Posted on 08/06/2024 8:47:24 AM PDT by NorthMountain
Today is August 6, 2024.
December 7, 1941:
August 6, 1945
Lest we forget.
And to this day nothing can live there. Not even weeds will grow among the glowing radioactive rubble.
Current day Hiroshima vs current day Detroit. Just who got bombed?
I visited Hiroshima in the latter 90s while working for the Navy in Yokosuka.
That’s just a wimpy little A-bomb.
It did the job.
After Dad got through killing nazis in Germany he received orders to return to the US and prepare for the invasion of Japan. When these two A-bombs were dropped everyone gave a sigh of relief as they knew the war was about over.
After the A-bombs were dropped the US went back to conventional bombing raids till the surrender was signed. This is not mentioned in most histories as they consider the A-bombs the last. it was not.
When I was on Okinawa in 1968, there was a TV show over AFRTS(Armed Forces Radio & TV Station) telling about the end of the war. When the A-bomb was dropped the screen suddenly went to static for about a minute as they did not want to offend the Japanese watching. Then when it came back on it was told how we continued to crop conventional bombs till the surrender was signed. I had never heard that till that moment.
We nuked the bloody hell out of Frenchman Flat, back in the day. Now it’s a barren desert suitable only for chemical spill testing.
Before that, it was ...
Oh, yeah ...
A barren desert.
My dad was flying B-29’s from Tinian with the 9th BW. We always celebrated (yes, celebrated for you weak sisters out there) this day in our household growing up.
Dad was convinced it was only a matter of time before he went down and became a POW so the A-bomb was his deliverance.
He never stepped foot in a cockpit again after he came home. Sold insurance and made a fortune.
***And to this day nothing can live there.***
I remember reading about scientists at that time saying nothing would grow there for 96 years due to radioactivity! Yet the next year the flowers grew and trees sent up new shoots from their roots.
During the first A-bomb test in New Mexico, a herd of cattle were caught in the fallout from it. It was believed the cattle would be sterile from then on. One cow, “Old Granny” was taken to Oak Ridge and lived another 20 years dropping perfectly normal calves. She did have radioactive burns but survived them. I believe it was 19 calves she dropped. I read about it in Progressive Farmer over sixty years ago and still have that page from the magazine.
Back when we used to be as committed to winning wars as our enemies were.
The bomb: Made in the USA and tested in Japan.
From all the Marines who survived Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and Okinawa: Hallelujah!
There was a third bomb, ready for deployment on August 19. Relevant authorities were reluctant to use it, although there were plans for serial atomic bombings if Japan didn’t surrender. And there were elements in the Japanese Army command structure adamantly opposed to surrender.
The Emperor saw things differently and forced the army to surrender.
Yes, “Little Boy”, a uranium gun device, was actually tested in Japan. “Fat Man”, a plutonium implosion device, was the successor to the Trinity “gadget” tested in New Mexico.
And THAT U-235 gun-barrel design bomb was NEVER tested; they KNEW that would work.
The beginning of Freedom-
Family had to hide in the mountains of Baguio, and in Mindanao. Never forget what those Yellow Bastards did.
They still teach it today, to the few kids left in that withering society.
FWIW - Beijing is gonna wanna talk about it soon.
I once met a P51 pilot who had flown in Europe. We had a lot of Bourbon, so I was drunk enough to ask him about the war and he was drunk enough to talk about it.
He said his favorite target were trains, because he would strafe his way up to the engine and then kaboom! a big steam explosion.
But then his face fell, and he said that on the long flight back to base you thought about the guys on the ground and you didn't feel so good anymore.
In contrast, I've read transcripts of German pilots who boasted about strafing civilians. That was the difference between us and them.
He flew some planes back to the US, but after leaving the service, like your father he never flew again.
I visited Hiroshima last October and took in the sights.
The city is beautiful, and the museum was modern. It leaned heavily on pity for the children that died in the bombing and the aftermath. No mention anywhere about the kids in China.
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