The Bombs of August: In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Hotlist

[veracity]

On this anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, let us not forget the terrible lesson of that day. The world is once again refurbishing its nuclear arsenals, and we all, once again, stand on the brink of disaster.

The writer of this article was a child when the US dropped its devastating weapon on a city of civilians in Japan. The memories of a child can often teach us more than the observations of an adult.

This article is worth a read...and much thought. It begins like this (permission given to reprint):

THE BOMBS OF AUGUST

In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

When the bombs were dropped I was very happy. The war would be over now, they said, and I was very happy. The boys would be coming home very soon they said, and I was very happy. We showed `em, they said, and I was very happy. They told us that the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed, and I was very happy. But in August of 1945 I was only ten years old, and I was very, very happy.

The crew of the B-29 was so young and heroic, and in the photo they also looked very happy. For some reason, I clearly remember the name of the pilot, Paul Tibbets. Of course I remember the name of the plane, the Enola Gay. And oh yes, I remember the name of the bomb. It was called Little Boy. That made me smile.

I was so proud to be an American that day because we had done something so remarkable. They said we were the first. We were Americans. We were powerful. But they didn't say that Little Boy had killed 66,000 people with its huge fireball that fateful day in August. They didn't say that Hiroshima was not a military target, but a city filled with men and women and children and animals who had no idea they were about to die so horribly. When you're ten, they don't always tell you everything.

For the entire article:

http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/bombs_of_august.html

[uppityperson]

1. k&r for Hiroshima day, for the children and adults and the world

[jspaddock123]

2. Hiroshima commentary..

No offense, but I found your commentary childish, intellectually immature,
and downright silly. It read like the rambling thoughts of an angry,
churlish teenager.

"I am horrified that my government has just killed thousands of defenseless men and women and children and animals who were not the enemy "

Defenseless, hardly. They were being mobilized and trained to slaughter the GI's of the inevitable
invasion of the Japanese homeland. Including women and children. Not the enemy.?
Then who was? Where do you think the monsters of the Japanese "army" came from.
You think they dropped in from another dimension. No, they were the product of
Japanese homes, and schools, culture and society. Raised by Japanese women.

To this day, there are many who quietly celebrate the anniversary of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. The survivors of the Bataan death march, the rape of Nanking,
the Manilla slaughter, or the Japanese rape camps, or the countless millions of
others who suffered at the hands of the Japanese as they murdered, raped, enslaved and tortured
their way across asia and the Pacific.

And lets not forget the hundred of thousands of military and civilian POWs the Japanese
had in death camps across Asia and Japan, whom they stated would be all murdered
if Americans invaded Japan. Those two man made suns at Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved all of their
lives, not to mention tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of GI's lives. All in all not a bad trade off.

I would suggest that you use some objectivity in your posts, do some research. Less emotion, more reason.

[uppityperson]

3. You do realize that you are quoting from the article, about the article

not commenting on what veracity wrote? The post was a brief comment, then an article. I would suggest you make sure you are not insulting the poster, claiming they wrote an article they posted.

[struggle4progress]

4. Dwight Eisenhower, who may have had some insight into the War,

later reported he had opposed the use of atomic weapons on Japan:

"...in 1945... Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent.

"During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude..."

- Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate For Change, pg. 380

HIROSHIMA: WHO DISAGREED WITH THE ATOMIC BOMBING?

[Captain Hilts]

5. Ike's Brain: Let the AAir Corps win a war the infantry fought? NO WAY.

[struggle4progress]

6. Huh?

[jspaddock123]

7. last thought

Thank you for pointing out that my criticisms werent directed to the
appropriate agency. I direct my valid observations towards that person.

Eisenhowers hand wringing aside, the Potsdam declaration was very specific, and
rightly did not contain any provisions for giving the Japanese a way to save "face".

In the final analysis. the Japanese got off pretty lightly for their vast and obscene crimes.
Imagine for a monent if the decision and capability to use atomic weapons had been left to the
Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos or Burmese, or the hundreds of thousands of young asian women
and girls who had gang raped for years by the cowards of the Japanese Army. Im pretty sure
we wouldnt be having this discussion, there wouldnt be a Japan or any Japanese.
They were very, very lucky that the decision to use the bomb was made by those who did.

[struggle4progress]

8. Well, that's the first time I've ever heard Eisenhower described as ..

.. "hand-wringing."

The link I provided supra shows that Truman's Chief of Staff, an Under Secretary of State, an Assistant Secretary of War, an Under Secretary of the Navy, the Vice Chairman of the Strategic Bombing Survey, the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, and others similarly disagreed with use of the Bomb.

Your litany of Japanese war crimes, of course, does not answer the question of whether these American attacks on civilians were justified, since by no moral calculus do children deserve to be burned and blasted for the sins of their elders. The Japanese crimes ought to have been addressed by Nuremberg-like trials, a process begun in Japan but then inexplicably cut short; thus, in many cases, the guilty parties walked away freely. And, of course, although Potsdam demanded unconditional surrender, the Japanese in surrender were allowed to retain the Emperor, which is precisely the recommendation many Bomb opponents had been making prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

You, incidently, seem to be confusing me with uppityperson.

[uppityperson]

9. jspaddock, I had this problem @ first here too

replying to wrong person. Finally figured out (thank you all who patiently explained it to me) that you need to hit "reply" on the specific post you are replying to, since this ends up being like a tree, with side branches/discussion, rather than just a linear running commentary. It makes it easier to read, since you can see immediately who is replying directly to whom.

I know of a Paddock on VietNam Wall, wondering if you are related?