Posted on 07/17/2004 7:40:36 AM PDT by Radix
MILTON - There was a break in the clouds, and Charles W. Sweeney, a young pilot, changed history.
His B-29 bomber dangerously low on fuel, Sweeney finally captured a glimpse of the target below and delivered the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II. It was the second and last time an atomic weapon had been used, and the Japanese surrendered a few days after the Aug. 9, 1945, bombing.
Sweeney, a retired Air Force general, died Thursday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was 84.
He was a Milton resident and a graduate of North Quincy High School.
Sweeney, whose passion for flying was stoked at the Squantum air field in Quincy, talked frequently about his fateful flight over the years and never spoke of any regrets. He was 25 at the time and had never before dropped a bomb on an enemy target.
‘‘I looked upon it as a duty. I just wanted the war to be over, so we could get back home to our loved ones,'' Sweeney told The Patriot Ledger in a 1995 interview. ‘‘I hope my missions were the last ones of their kind that will ever be flown.''
Sweeney is believed to be the only person to fly in both the Nagasaki bombing and its predecessor, the bombing of Hiroshima three days earlier. He flew an instrument plane accompanying the Enola Gay during the Hiroshima run, and later recalled the bluish-white flash that filled the sky after the bomb's impact.
His own bomber, the Bock's Car, is not as well-known in history, but the bombing was certainly no less harrowing. The flight had fuel problems from the start, and clouds and smoke were covering the mission's primary target, the city of Kokura.
After making several dangerous passes over the city, Sweeney abandoned the city for Nagasaki. Only a break in the clouds allowed the bomb to be dropped, Sweeney said.
‘‘He ended World War II, which changed the course of history,'' Sweeney's son, Joseph said Friday.
‘‘His motto was that the best defense was a strong offense. He was very proud of the United States military and he loved the Marines because they took all the islands for him,'' Joe Sweeney said.
Charles Sweeney came from a family of Marines. Three of his brothers and two sons were in the Marine Corps.
After the bombing, he visited Japan several times and saw the devastation.
‘‘It was a terrible thing to see,'' he told The Patriot Ledger in 1995.
‘‘The city was totally devastated and the few people who were there still seemed stunned by what had happened,'' he said then.
Charles Sweeney wrote the book, ‘‘War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission,'' because of what he called ‘‘cockamamie theories'' that the bombings were unnecessary.
He became an outspoken defender of the bombing, appearing on the television show Larry King and speaking at colleges and universities.
He became a brigadier general in 1956, at the time, the youngest man in the Air Force to reach that rank. He retired in 1976.
Joseph Sweeney said his father loved flying.
‘‘It was his whole life. He always said he was born in the right place at the right time,'' Joseph Sweeney said. ‘‘He was the best. There was no better.''
Interesting info on 'The last mission':
http://pweb.netcom.com/~jb29miss/
http://pweb.netcom.com/~jb29miss/newlast.html
http://home.att.net/~sallyann2/smith1.html
These three sites give more details about the flight and it's results. There were 132 'very heavy' B29 bombers on that last run. If Japan hadn't surrendered after that run, we would have continued using nukes and conventional fire bombing until the entire country was destroyed.
I misspoke in my earlier post, the Emperor was going to surrender and the military revolt was to prevent that surrender. I was busy during the movie last night and got slightly confused about that point.
About using nukes on Japan, do a google search on U234 which was a German submarine that was carrying refined Uranium to Japan after Germany surrendered. That submarine surrendered to the U.S. and it is speculatated that the Uranium that was going to be used in Japans atomic weapons was instead used by us against them.
We got it and dropped it on them before they cound drop it on us.
Perhaps you should 'study' the concept of Bushido. Death in battle was considered preferable to surrender. During the entire war, the Japanese soldier never surrendered. They ALWAYS fought to the death.
The army had no intention of surrendering. They would have commited national suicide and taken the civilian population with them. The nuclear attacks were a preferable alternative to the destruction of an entire people.
Now that you know what to study, take the time to study the philosophy of Islamic martyrdom in warfare. Funny how history repeats itself.
"...I watched 'the Last Misson' on the History channel last night...there was a rebellion within the military to try to kidnap the emperor and make him surrender..."
- - -
I thought they said the emperor had recorded his surrender and
the military coup wanted to stop the tape from being played.
