Posted on 08/06/2008 10:58:42 PM PDT by SmithL
OAK RIDGE - At the minute Wednesday that an atomic bomb was dropped 63 years ago, Ralph Hutchison suddenly stopped reading somber reflections on that historic instant when the world forever changed.
During the moment of silence that followed, a woman in favor of nuclear weapons could be heard in the background, defiantly singing "Onward Christian Soldiers."
Such is the study in contrasts typical for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance's annual commemoration of Hiroshima Day.
In front of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, alliance members protested the production of nuclear weapons, while atomic bomb supporters offered a noisy counter-protest nearby.
Alliance members Wednesday hung colorful paper peace cranes on the fenced border of the Y-12 National Security Complex, which holds the nation's biggest stash of bomb-grade uranium.
"The only thing that nuclear weapons are doing now is giving more nations the excuse to get them," said Eric Evers of Knoxville, as he displayed a poster showing the horrors of nuclear war. Evers said he's been protesting Y-12 for seven years.
At the same time, Rhea County residents June Griffin and her daughter-in-law, Stacy Griffin, stood next to Scarboro Road's intersection with Y-12's main entrance, holding a banner proclaiming "The Atomic Bomb Saved My Life" that's signed by several hundred World War II veterans.
(Excerpt) Read more at knoxnews.com ...
Is there any memorial or “moment of silence” in Japan every December 7?
Somehow I doubt that there is.
Actually, if Pearl Harbor Day were recognized in Japan, it would be done on December 8 due to the International Date Line. Your point, however, is well made as I doubt there are any Americans going over there to remind them of their heinous behavior in that period - - Nanking, Pearl Harbor, Bataan, etc.
The atomic bomb is a very destructive weapon, no question. But, for those who criticize our use of the bomb in WW II, I just can’t get past the fact that Japan started that war. We didn’t start that war, but we did finish it. The death toll is sad, but by ending the war so promptly, the use of the bomb probably saved lives on both sides at the end of the war.
It was the ultimate shock and awe weapon back in 1945.
People who blame us for using the atomic bomb tend to be the same people who blame America first for all of the problems in the world.
Quite some stories to tell.
They did not speak English so I could get the eyewitness stuff from them in Japanese. I also have had some very interesting talks with guys who were in Honolulu when Imperials attacked on 7 December.
These folks wont be around for much longer--it is interesting to hear their first hand stories while they are alive and can tell them.
***During the moment of silence that followed, a woman in favor of nuclear weapons could be heard in the background, defiantly singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”***
I pumped my fist when I read that sentence.
> I pumped my fist when I read that sentence.
What does a Christian hymn about combatting spiritual wickedness in high places have to do with man’s wars on Earth?
The use of the atomic bomb on Japan was necessary to bring WWII to a screeching halt. That was a decision made by an Earthly government (Democrat, by the way) in order to protect its people, which is a perfectly valid thing for a government to do, according to Romans 13.
But it has nothing to do with Christianity.
“For we battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Ephesians 6:12
The attack was prompted when the old man saw my father's Marine Corps ring.
By the latter stages of the war the Allies were practicing total war...just as the Axis powers had done from the start. Conventional bombing raids on Tokyo had already killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. There were no illusions, we wanted to end the most horrible of all wars as quickly as possible. Which we did.
How about:
And a murderous regime is deposed.
Along those lines...
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1167657.html
You heard it here first: We won the war
If we had to invade the Home Islands of Japan, we would have pretty much had to kill everybody in order to subdue them. I have a hard time seeing how the Bomb was the worse of those two options.
On Saturday we will be attending the annual VJ Day commemoration in Hillman, Michigan, one of the few places its still recognized in the US.
I wonder how many people who protest aginst our dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan would be here today if those bombs were not dropped.
I probably wouldn’t be here.
My Dad always stated that Truman saved his life by ordering the bombs dropped. He felt he would have been killed in the invasion of Japan. After fighting in France and Germany his infantry division was in the states training for the invasion of Japan.
You are correct. The casualties would have been very, very severe. I have seen casualty estimates in the range of 20,000,000 for Japanese civilians. This is partly because if the casualties for Americans reached very high numbers, their blood would be up and the war would assume an absolutely pitiless character. It would truly have degenerated into a “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” type of struggle. The remainder of the Japanese population would have been reduced to paupers in an utterly ruined country.
When someone argues that America could have conquered Japan without the use of the A-bombs, I point out the estimated Japanese casualties and ask them if they really wanted that many Japanese to die.
WWII's start is linked to the German invasion of Poland.
Excepting that minor “dust-up” in the Atlantic prior to Pearl Harbor; remembering that the United States was a declared neutral country at the time and was openly violating the tenets of a neutral.
quite a story
Excellent response.....I never heard my father say Japanese without putting the word damn in front of it.....
My Uncle was a WWII battleship servicemen who endured attacks at sea. I know to keep my MR2 Spyder out of his sight! (I just can’t afford a corvette yet...)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=5894
Why Truman Dropped the Bomb
From the August 8, 2005 issue: Sixty years after Hiroshima, we now have the secret intercepts that shaped his decision.
by Richard B. Frank
It was indeed! Since then we have improved them and have a whole lot more of them. We do have some experience in delivering these to places where they are needed, and I am sure we will not hesitate to do it again should the need arise again.
Sad your dad had to go through that type encounter.
Amazing how the navel-gazers in the US are so uni-dimensional. The only bad actor is the US. These people have never lived abroad, apart from a vacation compound at a sea-side resort. Nor have they read history. Even the recent stuff. Obama’s most recent comments show him to be of the same stripe.
The old man was selling hand carved whistles on top of a mountain and my dad wanted to buy one.
Gettin’ it all ‘live’ from Mom right now. She says the old man noticed the ring when the money changed hands. That’s when the attack happened. Kicking and fists flying. He had a white ‘bandana’s tied around his knees.
She says it happened so fast. At first they all stood there with jaws agape. They had no idea what prompted it, until the tour guides told them it was the ring.
They laughed about it for years and loved to tell the story.
See Post #28
It was way more sad, IMO, for the old man.
My uncle -having been at Iwo Jima- made this especially poignant.
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Posted by grpphoto on August 7, 2008 at 12:27 a.m.
Dropping the bomb saved at least 12 million Japanese lives. The Japanese military at the time claimed that it saved at least 2 million Allied troops. And that's just on the southernmost island of Japan.
Posted by toolmeister on August 7, 2008 at 12:39 a.m.
Regarding the bombing of Japan remember this as was told to me by veteran who saw the allied bombing of Dresden Germany. "Soldiers die in war they build a monument and call you a hero, women and children die people remember and don't start wars again". Germany and Japan have been remarkably well behaved since those days haven't they.