Vets

Thanks to all Veterans both alive and those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Watching Sunday Morning on television
sicking to see number of Americans who contend dropping Atomic device to end World War 11 was wrong.

Even the people of Japan say the bomb was for the best. If the US hadn't used it the war would have dragged out a lot longer and many more people would have died. They would have fought to the bitter end.

The media tries to make a big deal out of the 140,000 people killed by the atomic bombs. They fail to mention how many on both sides would have been killed if we had invaded the homeland.

They also fail to mention the hundreds of thousands of innocents killed by the Japanese military in the years leading up to WWII. Some 300,000 alone during the "Rape of Nanking" in China in 1937 when Japanese soldiers were keeping score as to how many Catholic nuns they had raped and murdered, among other atrocities. One soldier claimed 109.

The Japanese had it coming.

I would like to see every single atom bomb hater given boot camp and then told them where going on the front lines against North Korea, Russia, or any of the others that would be there IF we did not have the ability to use another atom bomb if they do attack us.

The trouble is most schools are taught by liberals that have been teaching that the bombs were bad for the last 20-30 years. The real story is not longer taught but the agenda based teaching sure lead the youth of today to one opinion.

What people fail to understand is that the senior commanders figured and had briefed Truman to expect 1,000,000 dead and wounded on the allied side alone invading the Japanese home island. They had no estimate of Japanese casualties. Truman took that into consideration when he made the decision to drop the atomic bomb. What people are looking at is the fact that Japan did send out feelers to come to a negotiated end to the war. These people, taking into consideration the horror of nuclear warfare, think that we should have accepted that. They fail to realize that no one had any idea just what the atomic bomb would do nor did they fully understand the horrors of nuclear radiation. Even if we had not used the atomic bomb it STILL would have been developed and the world would have still been under nuclear threat. The facts are that even had we not used it we had it ready to go. The Russians were working on it and had spies in our nuclear bomb program who were feeding the Russians all the technical data they could. So the stand off in the cold war would still have happened and the nuclear arms race could not have been avoided.

Rick

Well, the japx started it......(apparently forum doesn"t let me use the proper spelling!)

My Dad was a 26 year old Marine on Guam in August of 1945 facing the land invasion of the Japanese
mainland when Admiral Nimitz gave the order for all ''Soldiers, Sailors and Marines'' to write
their Mothers, Wives and Sweethearts and say good-bye, in case there was no other opportunity. This
was after surviving 3 1/2'' years in the South Pacific, my Dad was a good poker player, horse
handicapper and dice shooter so he knew his odds were pretty poor. He was one of over 1 million
service men who were damn glad the bombs were dropped.

See my post above.

Appreciation of Veterans sacrifices is well founded. However Memorial Day was established to honor those who gave their life during wartime. Veterans Day is to honor ALL veterans who served. Armed Forces Day is to honor those who are in currently in active service. We often get those confused. However my take is that extending honors to all veterans on Memorial Day, in some small measure detracts from those who have sacrificed their life for our great country.

Those who condemn the atomic bombing of Japan should read their history. For one thing, after all the atrocities committed by the Japanese there should be no tears of sympathy for them.

Secondly, they should consider the lesson of Iwo Jima: a two mile by five mile island of volcanic ash, with no real strategic value to either side. Yet some 21,000 Japanese, with no hope of reinforcements or replenishment of supplies, held out against superior American Marine forces for over a month in February/March of 1945--just a few months before Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They knew they were doomed, but surrender was still not an option. Only 200 or so were captured, and most of those unwillingly. The only survivors were those who hid out in the island's network of tunnels. Over 6,000 Americans died, and 20,000 were wounded.

So, if the Japanese were willing to sacrifice themselves for a useless, tiny island (some of you guys probably farm more land than that), what would their resolve have been in defending the homeland, where their parents, wives and children were in peril?

I have heard it said that the Japanese were going to surrender anyway: the Russians had finished up with Germany and were beginning to cast their greedy eyes eastward, hoping to capture prime land holdings in Asia/China and be part of the dealings with the Japanese mainland (think Berlin/East Berlin and the Iron Curtain.) The Japanese knew that they wanted no part of Russian rule over them. That speculation probably has some merit, but the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man most certainly accelerated the Japanese decision-making process.

Japan tried to surrender starting in 1943. The only condition they wanted was to keep their emperor.

Research the "Bataan Death March" if you think the jaaps were nice people. They were just a little South of Germany and their leader.

Do you know what the 21st of this month was??? Many people do not and many if they do know do not do anything about it

Sad thing is that most schools no longer teach much of any thing other then keyboarding and how to read. Little to no real history and what history is taught most has been warped so much that few really know what is real. Sort like the thing now days with the Confederate Flag and it being banned in many places. The Confederate flag has it place and should be known about since so many gave there life over that war. But most people think that war was started to free slaves and few people understand what the real reason was

I beg to differ with you on the strategic importance of Iwo for the Allies. That God-forsaken island was within range of the Japanese home islands for our bombers. To say otherwise does not pay homage to the horrific sacrifice paid by those brave Marines who fought so gallantly.

I find the attitude that the Japanese "deserved" the atomic bombs because of atrocities committed. There were a lot of women and children right down to and including babies who had not done a darned thing wrong, other to have been born in Japan who were incinerated or who suffered through radiation poisoning.

As far as the Japanese peace feelers in 1943 they were not for Japan. Japan offered to act as a go between to negotiate peace between Germany and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union and Japan were not at war with each other until AFTER the first atomic bomb was dropped.

Gen Tojo was replaced in 44 with the new prime minister after Saipan, with the new guy claiming that the Philippians would be the decisive battle and he was replaced by another who claimed that the decisive battle would be Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

When Japan did first try to see if the Allies were willing to talk they had a laundry list of demands that included keeping some of the islands and parts of China that they had taken. They also did not want the allied powers occupying Japan. Nor were they willing to talk about war crimes trails. They were told "unconditional surrender". When they again sent out peace feelers they again had demands.

The one big thing here is that they didn't offer peace. They were poking around trying to find out what they would get out of it.

So the claim that Japan was ready to negotiate in 43 isn't true or entirely true. Japan never thought they could defeat us. They thought that they could grab some islands, especially ones that had natural resources, and that we would sue for peace allowing them to keep what they had captured. So they would have agreed to peace on their terms in 42. Their peace feelers in early 45 would not have seen the occupation of the home islands, war crimes would not have been addresses and a few other items that we were after, like the end of militarism and disarmament.


As far as memorial day is concerned. It is not intended as a day to honor veterans. Nor is it a day to remember grandma. It is designated as a day to honor those who have fallen fighting for our country.

Rick

When I was a youngster in the Corps, I was in a squadron with a Master Sergeant who had survived the Bataan Death March.

He had his good days and his bad days, but NOBODY messed with him, up to and including the CO.

People are free to say whatever they want.
Thanks to all veterans.
Those that made the ultimate sacrifice are remembered today.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Yes. Tough decisions to make.
Death toll was less than in Tokyo with conventional weapons though.

One Article

It was thought to have value as a staging area. After it was won, however, they determined it would not be f feasible as an Army staging area nor as a naval fleet area. The airfields were repaired to provide an emergency landing area for B-29s.