Maybe I misunderstood...
The passing of another member of the finest generation. Sweaney's flight had several difficulties and he barely made it back for landing.
You ignorant revisionists always fail to point out that between the time Truman was sworn in as President and the dropping of the first bomb, that's a period of four months, the United States suffered over 50% of its total casualties in the Pacific theater.
Get a clue, lady.
This is a pretty good summary of the time, and why our military planners believed what they did was the right thing.
http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/hiroshima/ytruman.htm
This little piece in the article says it all.
"But the Americans continued to read the Japanese codes. Almost immediately; the Magic Summaries revealed that the new foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, had begun a world-wide propaganda campaign to brand the Americans as war criminals for using nuclear weapons. Tokyo's goals included keeping Emperor Hirohito from being tried for instigating a war of aggression, and diverting Western attention away from the many Japanese atrocities committed since the start of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937. "Since the Americans have recently been raising an uproar about the question of our mistreatment of prisoners [of war],'' Shigemitsu instructed his diplomats in the Sept. 15, 1945, Magic Summary, "I think we should make every effort to exploit the atomic bomb question in our propaganda. That propaganda campaign has borne its final fruit in the revisionist account of the bombing of Japan. "
DK
You did know that Japan was using WMD's in China, right?
They had a bio warfare program that was out of the planning stages and they were implementing it. Plague. Cholera. Anthrax. They even had a minor "accident" that killed 1,700 of their own troops. Tens of thousands civilians were killed, possibly as many as 200,000. The program was increasing, as it was a cheap method for war.
http://www.cnd.org/njmassacre/recent-news2.html
But I never studied...
DK
*first, May God rest Charles Sweeney's soul in peace.
*second, Bones says 'It is NEVER necessary to murder 250,000 civilians who had NOTHING to do with the industrial base pushing for war.' "Never"? You sure about that? I think "never" is too extreme. I am a bit rusty on WWII so won't comment on that.
We are currently contending with ongoing deadly terrorist threats in the US and anywhere else extremist Muslims choose to inflict themselves. [We still have a military presence in Iraq, I am not going to poke holes in the American military decision-making that is involved; I trust those in charge are doing a good job and don't need armchair quarterbacks nitpicking their actions.]
Considering that Muslims comprise 25 percent of the world population, it might be inevitable that some peaceful Muslims will be killed as freedom-loving people stand up to the Muslim extremists. Maybe 250,000 of them, hopefully fewer.
Let's not be too hasty in making absolute statements such as yours. The extremist Muslims want to kill all infidels, and westerners fit that category. The extremist Muslims MUST be stopped, no matter the cost.
This is not a hypothetical or historical situation - it's right here, right now. So the unavoidable question you must answer or prove yourself a hypocrite is this: are you prepared to see your family, loved ones, and yourself die from a terrorist attack which wasn't prevented due to fear that by doing so there might be innocent lives lost as well? If your answer is 'no' then your attitude toward the use of nuclear weapons is inconsistent with that answer and you need to correct it. If your answer is 'yes' you are certainly free to express your opinion, but somehow I doubt you'll find that many others who see such a self-evidently suicidal philosophy at all attractive.
I just spent a half hour Googling through a bunch of your B/S.
Check out some of the witless comments [bold my emphasis]:
1. Despite Truman’s calculations, new studies quickly dismiss Truman’s account of saving half a million or more Allied lives as being grossly inflated. By the time historians were given access to the secret files necessary to review the situation, it was clear that estimates ranged from 20,000 to 46,000 American lives4 (Selden, 1989, xxxi). The official report prepared by the Joint War Plans Committee on 15 June 1945 presented the following calculations to the Chiefs of Staff: Killed – 40,000; Wounded – 150,000; Missing – 3,500; Total – 193,500.
So, our casualties would have been ONLY 193,000. I dare any of these revisionists, let alone a sitting president, to face 193,000 families and tell them that their fathers and brothers would have to become causalties because using the atomic bomb was too inhumane.
2. [from an AOL board] "When, in the spring of 1945, the island nation's lifeline to oil was severed, the war was over except for the fighting." ?????
3. Leon Sigal writes, "At worst, withholding force might have prolonged the war for a while at a time when little combat was taking place; it would not have altered the final result. Yet restraint could have significantly reduced the gratuitous suffering on both sides, especially for noncombatants."
and
The United States Strategic Bombing Survey, was issued in July 1946. It declared, "Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945 and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."
