Posted on 12/07/2012 9:50:26 AM PST by Saint X
Even if the first bomb might have been necessary to put a quick end to the war and save countless more lives, a sane person does not take delight in seeing the results of that destruction.
My father fought against the Japanese in World War II combat. He was up close and personal on a naval landing craft which brought supplies into the combat zones and took the dead and wounded out.
He could have chosen to hate the Japanese. Instead, during the brief few months when he served in the occupation after the war ended, he gained a deep respect for them,
YUP,killed the plot
I truly don’t find the subject entertaining.
My uncle flew past Nagasaki a day or two after the bombing there and said he immediately knew the war would be over very soon as there was “nothing left”. He also spent time in Shanghai before his ETS. He did not have a favorable opinion of the Japanese war machine.
He bought his first foreign made car in the early 80s, a Japanese model. I said to him, I am surprised you bought an enemy made car. He said, well, the war has been over for almost 40 years, time to move on, besides I hate the UAW more.
The band on the USS Arizona rushes the Star Spangled Banner to finish it. I didn’t know until recently that every member of the band was killed that day.
The best “end piece” to the war has to be the “Best Years of our Lives,” from 1946. I tear up every time I see it.
Midway (1976) was an awesome movie! I'll never forget the scene of the B-25 Mitchel bombers taking off from the Hornet and raiding Tokyo. Those 4, 8' speakers at the back of the theater shook the ceiling tiles loose and vibrated the seats.
The Documentary that is shown hourly at the USS Arizona Visitor’s Center.
And the boat ride out to the Memorial afterwards.
(I did like “Tora! Tora! Tora!” Though)
I read a book:
The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley
in which Bradley asserts the deal made by TR and the Japanese led to WWII in hte Pacific.
Big fan of In Harm’s Way and Tora, Tora, Tora. Midway is a pretty good movie as well. I liked the Winds of War series but the series was not a patch on the book and the sequel which a reread periodically because I never grow tired of the story and Wouk is just an excellent writer.
My dad fought too! I don’t care about what they experienced. It ended the war. Any current handwringing over the ‘tragedy’ is just that. That entire country was for the Emporer lock-stock-and-barrel and willing to die, even with bamboo swords if need be ———CHILDREN!
Take that tripe somewhere else.
In Harms Way is my all time favorite movie.
Also like Midway and Tora Tora Tora
....John Wayne.....Patricia Neal....little bit of old timer ‘fooling around’....
Not a movie, but I loved that old TV series “Victory at Sea”. And the music track was awesome too.
A very good book on the subject of whether we should have dropped the bombs is Richard Frank’s “Downfall; The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire.” He leaves no doubt that not only was dropping the bombs necessary to end the war, but that it was necessary to drop two of them to prove to the Japanese that we could drop as many as we wanted. This finally convinced their military leadership to end the war. Also, as you noted, the bombs saved lives. Japanese lives, and probably millions of them. Not from combat death, but from starvation. The air and naval blockade, along with the destruction of the internal trade links, meant that not only was there not enough food for the population, there was no means of distributing it. The Japanese were already on starvation rations in the summer of 1945. The winter would have been far worse, and would have claimed the old, the very young, and those in poor health. Think of Leningrad, but on a national scale.
No one should take joy in nuclear destruction. But it was war, and as General Sherman said: “War is hell.”
I miss you more than Michael Bay missed the mark,
When he made Pearl Harbor.
I miss you more then that movie missed the point,
And that's an awful lot girl.
And now, now you've gone away,
And all I'm trying to say,
Is Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you
I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting school,
He was terrible in that film.
I need you like Cuba Gooding needed a bigger part,
He's way better then Ben Affleck.
And now all I can think about is your smile,
And that s----y movie too,
Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you
Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies.
I guess Pearl Harbor sucked,
Just a little bit more then I miss you.
From Team America
Final comment. Google February 13, 1945.....
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