The Atomic Bomb: It Was Always Right

This week Major Theodore Van Kirk, the last surviving Veteran of the Enola Gay that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, joined the rest of his comrades. His passing is a reminder of why using the atomic bomb was the right thing.

In August 1945 the Allied Powers, led by the United States, were at war with Imperial Japan in the latter days of World War II. Japan would not give up. For every ten thousand Japanese soldiers that were killed by the Allies only a minuscule amount gave up; usually in the single digits.

We were at war because Japan launched war, first against China in 1931, then with another sneak attack against China in 1937, and finally in December 1941 with sneak Japanese attacks against the US at Pearl Harbor and sneak attacks against the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in other areas of the Pacific.

It was during the war that the United States began to develop an atomic bomb, largely in response to the urging of Albert Einstein who warned President Roosevelt, in 1939, about Germany’s attempts to make an atomic weapon.

Japan was a tough enemy. Surrender was seen as more than even disgrace; it was a dishonor to the Japanese Emperor, who was the Japanese God. The Japanese were allies of the Nazis. Comparing the two, the Nazis were evil but also methodical. The Nazis were fanatical about only one thing; the elimination of the Jews, a practice they kept up to the literal ending of the war in Europe in May of 1945. The Germans were a tough enemy but they were, by World War II standards, in their military operations, somewhat practical especially when Hitler was ignored. Germans did surrender by the hundreds of thousands years before the war ended. This was not the case of Imperial Japan and in fact Japanese non surrender got worse the closer we got to the shores of Japan. The Japanese soldier was fighting not just for their buddy, their family, or their homeland; they were fighting for their God.

The United States was inching closer to Japan in early and mid-1945. The island campaigns of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, the latter an island of mere miles, resulted in tens of thousands of casualties. The Japanese began going beyond even fanatical resistance to suicidal resistance by crashing their planes into American ships. Even then there was no hope for Japan. American submarines had nearly run out of targets, having surrounded Japan, and were reduced to shelling fishing boats and even targets on land. American planes were firebombing Japanese cities into oblivion. Japan was alone and starvation was a realistic possibility but they would not give up. Japan would have to be invaded.

Operation Downfall was the code name for the invasion of Japan. It was to be the largest and deadliest military operation of all time. If you saw Saving Private Ryan, the first stage of the invasion of Japan, Operation Olympic, was projected to be twice as large and twice as bloody as the invasion of Europe on D Day. The second stage of the invasion of Japan, Operation Coronet, was to be almost three times as large as D day and with even greater casualties than the first phase of the invasion of Japan.

Unlike D Day, the topographic composition of Japan made the landing locations obvious. Japan knew where we were going to land and they were ready for this last stand. Even children were taught in the ways of the sword and the spear so they could kill at least one American before they too would die for their Emperor. This happened with Japanese children in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and throughout Japan.

To save American and Japanese lives and end the war, President Truman ordered the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Tens of thousands were instantly killed by the bomb dropped from the Enola Gay, the plane navigated by Maj. Van Kirk. The Japanese still did not surrender. Their military council was divided on surrendering. Three days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki also killing tens of thousands. More would die of radiation poisoning in years ahead.

The war council still was divided on surrendering but some Japanese officers looked to end the war and asked the Emperor to use his divine authority to stop the killing. The Soviet Union had entered the war against Japan, American planes were destroying what little was left of other Japanese cities, and an American POW told his captors that the next atomic bomb would be dropped on Tokyo.

It took the personal intervention of the Emperor to end the war. Even after their God had intervened and said to the Army that the war must end, some Japanese were not ready to give up. A group of Army officers launched a failed coup against the Emperor, ostensibly to save their God from shame. After the coup failed the Emperor spoke on radio to tell his people to surrender. It was the first time the Japanese people had ever heard his voice. Many of the Japanese soldiers who did not get the word from the Emperor continued to fight in isolated Pacific pockets until the mid-1970’s, almost 30 years after the end of the war.

Any argument from leftist leadership that we should not have used the bombs, against this fanatical an enemy, shows why leftist leadership is not fit to teach our students.

The leftists are fools when it comes to the atomic bomb debate. They argue that the bomb was dropped because of Soviet entry into the war on Japan on August 9, the day Nagasaki was bombed. What the leftists conveniently leave out is that the bomb was shipped to the Pacific before the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan and that the United States asked the Soviet Union to enter the war against Japan.

