'I don't blame them but I hope they mourn the dead' (Hiroshima a-bomb)

The Observer ^ | 7/24/05 | David Smith

[COEXERJ145]

The consensus historical view is gradually swinging around that the bombings weren't necessary - and will more so as time continues to march on.

You have absolutely know clue as to what you are spewing. The only part of "history" that says it wasn't necessary is the part written by a bunch of far left, commie "intellectuals". I suggest you read Downfall : The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire before opening your mouth again.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

It was a horrible thing to have to do. But it was the lesser of two evils. Given that more than 1,000,000 American casualties alone were prevented, dropping nukes on Japan was, in the big picture, a thing of beauty and great compassion.

[CWOJackson]

The sad things is most people who say it was a mistake seem to know nothing about what happened on Okinawa. Many civilians died attacking our troops, with everything from mines to simply bamboo spears.

And it wasn't just the combatants who died needlessly. Whole villages of civilians killed themselves by jumping into the ocean to avoid being made slaves by our Army...because that's what their government had told them would happen.

If we had had to invade Japan millions of civilians would have died needlessly.

Where the bombs necessary? Japan didn't surrender after the first one was dropped.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

The fact that two bombs made evil Japs into good Japs--in quick order--makes their use even more awesomely beautiful. We should take heed of the lesson to be learned here and prosecute the war on Islamofascism as strongly as practicable. For example, we should have leveled Fallujah--after dropping leaflets with a warning to evacuate within 48 hours or become part of the new landscape, the same type of warning we gave to the Japs long before we nuked them.

Given that I had a grandfather and father in the Navy in 1945, I'm quite thankful that Truman nuked a savage culture into submission. It was one of the last patriotic acts by a Democratic president in the past six decades.

[CWOJackson]

I come from a little different background.

My father was in China when the war started. He had already seen some of the horrors that Japan inflicted on the Chinese before Pearl Harbor. As he describes his WWII service, he spent the first half of the war retreating from the Japanese and the second half chasing them...interspaced with bouts of Malaria and Dingi Fever.

This is where it get's strange. He was part of the occupying forces in Japan following the war; I spent my early childhood in a nice house on a hill overlooking Yokohoma harbor. We had a housemaid named Sumiko; she was more like a part of the family and only "helped" my mother. She was also paid a decent wage.

The interesting thing is my father was the only veteran of the Pacific war in his unit. He was soon on the carpet by a Colonel who was upset because he was coddling the Jap maid and paying her too much; wives were complaining. Dad set him straight on a few facts and the only thing that saved him from a courts martial was the Colonel's boss...who was a veteran and had served with Dad under Stillwell.

Dad didn't get off free though. Althought the Colonel couldn't touch him, he did give him new duties. He was put in charge of the labor force; basically Japanese military POWs working on base where he could coddle Japs to his hearts content.

I think that was the best thing that ever happened to Dad. We spent many a pleasant day in country homes with the families of his "people". When we finally had to leave these men, who didn't have much themselves, gave him two presents: one a beautiful sword (for the warrior) the other a silver ring with a blessing for peace on it (for a friend).

He stayed in touch with some of his "people" till the day he died. I know more then once he would become upset over these hollow Hiroshima demonstrations because he knew the bombs had saved more Japanese lives then they took.

After his funeral a couple years ago I gave my youngest son (who is a journalist) his ring, and my youngest son (who is finishing school) his sword.

[k2blader]

'I thank God our brave solders like General Tibbets rose to the occasion to bring an end to the killing.'

Amen.

[CWOJackson]

That was actually Colonel Tibbets at the time. On scene in the Pacific I believe it was General Curtis LeMay who gave the go for the mission.

[k2blader]

Thank you for the corrections. Thank God for both of them!

[A Jovial Cad]

First, allow me to thank your Dad for his service to our country.

My Dad was stationed on Okinawa and would most likely have been in the first wave in an invasion. Need I say more?

Exactly right. My grandfather was in a P-38 squadron in the Pacific during WWII (1943-45). There's been some idle talk in this thread about what the "generals" thought about the "necessity" of using the Atomic bomb on Japan. Men like your Dad and my grandfather--men who were actually going to have to do the fighting and the dying in an invasion of the Japanese mainland--knew better.

Those (very few) of you trying to cast doubt on the "necessity" of dropping the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be ashamed of yourselves.

[fish hawk]

Actually the fire bombings we did before the A bomb killed more people.

[milemark]

Japan erects patriotic shrines to its war criminals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasukuni_Shrine

But they complained when the Enola Gay was exhibited at the Smithsonian.

[misharu]

Those (very few) of you trying to cast doubt on the "necessity" of dropping the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. . .

