Hiroshima 6 August 1945

brucelewis.com ^ | August 6, 2011 | Bruce Lewis

[Shalmaneser]

“After Biak the enemy withdrew to deep caverns.
Rooting them out became a bloody business which reached its
ultimate horrors in the last months of the war.
You think of the lives which would have been lost in an invasion of Japan’s home islands
– a staggering number of Americans but millions more of Japanese..."

[newheart]

My dad was on Okinawa waiting to deploy for the invasion. He was on an LSM (Landing Ship Medium). Their job was to ferry troops to the beach. Life expectancy? Very brief. Except for Truman’s decision, like you I might not be around today.

[Czar]

Can you please give us your source for this? Thanks.

[jaz.357]

Should be AFGANASTAN 2011!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Some of the individuals you named may have expressed reservations, but I don't think one of them was inexorably and adamantly opposed to Hiroshima. I cannot even think of any reason that Curtis LeMay was on that list. His reaction to Hiroshima was mild contempt, remarking that his boys killed that many before breakfast. The others may have had self interest. In the case of MacAuthur, particularly, for instance, the only unit in the Pacific that did not report to him was the 509th Composite Bombardment Group and he was unaware of its mission and only found out about it after the fact. The only orders he received relative to Hiroshima was *not* to make a (Goddamnn) press release that would embarrass the Army and the United States.

If you are going to make scattershot representations on behalf of the dead, it behooves you to cite a little more evidence than a list of names. Even isolated statements taken out of context are better than merely assigning an opinion you favor to a respected historical figure.

[Last Dakotan]

Through the pursuit of economic war Japan has thoroughly recovered - though often at our expense.

Hiroshima today - contrast this with most American cities.

[bubbacluck]

My dad was in the Navy on the USS Saratoga. He told me they were preparing them to invade Japan and that a high percentage would not be coming home. Then the bomb dropped, Japan surrendered and the USS Saratoga became troop transport.

War is hell. If we go to war, we go in to win at all costs and as quickly as possible.

[Fresh Wind]

You might be interested in what the ADL has to say about the IHR.

[Cheetahcat]

“You think of the lives which would have been lost in an invasion of Japan’s home islands – a staggering number of Americans but millions more of Japanese...”

That about sums it up.The one thing worse than dropping the bomb would have been not dropping it.”

Agreed 100%

[SoConPubbie]

My Dad was a lead bombardier in the 8th Air Force halfway through his tour when the war in Europe ended. He was in training in B-29s and they DID NOT want to fight the Japanese (they kamikazied lead planes and dropped phosphorus on them). Like others here, I always bought the "It saved a million GI's and Japanese too!" line and thought I owed my life to the bomb. But I'm afraid that is Truman revisionism and meant to make us all feel swell about "The Good War".

Once again, you've stated your opinion as fact with no supporting evidence or logic.

Try adding in the evidence/logic and your opinion might be given some respect, until then, it is so much hogwash.

[RJS1950]

My dad was also on Okinawa with the 319th BG already flying missions over Japan and this was following a full tour in the ETO. The loss and extreme suffering experienced by Soldiers and Marines against the fanatical Japanese convinced them all that invading Japan would have been a nightmare of death. When I was an enlisted Marine I had the chance to talk with some of the Marines who fought their way across Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and on other islands and they all were convinced that the bombs ended the war and saved a large part of their generation.

Fewer were killed with the two bombs than in the Rape of Nanking or in the firebombings of Japanese cities. Which is worse, the low-ball estimated loss of a million+ on both sides or the few hundred thousand lost in the bombings?

They were warned by the planner of the Pearl Harbor attack that it was a mistake to attack the U.S. but they didn’t listen and they suffered the consequences.

[Forgotten Amendments]

Thanks!!!!!!!!

Definitely not a fan of the ADL, but if I quoted a sleazy or bogus site, please don’t hold it against me. Thanks for the heads up!

[RedMDer]

The Freepathon is still on. Please donate today. Don't let FR fade away! Donate.

[Carl Vehse]

"On August 6, 1945, the world dramatically entered the atomic age: without either warning or precedent, an American plane dropped a single nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima."

Fresh Wind (#29), in the link that Forgotten Amendments (#26) provided, this first sentence contains utter and absolute LIES. First, the United States dropped leaflets on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki days before the A-bombs, warning the residents of bombs that would destroy their cities. Second, the precedent of Curtis LeMay's firebombing raids on many Japanese cities was proof that the U.S. could and would destroy a city. As a result, this site is simply untrustworthy without spending a lot more time wading through to separate any facts from lies, sophistry, and half-truths.

I also would also be cautious about trusting any sites provide by the person who talks about "Truman revisionism."

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Douglass MacArthur

Dwight Eisenhour

Curtis LeMay****

They might have had a different opinion if they knew THEY were going to be in the first landing craft to hit Japan’s shores.

My dad served with Patton in Europe. He almost got Patton’s war with the Russians started.

He was sent back to the US to train for the invasion of Japan.

[nkycincinnatikid]

When Germany became toast, Japan was immediately charcoal.

[Secret Agent Man]

My grandfather was there. On the Hancock. It’s been great going through his war journal during the last days of the war.