Posted on 07/08/2009 6:52:13 AM PDT by llevrok
Nuclear Weapons: Group seeks forgiveness for U.S. bombings in 1945
They call their trip a “Journey of Repentance.”
Sixteen people – most from the Tacoma area – will travel to Japan later this month to acknowledge and ask forgiveness for the destruction caused by the twin U.S. atomic bombings 64 years ago. The Rev. Bill Bichsel, a Tacoma peace activist and Jesuit priest, said the group wants to meet and connect with those who have suffered from the bombings of World War II.
“We come with deep sorrow for what has happened with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Bichsel said Monday. “We pledge ourselves not to let this happen again and work toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons.”
Bichsel, 81, and two other Tacoma-area peace activists are leading the ad-hoc interfaith group, which departs July 30 and returns Aug. 11.
The group, which includes an American Indian and a Buddhist as well as Christians, will be in Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9 to attend anniversary ceremonies remembering the attacks.
They plan to present signature petitions to city leaders which in part read, “I apologize to the people of Japan for my country’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 64 years ago, and ask forgiveness for these atrocities and the ongoing suffering of those affected by radiation.”
They also will bring about 3,000 origami peace cranes. Students from Holy Rosary Catholic, Sheridan Elementary and Bryant Montessori schools in Tacoma made most of the paper cranes.
The bombs killed an estimated 220,000 people instantly or within a few months. Japan surrendered to the United States on Aug. 15, 1945, ending the war.
Local veterans of World War II, such as retired Army Lt. Col. Joseph Zelazny, believe President Harry Truman did the right thing by dropping the bombs.
Zelazny, 88, remembers Pearl Harbor and disagrees with the Journey of Repentance.
“Why should I feel sorry and apologize to (the Japanese) for something their own government started?” the Tacoma man said Monday when a reporter told him about the peace mission. “You hate to see a civilian get hit, but what are you going to do? Wait for more of our people to get hit?”
Tom Karlin views things differently. He was a Navy petty officer stationed in Japan in 1957 when he visited a museum in Nagasaki with photos of people fleeing that city’s bombing with looks of terror on their faces.
“As a young sailor, I was horrified at what I saw,” Karlin said. “It touched my conscience.”
Karlin said he no longer believes the U.S. explanation given at the time.
“We were taught that had we not dropped the bombs on Japan, the war would have cost another million lives (in U.S. soldiers),” Karlin said.
Karlin, who left the Navy in 1960, said he now believes the war could have ended earlier with a conditional surrender.
Karlin, 73, who lives in Lakewood, said he’s making the trip to listen to those who have suffered from the bombings, ask forgiveness from them, and promise to work witfare.
For Bichsel, acknowledging and repenting what was done to Japan is a crucial step for the U.S. to “turn from the path of violence.” “Deterrence does not work,” he said. “Iran and North Korea are examples of that. Our weapons encourage other nations to have weapons.”
Mitch Kohjima isn’t making the trip seeking forgiveness. He was born near Tokyo in 1948 and moved to the United States in 1986.
Kohjima, 60, a former Buddhist monk who lives in Tacoma, said he wants to return to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where he last visited in 1980.
Kohjima, who remains a citizen of Japan, shares the hope for peace with a sense of urgency. He said both countries must cooperate to eliminate nuclear weapons.
“The American people must wake up,” Kohjima said. “We must do something to abolish nuclear weapons.”
Screw Japan and these commie apologists.
Will they also visit Corregidor and Bataan?
Or, these idiots can just eat some bad food somewhere and drop dead.
The Japaneses killed 14 Million people. Overwhelmingly civilians.
Are they also going to apologize on behalf of the citizens of Nanking who so rudely dared to exist as the loving, beneficient Imperial Army came to spread happiness and cheer?
The Japaneses killed 14 Million people. Overwhelmingly civilians.
“The bombs killed an estimated 220,000 people instantly or within a few months.”
The likely loss of over a million lives, including some several hundreds of thousands of our troops, in an invasion of Japan proper would have been so much more preferable.
/SARC
Hiroshima was chosen because it was the home port of Yamamoto’s task force.
These idiots obviously don’t know their history. The Japanese were not ready to surrender. They were ready to sacrifice every man, woman, and child in order to have an honorable death.
I noticed that the 88 year old man who actually had to EXPERIENCE the absolute evil that was the Japanese empire during World War II wanted no part of “seeking forgiveness” for “what the U.S. did to Japan”.
These people are treasonous, worthless, a$$-holes who should NOT be allowed back into this country if they follow through on their little “journey”
Did you know that we not not make Purple Hearts? Every Purple Heart that has been issued since the 1940’s was made for the estimated casualties of the invasion of Honshu.
Do people realize that AFTER the bombs were dropped and the Japanese Emporer decided to surrender, that the Japanese military attempted a coup to prevent the surrender (the plan was to steal the recorded surrender message and put the Emporer under house arrest so he couldn’t issue surrender orders.)
Without the bomb, there is no doubt the Japanese would have fought to the last man, woman, and child. Literally.
The destruction caused by conventional warfare under those circumstances would have rivaled (if not have been worse) than the bomb. We would have ended up having to level every city in the country. Over 80% of the population (civilian and military) probably would have been killed. Japan would have ceased to exist as a country or culture. Who knows what would have replaced it.
And none of this even mentions the American casualties.
It’s just a matter of time before Obummer apologizes to Japan. He is giving away the store on his trip to Russia. He will drastically reduce our nuclear stockpiles while doing nothing about the nuclear programs of our enemies. Thanks to this treasonous administration, it’s also just a matter of time before a nuke is detonated on US soil.
My only regret is that we didnt have the bomb 2 years earlier, and two extra for Germany.
...which worked so effectively at the end of the first Gulf War...
‘They should never forget. “
The majority of Japanese have not. It was their leadership that wanted the war, not the japanese people.
Note to treasonopus a$$-holes: Why don’t you read a little book called “The Rape of Nanking” BEFORE you blame the U.S. for what they “did” to Japan.
The depravity, perversion and complete lack of humanity demonstarted by the Japanese during World War II are almost unimaginable.
Japan, as a whole, deserved every single thing that was “done” to it, and THEN some.
GRRR!
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