Allied prisoners of the Japs, in all camps, were dying at over 1,000 a day, so, delaying surrender by how many days was acceptable? Even it was "only" 100, tell that to the prisoners' famiiles.
Japanese Document No. 2710 was widely interpreted by Jap prison commandants as a "What to do" upon invasion of Japan. Daws' Japan's Prisoner of War Camps (p. 324-325) says Tokyo had issued orders to kill all prisoners-of-war by 1945. I believe him.
I wish I had the sources, so these remain anecdotal:
A Jap general issued words to the effect that "While thing looks bad now, there is still chance for victory". He said this AFTER the SECOND BOMB was dropped.
A Jap diplomat, when told we only had two bombs, is quoted to have said, "If we had known you had only two . . ." and then stopped.
"Long Days Journey Into War" has a chapter on a Jap pilot who was ordered to search for the "dud" bomb seen floating down near Nagasaki (it was a scientific device transmitting data back to the plane). The Japs thought was they could fix it (!!!) and use it against the Americans. To this day that pilot is lionized as a hero.
Finally, Hiroshima: The Decision to Drop the Bomb posted earlier on FR also beats this dead horse.
Message to the revisionists and professional victims - LET IT GO - all your whining and hand-wringing are not going to bring anybody back nor make anyone feel guilty. In the final analysis the message is: "Don't screw around with the U.S."
I forget to add, when you ask those people who suffered under Japanese occupation if dropping atom bombs on Japan was wrong, they usually reply "Why'd you drop only two?".
The Japanese government, right after surrender, tried to demonize the use of nukes. Looks like some people actually bought it.
DK
Allied prisoners of the Japs, in all camps, were dying at over 1,000 a day, so, delaying surrender by how many days was acceptable? Even it was "only" 100, tell that to the prisoners' famiiles.
On VJ day my grandfather weighed 81 pounds in the slave labor camp he was in (I have previously mentioned 86 but that turns out to be what it was when by the time he was processed out). There is no way he could have made November or December, aside from the fact that they [camp guards] had mounted machine guns to mow the prisoners down upon news of any landing. Revisionists SUCK!
Your ignorance of Japan and its mentality during WWII is really quite something. My best advice to you is to say "If you're stupid, don't wear a sign advertising it." Others may tell you about their vast chemical/biological weapons programs, secret jet/long-range bomber development (for hitting the U.S.), the arming of the women and children, the plans for mass suicide, etc., but I prefer to stop in the absence of any demonstrative intellect on your part.
see my post 21, I have already corrected that mistatement. It's a shame we can't edit out previous statements to avoid these multiple posts just to corrent older ones.
He became an outspoken defender of the bombing, appearing on the television show Larry King and speaking at colleges and universities.
A double hero! First he risked his life fighting the Japanese in WWII. Then, he fought the Communists and Socialists back home.
Ignorance is not our problem. It's yours.
Revisionism isn't always up to you to decide.
In fact, it is entirely revisionist to CHOOSE to IGNORE the facts on the ground... but then again I am probably talking to someone who learns of his facts based upon MGM movies, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck.
Next time try going to the Japanese American community and learning some facts.
Ignorance is not our problem. It's yours.
Revisionism isn't always up to you to decide.
In fact, it is entirely revisionist to CHOOSE to IGNORE the facts on the ground... but then again I am probably talking to someone who learns of his facts based upon MGM movies, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck.
Next time try going to the Japanese American community and learning some facts.
Next time, the slipper may be on the other foot.
In fact, it is entirely jingoistic to believe that our nation is the only nation possessing the capability to drop nuclear devices into an location on Earth.
In fact, if our citizenry can not hold national leadership in check, it will occur on our soil next.
There is no change to my opinion. Dropping nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons on unarmed civilians is idiotic.
That's exactly what occurred in Nagasaki and Hiroshima at ground zero.
While some people may call a "factory" a "military target", others might not.
The fact that so few responses actually dealt with the FACT that I pointed out... the FACT that Japanese American relativse and even some American military personnel were in the target zones apparently escapes you.
You can write up as much rationalization as you want.
The fact of the matter is that the 250,000 dead were not enemies of our nation. They were civilians.
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