Posted on 08/06/2007 5:13:57 AM PDT by period end of story
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan marked the 62nd anniversary of Hiroshima's atomic bombing with a solemn ceremony on Monday as the city's mayor criticized the United States for refusing to give up its nuclear weapons program.
Tens of thousands of elderly survivors, children and dignitaries gathered at the Peace Memorial Park, near ground zero where the bomb was dropped, to remember the more than 250,000 people who ultimately died from the blast.
"Even to those who managed to survive, it was hell where they envied the dead," Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba told the crowd, describing scenes from the bombing such as charred faces and torn clothes.
In a speech followed by the release of 1,000 white doves into the sky, Akiba singled out the United States for failing to halt nuclear proliferation.
"The Japanese government, which has the duty to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons through international law, should protect its pacifist constitution which it should be proud of, and clearly say 'no' to antiquated and wrong U.S. policies."
The crowd bowed their heads for a moment of silence as two children rang the Peace Bell at 8:15 a.m., the same time the Enola Gay B-29 bomber dropped the bomb on the western Japanese city on August 6, 1945.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Too bad Islamist Terrorist Nations cant say the same thing.
I dropped a bomb 15 years ago today, My darling son was born : )
I’d say it’s preferable to the memorial that would have been held for the million or more who would have died in a homeland invasion. Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be “celebrated” as good things: They were grim choices that were only slightly better than the other grim choices before this nation in 1945.
I guess we will never hear from them, “We are deeply sorry that our leaders made this necessary.”
It was grim, but Japan, surely, would have used the bomb had they harnessed the technology first.
Just once I'd like to hear such people say: "We regret our heinous attack on Pearl Harbor and we realize that what we did was wrong and the consequence of those actions was the only two nuclear attacks in history. Our bad."
Because America continues to provide the military support that Japan needs, Japan will never have to dip its toes into the murky waters of self-preservation, national security or the viability of nuclear weapons.
Rough and Ready Island near Stockton, CA. was where the invasion was to shove off.
Goodness, you are starting to sound like the Chinese, with them harping on and on about WWII.
What, August already?
Priorities, girl!
The Japanese government pays the US tab for “security.”
Maybe they should remember Pearl Harbor! Without that there would not have been Hiroshima.
Japan views itself as a victim of WW2, not an offender. The same also applies to Italy, by the way.
Japan should keep remembering this day, until they finally figure out that they brought it on themselves. It may take another 50 years to get to that point.
C.W.
I remember my uncle, killed on Guam by a Japanese sniper. He wouldn’t have been on Guam [and previously on Guadalcanal, and other spots], but for the Japanese. Hell with them.
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