The "logic" of what you say somehow escapes me.......
Haven't you ever seen this famous picture?
Truman damn near lost that election.
Posted on 07/31/2005 2:31:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway
IN THE same way it was seared on the memories of those who survived the blast 60 years ago, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima is engraved on the hearts of every Japanese child from their earliest years. While other countries will be celebrating the anniversary of what was effectively the end of the war, for this country August 6 is the darkest of days.
But this year's ceremonies, as well as those three days later in Nagasaki, have an even more sombre significance; just as the numbers of veterans who pass the Cenotaph in London is shrinking every November, those who witnessed the devastation caused by the "Little Boy" bomb are becoming fewer and fewer.
People like Toru Mitoya, who was 19 when the Enola Gay released its payload above the city. Friends standing by a window evaporated in the blast and even though he survived, two of his three children developed brain cancer. One of them died, while Mitoya himself has undergone surgery for stomach cancer.
An estimated 85,000 survivors of the bomb, known as "Hibakusha", have similar tales to tell, of relatives burned beyond recognition or dying slowly of radiation sickness over the following years and months.
Nobuto Sugiura, a spokesman for the Hiroshima Peace Museum, said: "This year is very important because the average age of the survivors is now 74 and most of them will not be able to see the next major anniversary, in 10 years' time. Many have told us that they feel it is important that they come here on the 6th to convey their messages to the younger generations, people from abroad and the leaders of other countries.
"Many of them have said that they know this is the last chance for them," he said.
The museum and peace park cover 1.2 sq km of a narrow island in the Ota River in central Hiroshima. The Aioi Bridge, at the northern end of the island, was used as the aiming point by the Enola Gay's bombardier, Major Thomas Ferebee.
Released at a height of 9,600 metres at 8:15:17am on August 6th, 1945, the weapon fell for 43 seconds before detonating 580 metres above the city.
Little within a radius of 2km survived the blast and subsequent fires, which produced a mushroom cloud that rose to a height of 13km. An estimated 66,000 died almost instantaneously; the total number of deaths had risen to 140,000 by the end of the year.
This year's remembrance ceremony will start at 8am, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to deliver a speech before laying a wreath in front of the cenotaph, which contains a stone chest with the registry of the names of all of those who died as a result of the bombing. Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba will also speak, underlining his city's commitment to peace and a world free of nuclear weapons.
While Koizumi would never make the mistake of not visiting Hiroshima on the most important day in its calendar, some believe he would like to as the anti-nuclear tone goes against his right-wing beliefs.
"Today, Japan's experience as the only nation to experience a nuclear attack appears irrelevant to Japan's leading politicians, including Koizumi," believes Yuki Tanaka, a professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute.
"Before Koizumi, it was an annual tradition for the prime minister to meet representatives of the Hibakusha immediately after attending the commemoration ceremony in the Peace Park," Tanaka wrote in a recent editorial for Hiroshima Research News. "It was, of course, merely a token gesture to make a show of government concern for their health. Yet even this important publicity gesture was cancelled when Koizumi became prime minister.
"Some of his colleagues in the Liberal Democratic Party even think Japan should develop nuclear weapons for defence purposes against so-called rogue nations, such as North Korea," she added.
Others agree that Japan is lurching to the political right, as demonstrated by the decision of an education board in Tokyo to approve a school textbook written by revisionist historians that omits to mention women who were forced into sexual slavery for the imperial Japanese army and insists the Second World War was to liberate Asia from the European powers.
Rumiko Nishino, chairwoman of Violence Against Women in War Network Japan, said: "These books try to beatify the past and it is this lack of awareness that has coincided with a rise in right-wing sentiment."
She fears that her homeland might be doomed to repeat its history. "At the moment, I see a movement towards wiping out the memories of the past war of aggression, and meanwhile the victims are dying."
She warns against, "the revisionists' efforts to deny history, which are a step towards turning Japan into a nation that is again capable of waging war".
"It gets worse every day," she says. "It's the history books, it's the requirement in schools for children to pay their respects to the rising sun flag, it's the planned law against distributing leaflets that are critical of the government.
"It's an attempt to suppress freedom of speech, from the very top, just as it was before the Second World War," she said.
The Hiroshima Peace Museum has a million visitors every year, according to Sugiura, of whom around one third are children on school trips. They see school lunch boxes melted by the heat of the blast and roof tiles fused together, as well as the monuments scattered throughout the peace park to the victims.
