This, in itself, is a fascinating topic. One human being, unless they were totally devoid of a moral framework and no guilt trait, would have to rationalize it somehow otherwise they would go absolutely nuts and probably commit suicide or become alcoholic (as some crew members did in fact do).
I have seen interview after interview of Tibbits. He is a crusty old man now, certainly courageous, and did his duty. You can also read his words very closely and see that he has fully compartmentalized it and rationalized it. For the sake of his own sanity. Some part of my tells me, though, that deep down old Paul knows the horrendous dimension, the human dimension, the civilian dimension, the moral dimension of what went on down there at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945.
As I said, he is a man of courage. He would prove his courage to me even more so if he were to take one last trip to Japan (I suspect he has never been back) to go through the massive and rather detailed Hiroshima Museum at ground zero that I have had the chance to see. I think he would not be able to compose himself after walking through; or if he could, he has nerves of more steel and human capabilities to rationalize far beyond what I would imagine any man to have.
This, above, does not negate the historical fact of the War end being hastened by the bombings. It is just some musings about a man who would normally have a lot on his soul for the rest of his life.
At any rate, when we all cross over to the 'other side', and face our judgement for our various acts since our age of reasoning, it will be very interesting to see the Good Lord's take on all of this. If, Jesus would agree with some Freepers that more 'japs' should have been incinerated, or that two a- bombs were not enough, such as I have heard expressed here before.....
You know, it's interesting, but the Hiroshima museum had the exact opposite effect on me that it is supposed to. It made it clear to me that the atomic bomb isn't as horrific as it's made out to be. Why? Because the Hiroshima museum is located in Hiroshima.
Hiroshima is, I thought, the second prettiest city in Japan (Kyoto still has it beat). The buildings are well constructed and maintained, they're laid out with reasonably broad streets, and there's lots of green plants growing throughout the city. Now, the pictures in the museum were, no doubt, horrific, but they also showed that things heal - people recover and move on, and rebuild. The city seems to contradict the museum, and I thought the city had the stronger voice.
Drew Garrett