Another common leftist argument is the bombs were dropped in quick succession in order to stop the Soviet Union from invading Northern Japan. This argument is laughable because the bombs were dropped three days apart and then Truman put a halt on further usage after August 9, leaving five days between the dropping of the second bomb and the end of the war.

Finally, leftists say how could you kill so many people? This is a typical argument from those who have never had to make such a decision as Truman did or other decisions of life and death. Truman was faced with kill now and hopefully end the war or have even more killed on both sides by not using the bomb. (Leftists apparently forget that even their beloved Soviet Union entered the war against Japan. Soviet lives were saved too by Truman.)

This is what leftism does; it plants seeds in people leading them to believe that America is somehow responsible for all the evils in the world, even when America has achieved victory and done well. They will even do it even with World War II, which no sane person can argue with our participation in. They are shameful and are a disgrace to the generation that made it through the Depression and fought, and won, World War II.

Knowing leftist emotion, if the bomb had not been used on Japan, and millions of American casualties occurred, along with tens of millions of Japanese casualties, the leftists would say that we should have used the bomb to alleviate the suffering of the war. Such as the argument of those who were protected by the Enola Gay.

Ask any living soldier from the Pacific, and those were ready to be shipped there from Europe and the USA, who is still alive whether they were happy the bomb was dropped they will respond with “Thank God the bomb was dropped.”

President Truman was an independent thinker and not a man to be pushed around. His desegregation of the armed forces and recognition of the new State of Israel were evidence of that. He was also a combat veteran. He knew the carnage of war and understood that hard decisions need to be made in war.

It will be interesting to see where the history books, backed by their common core allies and government employee teachers, go with teaching the atomic bomb in years ahead. Before all the Veterans of World War II had even begun to die in large numbers, the leftist jargon against usage of the bomb began. They have spared not even Truman, though Truman was a democrat, for their blind rage knows no bounds. It will get worse once all of the generation that made it through the Depression, and won the war, have passed away.

This is why we should, loudly and boldly, teach that it was right to drop the bomb and why. This is why we should honor the military service of Theodore Van Kirk and those who dropped the atomic bombs. They saved the lives of many of our readers, in America, Japan, and elsewhere.

To Major Theodore Van Kirk we say thank you. It was a tough mission, but you can rest well. You saved countless lives. Welcome home from your final mission. Your comrades are waiting.

“My basic approach on this subject is that there is no legal or moral justification for any military action whose sole purpose is the deliberate (or indiscriminate) destruction of civilians. You can go back through thousands of years of Judaeo-Christian moral principles and find that this has been the case since antiquity.”

Like when God killed non-Israelite first borns? I am guessing you don’t count that as neither civilian casualty nor Judaeo-Christian history.

My Uncle married a Japanese woman. Her brother was one of the best people I have ever known. Their father didn’t make it back to Tokyo until the end of 1946, he was a POW in Russian controlled territory (N.Korea, I think). As such, it was the son’s job, as the oldest boy (11 years old), to bring food home, to the starving family. He learned very quickly to find a military encampment, bring a pot, do menial chores (shoe shines, etc.), and then return home with leftover food. I remember him saying “One thing was for sure, in those uncertain times; G.I.s are gonna be fed, three times a day”.

Using the atomic bomb was necessary to give the Japanese an honorable way to quit. Something none of these annual stories mention is the fire bombing of Japan by the B-29. On March 6 1945 338 B-29 bombers burned 25 square miles of Tokyo.

Over 100,000 people burned alive. Pictures of Tokyo on March 6 look just like pictures of Hiroshima on August 8.

Only 3% of the bomb damage to Japan was caused by Fat Man and Little Boy. Martin Caiden's book A Torch to the Enemy is a must read for any WWII historian.

In college I worked on the paint crew with an older gentleman who fought in the Pacific and was training for the invasion when japan surrendered. He wasn’t religious but said he said a prayer every year at Thanksgiving thanking God for the atomic bomb. Not just because he and all his buddies knew they’d be killed in the invasion, he was thankful he was spared having to kill the women and children they knew would be sent out against them.

Air superiority, then air supremecy, then naval supremecy, then land war.

At that point the land forces can be supported by naval and air forces unfettered by any opposition.

Military forces and targets are all that should be attacked, as there is nothing to gain militarily by indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

All of this is our present day doctrine.

Made in America!Tested in Japan.Thank God it worked. My dad was training for the invasion of Japan. He might have been killed which would negate my existance, my two sons existance, and my two grandsons existance.War is Hell!Guess God was on our side!