He fears, however, that numbers have fallen in recent years. "Some people might think that Hiroshima is less important today, but in general, Japanese people think that both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still very important symbols of peace," he said. "I hope people will continue to feel that way."
Huh, no mention at all of WHY they were bombed.
Oh well, probably an over sight.
Their lesson is you don't secretly attack America
Unfortunately, in spite of these people, the threat of thermonuclear annihilation will hang over the planet until it finally happens.
I wonder where in the Hiroshima Peace Museum is the place dedicated to the Bataan Death March.
They were bombed to save Trumans political viability in 1948. Had Harry S not dropped the bomb, the friends and families of the 1,000,000+ US casualties would have not voted for Truman in droves. The millions of Japanese casualties saved by not invading were just a bonus.
Truman did the right thing, and I don't begrudge him the political kick, just remember he was a politician, first, last and always.
The "logic" of what you say somehow escapes me.......
Haven't you ever seen this famous picture?
Truman damn near lost that election.
Not disagreeing with you, just curious where you got this information. I have never read this take on Truman. I know that he was a WWI artillery officer and saw war up close and always assumed that it played a major part in the decision. Also factored in where the Japanese civilian casualties which would have numbered in the millions.
"...and a world free of nuclear weapons."
Y'all first...
Had Harry S not dropped the bomb, the friends and families of the 1,000,000+ US casualties would have not voted for Truman in droves
it's an interesting theory
"Had Harry S not dropped the bomb, the friends and families of the 1,000,000+ US casualties would have not voted for Truman in droves."
My understanding is that the Purple Hearts made in advance of the PLANNED invasion of Japan are being awarded to this day (somewhere in the neighborhood of 400,000 for the invasion of Japan).
If Harry Truman had not dropped that bomb I probably would not be writing this.
My Dad was a First Sargeant 1st Cavalry Signal Corp. preparing to invade Japan.
Instead the 1st Cavalry led McArthur into Tokyo.
I am grateful to this day and plan to put a flag on his grave next Saturday.
I was really referring to this post that said:
They were bombed to save Trumans political viability in 1948."
Was it dropped to win the war or save his political career? I have no problem with it either way.
I wonder, if I mention Unit 731, will anybody understand why I don't cry for Hiroshima?
"Was it dropped to win the war or save his political career?"
Sorry, Canedawg. Misunderstood you. I cannot believe that Truman did it to increase his political viability, but, then again, no one outside of Los Alamos could comprehend the power of The Bomb. Poof.
Had the Americans accepted a conditional surrender, leaving the Japanese government intact and avoiding the occupation, Japan would have been left without the benefit of the American occupation during the late 1940s through the 1970s which saw the rise of communism in China, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and so on. Japan would have been left without direct American protection against China and Russia.
Yes, killing all of those people was awful. But no matter how I slice the alternatives in light of what happened afterward, it was really best not only for the United States but for Japan, which has seen great benefits from the American-designed system of government and American military protection.
Little within a radius of 2km survived the blast and subsequent fires, which produced a mushroom cloud that rose to a height of 13km. An estimated 66,000 died almost instantaneously; the total number of deaths had risen to 140,000 by the end of the year.
I wonder where in the Hiroshima Peace Museum is the place dedicated to the Bataan Death March.
Also they never mention any of their use of Prisoner's of War as Slave Laborer's, to build their railroad's, bridges and roads. The Thousands of Prisoners that they killed in their camps by starvation and torture.
And as they realized the they were going to lose the war, they killed even more Prisoners so that they could not tell of the atrocities that were committed on them. As this last is shown in the film that is coming out called the "The Great Raid"
Nor do they mention the hundreds of thousands that they Raped and Killed in Nan-king.
But what do they honor you may ask? Why the men that ran the death camps. The men that were in charge of the Rape of Nan-king. The men that were in charge of the building of the railroads. Yes, the Japanese treat these war criminals as heros of their country. Men who were reponsible for the deaths of Hundreds of Thousands of Men, Women and Children.
As for the Peace Museum I will finish with a favorite quote from my Father who was in the Army and was one of the Occupation Troops in Japan at the end of World War II, "Piss on It, It looks better underwater anyways."
I too will place the U.S. flag on my Fathers grave come Aug. 6th.
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