67 Years Ago TODAY....

[El-Cigarro]

"Uncle Sam" used the biggest FIREARM in his arsenal! Over JAPAN!

 

[CarmelHP]

Expect the blame America firsters to show up in 3,...2,...1

 

[canterbc]

No, I don't think anybody (anybody here at least) would blame us from using it. I personally wont celebrate it's use as it brought about a massive loss of human life. That said, that massive loss of human life saved countless allied (mostly American) lives.

 

[squidvt]

No, I don't think anybody (anybody here at least) would blame us from using it. I personally wont celebrate it's use as it brought about a massive loss of human life. That said, that massive loss of human life saved countless allied (mostly American) lives.

Estimates were over 1 million American lives lost just establishing a beachhead. I don't think that using Nukes was a good decision.. it was the best of all the bad choices. I'm never one to cheer the lost off human life. I'm glad that Fat Man and Little Boy demonstrated how horrible a nuclear war would be and thus they have never been used in combat again.

 

[giovani]

Celebrate by taking a trip to the trinity site!

 

[tv1217]

I have to wonder if Japan would have still been as weird as they are now if not for the USA handing them an ass whoopin'

 

[indykid]

I believe I am here today because of those bombs. My father and his unit were still in Germany after the Germans surrender. They were told to enjoy the few months of peace until they received their orders to head to Japan for the invasion. Thankfully those orders never came.

Yes, those bombs saved more lives than we can imagine. Also, with the majority of the Japanese men out of the country, the women and children were being schooled on how to repel an American invasion. Imagine the headlines even then about US baby and women killers. Thank God we never found out.

 

[badwolf.usmc]

Here is a great article about the "What IF..."

http://www.bobpearcy.com/the-rest-of-the-story-had-we-not-used-the-bomb/

A nice little jem:

Allied intelligence had established that the Japanese had no more than 2,500 aircraft of which they guessed 300 would be deployed in suicide attacks.
In August 1945, however, unknown to Allied intelligence, the Japanese still had 5,651 army and 7,074 navy aircraft, for a total of 12,725 planes of all types. Every village had some type of aircraft manufacturing activity. Hidden in mines, railway tunnels, under viaducts and in basements of department stores, work was being done to construct new planes.

During the war, Japan used ~2,800 aircraft to sink 34 ships and damage 368 others.

At the early stage of the invasion, 1,000 Japanese and American soldiers would be dying every hour.

 

[Kw1P]

good artical thanks for the link

 

[littletommy]

I believe I am here today because of those bombs. My father and his unit were still in Germany after the Germans surrender. They were told to enjoy the few months of peace until they received their orders to head to Japan for the invasion. Thankfully those orders never came.

Yes, those bombs saved more lives than we can imagine. Also, with the majority of the Japanese men out of the country, the women and children were being schooled on how to repel an American invasion. Imagine the headlines even then about US baby and women killers. Thank God we never found out.

Agree 100%!

I believe the decisions made at that time were the most humane that could possibly be made. It ENDED WWII for Gods sake.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

I was stationed in Okinawa in 1980-81. The effects of the Invasion of Okinawa were still visible. During the 82-day-long battle, over 100,000 Japanese troops and 12,510 Americans were killed. Somewhere between 42,000 and 150,000 Okinawan civilians - approximately one quarter of the civilian population - were also killed for the glory of the emperor. Kamikaze attacks sank or damaged 32 ships.

My neighbor is a veteran of the retaking of the Philippines. His stories of fighting the Japanese are chilling to the core. They were a fanatical, determined enemy with no concept of humanity, for anyone outside their own race.

After reading "The Rape of Nan-king", I am sure the national leadership made the correct decision to drop the bombs and end the war quickly.

 

[Excalibur]

Here is a great article about the "What IF..."

http://www.bobpearcy.com/the-rest-of-the-story-had-we-not-used-the-bomb/

A nice little jem:

During the war, Japan used ~2,800 aircraft to sink 34 ships and damage 368 others.

That was a very nice read. I am a huge fan of what if history. I am glad it didn't happen, not just because of the potential lost of life, but the potential lost of today's Japan and culture.

 

[littletommy]

Anyone who has never visited the USAF museum at Dayton OH, should make every effort to go there. The Bockscar (Nagasaki bomber), is on display there, and is an awesome sight to see.

