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76 years ago today, on August 5, 1945, the first atomic bomb used in war was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. (In Japan it was August 6, since they are across the International Date Line from us.)
Three days later, the second atomic bomb used in warfare was flown to its primary target of Kokura, Japan. They found the city obscured by clouds and smoke, and so flew to the secondary target of Nagasaki instead and dropped the bomb there.
Shortly afterward, Japan realized they had no way to stop the Americans from dropping bomb after bomb, wiping out city after city until the Japanese islands became uninhabitable. It also helped that Russia declared war on Japan that day. Japan surrendered, and WWII was over.
Japan didn't know at the time, that those were the only two complete atomic bombs the Americans had been able to produce at that time (plus one more set off in July as a test in New Mexico). They could eventually produce more of the needed fissile material, but it would have taken a while, so the Americans kept quiet. The head of the Manhattan Project, Gen. Leslie Groves expected to have another "Fat Man" (plutonium, as was dropped on Nagasaki) atomic bomb ready for use on 19 August, with three more in September and a further three in October; a second Little Boy bomb (using U-235, the typed dropped on Hiroshima) would not be available until December 1945.
The Army estimated that those two bombs, which killed approx. 150,000 Japanese, saved the lives of between 500,000 and 1 million Americans who would no longer have to invade the Japanese home islands to force a surrender, plus saving a million or more Japanese who would have defended their homes to the death.
What did the Japanese have to fear from Russia? Russia's navy was basically non-existent. They couldn't achieve supremacy of the seas, let alone perform any kind of amphibious invasion. It's as laughable as Germany's "Operation Sea Lion" was to "invade" Great Britain. The invasion of the Japanese Home Islands would have been horrific and bloody for the US Navy and Marines, with our 24 Essex class "fleet" type aircraft carriers, a fleet of amphibious landing ships and craft and a Marine Corp trained for amphibious landings.
You're trying to re-write history in order to demonize America's actions. The actions of Japan were every bit as vile as were the Nazis. They slaughtered as many defenseless Chinese as the Nazis did Jews (and IIRC as many as they did Russians as well). They conducted horrific medical experiments on living humans. And they routinely slaughtered and tortured American POWs, something even the Nazis didn't do on a regular basis. If the use of nuclear weapons saved one American life, they were perfectly justified.
Last edited by Toyman at Jewel Lake; 08-05-2022 at 07:34 PM..
What did the Japanese have to fear from Russia? Russia's navy was basically non-existent. They couldn't achieve supremacy of the seas, let alone perform any kind of amphibious invasion. It's as laughable as Germany's "Operation Sea Lion" was to "invade" Great Britain. The invasion of the Japanese Home Islands would have been horrific and bloody for the US Navy and Marines, with our 24 Essex class "fleet" type aircraft carriers, a fleet of amphibious landing ships and craft and a Marine Corp trained for amphibious landings.
You're trying to re-write history in order to demonize America's actions. The actions of Japan were every bit as vile as were the Nazis. They slaughtered as many defenseless Chinese as the Nazis did Jews (and IIRC as many as they did Russians as well). They conducted horrific medical experiments on living humans. And they routinely slaughtered and tortured American POWs, something even the Nazis didn't do on a regular basis. If the use of nuclear weapons saved one American life, they were perfectly justified.
The lives of 200 000 people from your country are worth less than one life from my country. That certainly doesn't display the absolute worst kind of ultranationalist thinking does it?
Americas holocaust. Truman ignored Japans peace overtures so he incinerate hundreds of thousands of civilians as an egotistical warning to the Russians. If there is a hell, Truman is sitting next to Hitler
The Japanese proposed several unreasonable items for peace, which included that “THEY” would conduct their own trials on “THEIR” own war criminals, no American occupation forces would be allowed on Japanese soil and several other demands like keeping all of Korea as Japanese territory.
The Americans, British, French, Australians, Dutch and so on demanded UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER OF ALL JAPANESE ARMED FORCES and military occupation of all of Japan…. The same thing that was demanded of the Germans a few months earlier.
Japan started the war, killed thousand of Prisoners of War and there are factual and documented cases of Japanese soldiers eating POWs, raping, murdering thousands of unarmed civilians forcing Chineses, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino women into force prostitution for their soldiers…. Please read the Rape of Nanking before you attempt to blame America for dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. I would bet that you will change your mind about Japanese guilt of war crimes and the justification of the dropping of atomic bombs on them.
Frank, regardless of what you think or who you what to blame, but the two facts remain. First, those two bombs saved millions of lives on both sides. Second, Japan started the war in the Pacific and guilty of thousands of war crimes against POWs and civilians
A little known fact, but the British were scheduled to drop the third American atomic bomb on Japan.
Another little known fact, even after announced their surrender, they murdered hundreds of POWs to hide their crimes.
Regardless of their purported necessity in military terms , I still take the stance that Hiroshima ( along with Nagasaki ) ranks amongst the greatest day length tragedies in all of human history , and that making a tradition out of remembering its victims would be anything but an affront to American patriotism IMHO .
What did the Japanese have to fear from Russia? Russia's navy was basically non-existent. They couldn't achieve supremacy of the seas, let alone perform any kind of amphibious invasion. It's as laughable as Germany's "Operation Sea Lion" was to "invade" Great Britain. The invasion of the Japanese Home Islands would have been horrific and bloody for the US Navy and Marines, with our 24 Essex class "fleet" type aircraft carriers, a fleet of amphibious landing ships and craft and a Marine Corp trained for amphibious landings.
You're trying to re-write history in order to demonize America's actions. The actions of Japan were every bit as vile as were the Nazis. They slaughtered as many defenseless Chinese as the Nazis did Jews (and IIRC as many as they did Russians as well). They conducted horrific medical experiments on living humans. And they routinely slaughtered and tortured American POWs, something even the Nazis didn't do on a regular basis. If the use of nuclear weapons saved one American life, they were perfectly justified.
None of us probably have enough information to render judgement either way (whether the bombing was justified or not), but in my mind, the bombing of Hiroshima was one of the darkest days in US history. I can't even begin to imagine the soul searching US leaders did before making the decision or the horror endured by the victims. It breaks my heart that we (the world) can't find a better way to resolve our differences other than exterminating tens of thousands of people.
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