Posted on 03/11/2008 3:41:58 PM PDT by DFG
Claude Eatherly, who flew the re-con flight which authorized the bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, spent the remainder of his life overwhelmed with guilt, made worse by being called a War Hero by everyone around him. Eatherly led a life of petty crime, passing hot checks, using stolen identification, etc. His status as a war hero made it difficult for the system to want to punish him for these "acting out" crimes, until he began to speak out in public against the atomic bomb.
(Excerpt) Read more at imdb.com ...
I have met 3 members of the "Enola Gay" crew including General Paul Tibbets. He and the rest of the flight crews have expressed no remorse. Tibbet's was a hero. It's probably no coincidence that Hollywood waited until Tibbet's death to make this movie.
Truman's decision to use the atomic bombs to end the war was correct. According to MacArthur, an invasion of Japan would have cost the lives of about 1 million allied soldiers and at least 4 million Japanese lives. Also, Russia was ready to occupy the northern part of Japan. The incendiary bomb raid on Tokyo killed as many Japanese as the Hiroshima bomb.
Without the atomic bombs, the conventional bombing missions would have continued and destroyed most of Japan. Japan would also have been split into separate zones of occupation between the US and Russia just like Korea.
Guess that is what the "anti-war" people would prefer.
*sigh*...they just don’t get it and never will.
So this guy dropped zero atom bombs, he ran a recon mission. Returned home and was a total crook. Tried to blame his crimes on his role in the atom bombing. Because, as his crimes demonstrate, he was an extremely dishonest person. Duh.
I just “love” the Gary Sinise portrayal of Truman in which he displays some “guilt” for dropping the atom bombs. When in reality, Truman made it clear he never lost a second of sleep over it.
Better to watch the 1952 biopic ABOVE AND BEYOND in which Robert Taylor played Col. Tibbets.
That, and this---"Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.--- were among the strongest moral statements to be issued in the 20th century by the Catholic Church.
A church congregation member of mine is a school teacher and travels in the summer time, (like most teachers). She and her husband were in Japan in the 1990s and were at a bible study class. The pastor was Lutheran and had traveled to the Us after the War to study with a friend he had made at the end of WWII. His friend was one of the Dolittle Raiders who were shot down and captured in Japan. They were tried and convicted and several were put to death. At the end of the war this Japanese flight officer who, had Lead the Pearl Harbor attack!, was so ashamed of the Japanese behavior when trying the Dolittle Raiders, that he testified at the Japanese War Crimes trials for the Allies and against the Japanese leaders. He then traveled to the US and became a Pastor!
Phooey on reliving the past. When Claire met Pastor Genda she was enthralled by his bible study and the word of Jesus that he proclaimed. He taught the way of Christ not Hollywierd!
“Truman’s decision to use the atomic bombs to end the war was correct.”
That’s about all that needs to be said.
My Dad was out there in that huge armada waiting to invade Japan. In 2002, General Tibbits told me that he was glad those guys made it back.
Nonsense, on the first.
Why guilt for this mission rather than any other?
The fire bombing of Tokyo killed far more people and in an equally horrible fashion.
Just another Hollywood (and I know) miopic view (Hitler was only a frustated artist!) and re-writing of real heroic wartime stories. JUST More Crap.
Don’t owrry about IMDB being informed and true facts now-a-days. IMDB is now has a total lack of credibility to those in The Biz. IMDB now officially lists ‘rumors’ and vanity fan videos up there IMDB with the professional film projects. They have become much the like the laughing stock as Wikipedia.
Both IMDB and Wiki are “Wikipedia’s value as a resource is inversely proportional to the subject’s susceptibility to political spin.”
AND One informative logical article written by a Wiki originator who not states that Wiki system is seriously flawed and biased. It is based on not true defined facts but general public acknowledged consensus of urban rumors or public myths.
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/12/30/142458/25
You are referring to Jacob Deschazer (not sure about the spelling). He was one of the Doolittle Raiders and returned to Japan later as a missionary.
Thank goodness military leaders do not listen to the Vatican. In 1927, Congress tried to outlaw bombing of cities in wartime (Kellogg-Briand Act). A lot of good that did.
Item one is garbage.
I’m genuinely surprised that you would say that. See #16.
Nope.
My copy of the commandments just says not to murder. I don't have that definition in my edition. It also doesn't seem to say anything about bombing an enemy city. I do recall a certain army calling on the power of God to destroy the whole city of Jericho, though. So I guess I'm not too clear on what the Lord may or may not think about taking the war into Japan proper. Someday maybe I'll ask Him.
But until then I do know something with reasonable certainty:
Attacking Japan with atomic bombs ended the war and saved many more lives than it took. Not merely American lives but certainly even more Japanese lives. Orders of magnitude more. The atomic bomb didn't so much change who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but really just when and how. Add then every other metropolis in Japan. The fighting would have been bloodier and more appalling than the world had seen ever before, or frankly, since.
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