Let's put it in this perspective: My Dad came home, married and had six kids. He also now has 6 grandchildren.

So, speaking from a rather subjective POV, I am HAPPY as all git out that the bombs were dropped and feel absolutely no remorse over that fact either.

[hershey]

The Japanese people should blame their emperor and his govt. for Hiroshima. The emperor and his henchmen were given the chance to surrender and refused. They were told what would happen, they still refused.

[sphinx]

Mr Matsushima, a fluent English speaker and frequent visitor to America, was at school in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945: 'I remember thinking, "Did they drop thousands and thousands of fire bombs in a moment?" People's hair was sticking up, or they had lost their hair. Their whole bodies had been smoked to almost charcoal and their clothes were singed or torn. Their skin was peeling off and you could see red muscle. 'Without exception they stretched their arms out in front of them and were walking very slowly, marching like ghosts. I saw many 12- and 13-year-old boys and girls heavily burnt among those victims. When I think of these boys and girls, I can't stop the tears.'

Horrible images. Every bit as bad as the recollections of a woman I know who was a child in Tokyo during the firebombing. (She eventually married a U.S. serviceman and ended up here.) I imagine a fair number of folks in London, Rotterdam, Warsaw, Berlin, Dresden and several dozen other cities have similar memories. Area bombing of cities was a bad thing. Both sides did it. They started it. We finished it. No one has done anything similar since WWII. I think everyone has taken a lesson.

If I were teaching a class or doing a documentary on the subject, I would make at least three points:

The A-bombings should not be taken in isolation. They need to be evaluated in the broader context of the WWII bombing campaigns and, for that matter, in the context of the mass atrocities being perpetrated by the Japanese and Germans. That's point one. Most here will agree.

Point two is that the A-bombings ended the war and saved millions of lives. Again, most here will agree.

A third point that often gets overlooked strikes me as even more important. Had the A-bombs not been dropped on Japan -- shocking the world with the results -- it is likely that they would have been used later, at some other flashpoint of the Cold War. It is also likely that this would have happened when both sides had them, and in substantial numbers. That is not to say that we would have immediately escalated to an all-out nuclear exchange, but it is certainly possible, even likely, that the death and destruction would have been far greater. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were an innoculation.

[A Jovial Cad]

Well said, and exactly right. My feelings on this matter are 100% in sync with yours.

[ValenB4]

It's "no". I trust people like Eisenhower, Leahy, and MacArthur over that of Truman. You seem to be quite upset about this for some reason. As far as communists go, there were certainly enough of them who had infiltrated the American government at the time.

[T-Bird45]

A third point that often gets overlooked strikes me as even more important. Had the A-bombs not been dropped on Japan -- shocking the world with the results -- it is likely that they would have been used later, at some other flashpoint of the Cold War. It is also likely that this would have happened when both sides had them, and in substantial numbers. That is not to say that we would have immediately escalated to an all-out nuclear exchange, but it is certainly possible, even likely, that the death and destruction would have been far greater. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were an innoculation.

Excellent point -- needed to be said again.

One thing to remember about both sides having them in the Cold War: the Soviets would not have gotten them as quickly as they did without traitorous Americans giving them the details. Further, other traitorous Americans and Soviet spies stole information on the B-29, allowing them to build a nuclear delivery vehicle.

[Itzlzha]

I'd like to quote one of my favorite TV shows here...

Sheridan, "I apologize. I'm sorry. I'm sorry we had to defend ourselves against an unwarranted attack. I'm sorry that your crew was stupid enough to fire on a station filled with a quarter million civilians, including your own people. And I'm sorry I waited as long as I did before I blew them all straight to hell. As with everything else, it's the thought that counts."

It IS the thought that counts...(BTW get the zip file of this clip here)

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Great story. Thanks.

[AnAmericanMother]

All your observation proves is that Eisenhower et al. were doing what good military men are supposed to do - question every decision and analyze it from a "worst case" and "best case" scenario. Both pre- and post- mortem.

Our military has plans in place for everything from an invasion of Canada to repelling an attack by Fiji . . . because that's their job. They have considered the pros and cons of every plan.

There was a downside to dropping the bombs - but the upside greatly outweighed the downside. Not only many American lives were saved, but even more Japanese civilians were spared starvation, disease, and death by suicide attack. Others have pointed out what happened at Okinawa. My F-I-L was there and saw the civilians jumping off the cliffs because they had been told they would be tortured and their babies eaten by the Americans. Multiply that a thousand times for an invasion of mainland Japan.

Second thoughts are inevitable, but the decision was the right one at the time. My husband would never have been born - I probably would not have been born. I don't know if your parents or grandparents were in the military at the time -- but if they were, chances are you wouldn't have been here to second-guess the decision.