Pacific at Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
America finished what they started at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Screw each and every one of the revisionists, hand wringers, and America-haters with their wailing and shrieking about dropping the atomic bombs on Japan.
If it saved one lowly Marine, it was absolutely worth it. And Japan has turned into a darned friendly peaceful, productive nation after 2 nukes. WE should have done it to Mecca and Kandahar after 911 without a single press release.Pardon me, but I felt the need to edit your excellent post.The world would have been very different today.
My father was also on Okinawa. In the army, not the marines. Part of the invasion force.
This looks interesting. I just found it.
http://www.secondworldwar.org.uk/downfall.html
Of course many in Japan would want people to forget this.
They are the ones that wrote much of the war out of their own textbooks.
My dad was in the army and part of the invasion force. He told us (his nine kids) on numerous occasions that it is likely none of us would be here if not for the bomb (and the will to use it)
The fact is, the Japanese civilians were warned and ignored the warning.
And the fact is, far more people would have died — in total, and on both sides — had there been an invasion.
And the fact is, it is the right and duty of the President of the United States to put the lives of the US military ahead of those of enemy civilians.
And the fact is, had there been an invasion, the Soviet Union would probably have invaded in the north and the Japanese people would have suffered decades of a divided country, with half their numbers living under the crushing poverty and slavery of communism.
The Japanese Army was killing 150,000 Asians a day. The A-Bomb saved millions of lives.
Made in America by lazy Americans.
Tested in Japan.
Somebody needs to look up the verb "decimate" in a dictionary.
I saw that book, “The Fall of Japan” and it is absolutely correct.
The A-bomb finally gave the Emperor and others a “face-saving” way to decide on surrender, and to overcome the radicals who were in favor of continuing the war. They could now clearly argue that there was no hope of continuing.
I second that. My late father had been through the Battle of the Bulge, and he would have definitely been part of the invasion of Japan. He, and so many, many other Allied troops avoided death because of the bomb.
It makes some folks feel good to present themselves as tolerant and progressive. They really get off on the idea that foreigners would approve of them for their “open” minds. I suggest their loyalty be redirected to the men and women who fought and died for THIS country.
and you are right...it was the a-bombs that ultimately saved millions of lives.
Semper Fi to your dad and Semper Fi to a Marine family.
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