A demonstration was considered, but decided against:

"It was evident that everyone would suspect trickery. If a bomb were exploded in Japan with previous notice, the Japanese air power was still adequate to give serious interference. An atomic bomb was an intricate device, still in the developmental stage. Its operation would be far from routine. If during the final adjustments of the bomb the Japanese defenders should attack, a faulty move might easily result in some kind of failure. Such an end to an advertised demonstration of power would be much worse that if the attempt had not been made. It was now evident that when the time came for the bombs to be used we should have only one of them available, followed afterwards by others at all-too-long intervals. We could not afford the chance that one of them might be a dud. If the test were made on some neutral territory, it was hard to believe that Japan's determined and fanatical military men would be impressed. If such an open test were made first and failed to bring surrender, the chance would be gone to give the shock of surprise that proved so effective. On the contrary, it would make the Japanese ready to interfere with an atomic attack if they could. Though the possibility of a demonstration that would not destroy human lives was attractive, no one could suggest a way in which it could be made so convincing that it would be likely to stop the war,"

So, the demonstration was at Hiroshima.

All of this is our present day doctrine.

Paul Fussell’s essay ought to be required reading for those who quickly dismiss the use of the atomic bomb.

American casualties alone were running at 7,000 a week. Japanese resistance was becoming stiffer as the U.S. approached the home islands. The battle for Okinawa was especially fierce even when the defenders were cut off and that greatly worried American war planners. Civilians were being prepared to wage war to defend the home islands. Projected American casualties for the invasion of Japan were estimated to be as high as one million and Japanese casualties would be much higher.

My own father was one of those American soldiers who had fought the war in Europe and was being readied to be sent to the Pacific. I can assure you that he was not looking forward to it and he was greatly relieved to see Japan surrender.

https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS1300MET/v12/undervisningsmateriale/Fussel%20-%20thank%20god%20for%20the%20atom%20bomb.pdf

The bombing of the first city didn’t change the Japanese minds...

I fully agree.

At that time, “The Bomb” was new technology, there were only a few, available, and if such a demonstration turned out to be a dud, it would have set the war effort back, immensely.

Both sides of my family would likely not be here, today, if Japan had been invaded. Thank you.

I was privileged to meet”Dutch”at a West Springfield,MASS Gun Show.He sigen a copy of the book:”The 509th Remembered”for me.For those of you who aren’t aware of”The 509th”,it was a “Specially Trained/Bombardment Group”in WWII.They were trained to deliver the Atomic Bombs.He was a humble(almost self-effacing)man.While he decried The Atom Bomb,he insisted that if there was to be a weapon like this,it’s a Damned Good Thing We(The United Sates of America)were the Only ones to have it!!!GOD Bless you”Dutch”!ThankYou for Your Service!!!

If a similar debate ever arises I offer a practical solution. Ask everybody in the country the question. Draft those who give the anti-Truman answer, using the age/gender limits the Japanese historically followed in their home island defense preparations. Use them as your invasion force. If/when they fail you may try the Truman option. The eventual winners will be better for the process.

a partial answer to your question:
It was expected that the landings on the Japanese home islands would use the entire Marine Corp (300,000 men) on the first day. The following day a similar number of US Army was expected to land. Expectation was 50,000 American casualties on the first day.

There's a legitimate question about a third alternative to the two I presented previously, but looking back nearly 70 years later there's no way to answer hypothetical question like that accurately. On the one hand folks will insist that the Japanese -- soldier and civilian alike -- would have fought to the death of every last one of them. But on the other hand, it would have been "incredibly cruel" to starve them to death over their own refusal to surrender? I'm not sure that logically follows.

But then that would have been their responsibility, not ours -- right?

In a time where our stand-off weapons possess the accuracy and precision required to do the job. The 'indiscriminate' attacks on civilians was a result of civilians co-locating with military targets within the CEP of the weapons available at the time. Mass bomber raids were used because cities were the only thing that could be reliably hit. The weapons required a large target area to have effects.

If planes can attack cities, they can attack anti-aircraft positions. They also can attack military air installations.

Flying over draws up enemy aircraft to resist, which was done even in WWII.

Contrary to popular belief, it actually was and is possible to hit military aircraft installations. It was actually done in WWII, runways were destroyed and aircraft were destroyed on the ground, as well as supply and maintenance at the airfields.

"Trouble was", if you do that "too much", the enemy's air force is completely put out of service, and the war ends very quickly, as ground forces without air defenses are easily destroyed by ground forces with overwhelming supporting air power.

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