Hiroshima, 60 years ago today

How could any of us have forgotten this terrible moment in human history?

Please take a moment and remember.

This must never, EVER, happen again!

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Updated On: 8/6/05 at 07:46 PM

Wow, Id like to visit there....

below is a letter written by harry truman on January 12, 1953 to prof. james l. cate which seems to clearly present his understanding of the necessity of using the atomic bombs to end world war II.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
January 12, 1953

My Dear Professor Cate;

Your letter of December 6, 1952 has just been delivered to me. When the message came to Potsdam that a successful atomic explosion had taken place in New Mexico, there was much excitement and conversation about the effect on the war then in progress with Japan. The next day I told the Prime Minsiter of Great Britain and Generalissimo Stalin that the explosion had been a success. The British Prime Minister understood and appreciated what I'd told him. Premier Stalin smiled and thanked me for reporting the explosion to him, but I'm sure he did not understand its significance. I called a meeting of the Secretary of State, Mr. Byrnes, the Secretary of War, Mr. Stimson, Admiral Leahy, General Marshall, General Eisenhower, Admiral King and some others, to discuss what should be done with this awful weapon.

I asked General Marshall what it would cost in lives to land on the Tokyo plain and other places in Japan. It was his opinion that such an invasion would cost at a minimum one quarter of a million casualties, and might cost as much as a million, on the American side alone, with an equal number of the enemy. The other military and naval men present agreed. I asked Secretary Stimson which sites in Japan were devoted to war production. He promptly named Hiroshima and Nagasaki, among others. We sent an ultimatum to Japan. It was rejected.

I ordered atomic bombs dropped on the two cities named on the way back from Potsdam, when we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. In your letter, you raise the fact that the directive to General Spaatz to prepare for delivering the bomb is dated July twenty-fifth. It was, of course, necessary to set the military wheels in motion, as these orders did, but the final decision was in my hands, and was not made until we were returning from Potsdam. Dropping the bombs ended the war, saved lives, and gave the free nations a chance to face the facts. When it looked as if Japan would quit, Russia hurried into the fray less than a week before the surrender, so as to be in at the settlement. No military contribution was made by the Russians toward victory over Japan. Prisoners were surrendered and Manchuria occupied by the Soviets, as was Korea, North of the 38th parallel.

Sincerely,
(The letter was signed by Harry Truman.)

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President Truman understood what taking responsibility for the loss of lives meant, something about which the current president is clueless.

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You're absolutely right, Elphaba. I apologize.

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i don't apologize, elphaba. simply declaring that one side of an issue is all that will be dealt with is childish and counter-productive. one of the reasons i posted truman's letter was his mentioning that the cost of lives that were expected to be lost in an invasion were calculated not only in american but in japanese lives as well. i think the quote "so that a few thousand americans can live" grossly underestimates the lives that were indeed saved on both sides despite the horrific cost.

when thinking about this, let's also remember that hiroshima was not just some farm town with no military significance. it was the headquarters for the japanese fifth division and 2nd army group (which commanded defense for all of southern japan) and was a major supply and logistics base for the japanese army. the city was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for troops.

nagasaki aside from being one of the largest sea ports in southern japan was of great wartime importance because of its wide-ranging industrial activity, including the production of ordnance, ships, military equipment (the mitsubishi steel and arms works among others), and other war materials. also, nagasaki, unlike hiroshima, experienced a bombing raid on aug. 1st 1945 which resulted in large evacuations prior to the atomic explosion.

also bear in mind that aside from the deaths that would result in the immediacy of an invasion there was also the order given by the japanese war ministry on august 1, 1944. the order dealt with the disposal and execution of all allied pow's, numbering over 100,000, if an invasion of the japanese mainland took place.

these were not simply huge cities of peace loving peoples slaughtered callously. yes, many, many innocents were lost, but these targets were chosen for their military significance.

it's an ugly chapter in human history with no easy answers, but to simply stifle discussion helps no one to understand why such a catastrophe was, in my view, necessary. nor how to avoid another.

...counting down until the inevitable, "duh, don't drop another atomic bomb."

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Updated On: 8/7/05 at 02:06 AM

and you're a shining example of those who choose to ignore ugly realities in favor of pretty daydreams of utopia.

as orwell said, "those who abjure violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf."

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i do get it. you don't. freedom isn't free.

"the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. it is it's natural manure."

thmoas jefferson, nov. 13, 1787

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Did Thomas Jefferson intend for this boy's blood to be shed and his organs to be melted?

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Papa, that Jefferson quote is in reference to rebellion within the United States. He had the delusional idea that the US couldn't survive as a free republic if the people didn't have a little rebellion every couple of years to keep the government in line.

If they wanted to center their attacks on the few military targets in Hiroshima, they shouldn't have purposefully dropped the bombs in the very center of town.

Also, the United States already had intercepted transmissions from the Japanese expressing their desire to surrender if only the US would allow them to retain their Emperor, EVEN as a simple figurehead--something we did AFTER we bombed them.