Posted on 08/06/2023 7:01:59 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
This article is bullsh!t. The invasion of the main Japanese island would have been horribly brutal to both sides.
It is telling that, out of those 45 goals, these are the first three of them:
There is a reason that this revisionist crap has been around almost from the moment those bombs finished exploding, and these three reasons shed some light on that, IMO.
My Dad, the most wonderful man and my hero, (later an eye surgeon and father to me and six siblings) was a young Ensign in 1945, in charge of 4 LCVPs, on a small Destroyer Escort conversion to a landing support ship, APD. He was working up in the Atlantic for the invasion of Japan, while the European troops were repositioning back to invade Japan. They were told to expect, in a main invasion of main islands of Japan to expect 80 % casualties, almost a MILLION US alone, and over a million more Japanese. Battle hardened marines, my Dad said, from Europe joining his group wept when the bombs ended the war.
Is the relief of guilt from the communists and enemies of our country by wringing their hands over the destruction of those two cities, which were a fraction of the Japanese and American casualties from the nukes...why are we even listening to these idiots?
Who gives them any authority? How about the families, like me who would not have been born, where is my say in the collective guilt I must now support for what??? The end of a war??? I want to punch someone.
General Anthony C. McAuliffe wholeheartedly agrees, saying: "Nuts!"
Richard B. Frank’s “DOWNFALL: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire” concludes the same. The Japanese were most concerned with their home islands, and as word spread of nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and probability of more cities being heavily damaged or destroyed by American nuclear attack, panic and complete societal breakdown was inevitable. That is why Japan surrendered.
We should make reparations to ourselves by dropping one on D.C.. America would enter a new golden age.
Correction;
“.Is the relief of guilt from the communists and enemies of our country by wringing their hands over the destruction of those two cities, which were a fraction of the Japanese and American casualties from the POTENTIAL INVASION INSTEAD...why are we even listening to these idiots?
As General William Tecumseh Sherman said: “War is all hell.” Sherman basically said that you have to take the war to the people who are supporting and supplying the enemy, and you have to make war so horrible that they lose their will to fight.
I think your post hits closer to the truth than much of what we hear about this.
I referenced that in my post, that the bombs changed everything in a military perspective.
Since the people who uttered those quotes were largely honorable men, it isn’t easy to consider this aspect, but a lot of warfighters didn’t like the idea that someone pushing a button might take the place of men fighting things out as they always had, albeit with different weapons every time.
In 1945, there wasn’t yet Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, etc.
They might well have thought in 1945 that the bomb made them obsolete.
LeMay??? OMG. The author of “massive retaliation” against the Soviet Union if they invaded Europe after the war????
I don’t believe it either...
And Hirohito was never tried for war crimes, although there were plenty that the Japanese committed in his name, especially the way they treated the military POW's.
Every American parent who did not lose a son in an invasion of Japan, every American alive today because one of their grandfathers did not have to participate in an invasion of Japan, begs to differ.
The Japanese had demonstrated that they would fight fanatically and generally fought until annihilated.The US had suffered huge casualties invading Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Japanese army still had considerable strength within Japan proper. There is no hard evidence that Japan was willing to unconditionally surrender. The atomic bomb offered American leaders the option to annihilate Japan without suffering huge additional casualties. Most veterans idolized Truman for dropping those bombs which made a costly invasion of Japan proper unnecessary.
There were certainly some needless things that happened in WWII. Oh, like the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan death march to name a few.
“I simply do not believe these quotes. LeMay? And Hap Arnold? No way.”
General Anthony C. McAuliffe wholeheartedly agrees, saying: “Nuts!”
The left has resorted to whole cloth lies. The democrats buy it with no problem, which IS the problem...
You’re attempting a circular argument. If you believe the quotes are true, prove it. It’s impossible to prove a negative. You know that.
For reference I will point you to some of the finest recent scholarship on the subject:
“The Fleet at Flood Tide” by James Hornfischer
“Twilight of the Gods” by Ian Toll
“Downfall” by Richard Frank
These works annihilate this revisionist drivel into oblivion.
Cherry picked evidence to support a position. I doubt this is true.
What do Freepers have to say about the matter?
(C'mon man.)
Sadly, there's probably not too many left to share their personal memories. Guess we'd have to look for books, diaries, letters. I'm sure there are plenty of diaries and letters in manuscript collections throughout the country. Would be a thrill to track them down, but at 76, I no longer have the energy, or money to pursue research projects like I did in my younger days. One of the most enjoyable times of my life was going to places like the National Archives, Library of Congress, college libraries and historical societies, and getting to go through a box that included letters, a diary, and photos from the Civil War. Would have loved to have been a professional researcher, but like being an Archaeologist, it doesn't pay squat.
Me too
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