Hiroshima, through one survivor's eyes 62 years later, man shares his memories of the atomic bomb

star ledger ^ | Sunday, March 16, 2008 | NATALIE PINEIRO

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

"I think that anyone who has ever been to Hiroshima, or has met a survivor and has seen the damage caused by these nuclear weapons, could never justify their use," Mitchell said.

Hmmmm....these stupid apologists always seem to forget or ignore some hard facts about the Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s:

Unit 731

Operation Downfall

[El Sordo]

I have always wondered...

Assume for a moment that Japan had given up on August 5th. Yeah, yeah, I know... No way. But bear with me.

So assume that nu-cu-lar weapons were not used in order to end WWII and the effects of the first bombs were not on display for the world to see and be rightfully horrified by.

It seems (seeeemmmsss...) to me that it would now be much more likely that a more advanced weapon with a larger yield would eventually have been used elsewhere by someone else or another.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the use of early atom bombs provided a graphic enough example of the effects that made the further use of said weapons less acceptable and therefore less likely.

Just my $0.02.

[bubbacluck]

Life was forever altered for Kitagawa and the rest of the world 62 years ago

I think it was also forever altered for any children of those who died at Pearl Harbor.

[DuncanWaring]

Dad passed last week.

Most unfortunate.

[ladyjane]

Now 73, Kitagawa travels the world as part of an effort to educate people on the destructive power of nuclear weapons.

I wonder if he mentions Pearl Harbor in his travels.

[PeterPrinciple]

Children were taught that, because it works!

As a soldier in Germany during the 1970’s, this is exactly what were were taught to do and were expected to attack the enemy after the initial blast.

---

Repeat LOUD AND OFTEN. Many survived very close to ground zero in Japan.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

After Japan's behavior in the war, it's amazing that the place still exists. As incomprehensible it is to believe that there was any country more evil than the Third Reich. there was: The Empire of Japan.

After all I've seen and gotten used to over the years, their savagery and inhumane behavior still makes me shake my head.

Ya, sucked to get nuked, Shouldn't have started the war. They got off REAL EASY for what they did.

[Hunble]

Perhaps, just perhaps, the use of early atom bombs provided a graphic enough example of the effects that made the further use of said weapons less acceptable and therefore less likely.

I would agree, and to a large degree, it was intended as a stark warning to the USSR which was about to invade Japan.

[rottndog]

Perhaps, just perhaps, the use of early atom bombs provided a graphic enough example of the effects that made the further use of said weapons less acceptable and therefore less likely.

Indeed. The world should celebrate Hiroshima day, not mourn it.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Nah...it was whole "nuclear winter" scare that came to dominate the 1980s, with movies like The Day After, convincing people that no one could survive a nuclear war, no matter where they were in the world.

[doc1019]

Do people still laugh when children are taught to duck and cover in the event of a nuclear war?

Flashback

I remember practicing this back in ’53 or ’54 when I was in first grade. LOL!

;-)

[bannie]

It ended a war that we didn’t start.

[Hunble]

I remember practicing this back in ’53 or ’54 when I was in first grade. LOL!

Growing up in California, we would do that every week in grade school.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

We did precisely what we had to do, which was to win the war at all costs. Fortunately, much more of these costs fell on the aggressor, Japan. I am so tire of the revisionist moralistic crap that emanates from the chronically ignorant and naive Left. War is about breaking things ad killing people, and a winner and a loser. The most one can hope for is a swift victory by the righteous, whomever they may be. In this case, it was the people of the United states of America.

[billorites]

"Incredibly beautiful retribution for Pearl Harbor..."

Well, we snuffed his family in it's entirety and taught that 10 y.o. fifth-grader a lesson, I suppose...

How come when Obama's pastor talks this shit he gets criticized and damned, but meanwhile here on FR, when folks seem to revel in death and destruction and hate talk towards the enemy 60 years later, people jump on the bandwagon and glorify in it.

It's truly unseemly, I think.

[WorkingClassFilth]

One feel empathy for a single person. One can even feel revulsion because of the thought of 200,000+ casualties dying because of this horrific weapon.

However, it was less than 20% of the projected casualties (on both sides) if this measure wasn’t taken.

Nobody likes the thought of radical surgery if their life is on the line. The alternative...is death.

Nearly every person alive (99.999% of the G.I.s) during that era knew that it was the right thing to do. In fact, it was the merciful option.

Debate on the point is nothing more than revisionist subverion and those who hold to any other option are imbeciles living in a utopian fantasy - to join them is to invite death.

[rottndog]

It was a very merciful way to end the war. The carnage would have been much worse otherwise. And for the most part, those killed by the bomb died very quickly and painlessly. That’s not bad, that’s good.

[SkyDancer]

He was an Australian .....

[Hunble]

It's truly unseemly, I think.

Please explain, because you seem on rather thin ice at the moment...

WWII was a "total war" between civilizations. There were no "civilians" in a total war, but only a choice between living and dying.

[Bigg Red]

Why would anyone flame you for that?

Another “never again”: the bombing of Pearl Harbor.