 

[Caleb]

I'll keep that in mind

 

[jdmack79]

I'm not saying I wholly agree with this article disputing our casualty claims, but it makes for interesting discussion.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Ralph Raico

 

[mike8170]

I'm not saying I wholly agree with this article disputing our casualty claims, but it makes for interesting discussion.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Ralph Raico

No way to tell about the casualties, so IMO, it is a moot point; But, my Grandad was still on Okinawa when the bombs were dropped, and his three brothers were in Europe. I am glad it happened because the Japs were nothing but expansionistic animals at the time. I have older members of my VFW that still hate the Japanese to an extent that is scary.

 

[Bushido Devil Dog]

No, I don't think anybody (anybody here at least) would blame us from using it. I personally wont celebrate it's use as it brought about a massive loss of human life. That said, that massive loss of human life saved countless allied (mostly American) lives.

This.

Estimates were over 1 million American lives lost just establishing a beachhead. I don't think that using Nukes was a good decision.. it was the best of all the bad choices. I'm never one to cheer the lost off human life...

And this...

As a 14-year resident of Japan, I am glad to report that, unlike a sizable portion of the American population , there is almost no remaining racial hostility against Americans among the Japanese people for the damage caused by the War, or even the atomic bombings. Most Japanese people (except for the handful of batsh*t crazy racist nutjobs, but they are about as representative of Japan's population as the KKK is of the US population) that I have met place the blame for the horrors the country suffered squarely on the shoulders of the Japanese government/politicians that pushed the country into a war they couldn't win.

An event that slaughtered mostly women, children, and old men is not something to be "celebrated", only remembered in solemn reverence for the lives lost to prevent even greater slaughter...

 

[pokersamurai]

I have been to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan and it is a sobering experience. I know the U.S. used the atomic bombs to bring a swift end to the war and save the lives of US troops, but IMO it should not be celebrated, after all hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were murdered in the process.

 

[blackoak]

Thank God for the bomb and that we developed it first. No doubt in my mind that if they would have figured it out first America would not exist.

 

[KoopaKGB]

I'm not saying I wholly agree with this article disputing our casualty claims, but it makes for interesting discussion.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Ralph Raico

"If the Germans had dropped atomic bombs on cities instead of us, we would have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg and hanged them.109"

I suppose London was lucky that the Germans didn't have the nuclear bomb and load it into their V-8 rockets they launched in vain. Those that win the war typically make the rules. Not saying thats always right but its how it goes. We won the war and were able to have trials for "war crimes" against our enemy the Germans. Just as similar punishment would surely have been dealt against the English or Russians had Germany won.

I don't understand why sooo much debate about using the brand new nuclear weapons Truman used on Japan. America was flexing its muscle with them to show the whole world what it was capable of especially to show the Soviet Union that we were to become the most powerful nation on Earth and not them. Japan was unwilling to surrender despite the devastating fire bombing campaign we launched against them that most folks today don't know about because its often glossed over in history class. The fire bombings we conducted were MORE destructive then the two nuclear weapons we deployed. I don't know why the nuclear story is always so much more criticized in history when for years we were using much cheaper and more devastating weapons against Japan; ie firebombing whole cities that were constructed out of wood and paper, finished and stained/lacquered and highly flammable.
"Changing their tactics to expand the coverage and increase the damage, Curtis LeMay ordered the bombers to fly lower (4,500–8,000 ft, 1,400–2,400 m) and drop incendiary bombs to burn Japan's vulnerable wood-and-paper buildings.[5]"
The way in which we fire bombed was designed to encircle the city and create huge fire storms allowing no escape. That seems more hellish then instant evaporation from a nuclear blast. Sure radiation poisoning is completely disgusting, so too is watching your family burning alive.

"The firebombing of Tokyo on the night of 9/10 March 1945 was the single deadliest air raid of World War II;[11] greater than Dresden,[12]Hiroshima, or Nagasaki as single events.[13][14]"

The use of "the bomb" is really more political then anything in my opinion. We didnt need to, we could have kept up firebombing EVERY city. But the bomb was the single biggest explosion on Earth. And now after the live demostration, America was the sole owner of this new world changing device. Maybe in theory it was to create "world peace" ie if some government started sh*t again this would be the biggest deterrent to them. America's fearsome unstoppable weapons of the future.