Hiroshima

[Turek The Terrible]

Next saturday, 6th of august, it will be exactly 60 years from the dropping of the first atomic bomb, the "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima. Over 70,000 people died instantly, total casualties suffered due longterm effects such as radiation reached about 140,000. Three days later another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. The bomb, named "The Fat Man" after W. Churchill, caused the death of nearly 74,000 people. On 2nd of september, shortly after the Soviet Union joins the war, Japan surrenders unconditionally.

It was just like a living hell.
Ms. Akiko Takakura

It's a sad reality that the smell human beings produce when they are burned is the same as that of the dried squid when it is grilled. The squid - we like so much to eat.
Mr. Hiroshi Sawachika

I saw blue flash of light just like a spark made by a train or some short circuit. Next, a steamlike blast came...
..You know for about 10 years after bombing I always felt paralyzed when ever saw the sparks made by trains or lightning. Also even at home, I could not sit beside the windows because I had seen so many people badly wounded by pieces of glass. So I always sat with the wall behind me for about 10 years. It was some sort of instinct to self-preservation.
Mr. Akira Onogi

We walked toward the river. And on the way we saw many victims. I saw a man whose skin was completely peeled off the upper half of his body and a woman whose eye balls were sticking out...
...On the way, I ran into an another friend of mine, Tokujiro Hatta. I wondered why the soles of his feet were badly burnt. It was unthinkable to get burned there. But it was undeniable fact the soles were peeling and red muscle was exposed.
Mr. Akihiro Takahashi

I held him (her son) firmly and looked down on him. He had been standing by the window and I think fragments of glass had pierced his head. His face was a mess because of the blood flowing from his head. But he looked at my face and smiled. His smile has remained glued in my memory. He did not comprehend what had happened. And so he looked at me and smiled at my face which was all bloody. I had plenty of milk which he drank all throughout that day. I think my child sucked the poison right out of my body. And soon after that he died. Yes, I think that he died for me.
Mrs. Eiko Taoka

Excerped from the eyewitness testimonies available at;
http://www.inicom.com/hibakusha/

Here are also some interesting links;
http://www.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/
http://www.csi.ad.jp/ABOMB/
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mpmenu.htm
http://www.dannen.com/hiroshima_links.html

The debate whether the bombings were necessary still goes on;
http://www.doug-long.com/
http://www.dannen.com/decision/

Thoughts, opinions, anyone???

I propose everyone, regardless of their thoughts, show respect to the first victims of the nuclear age. I myself am going to have a silent moment that day, which is not something I often do.

[CaptainCernick]

I was planning on remembering everyone I come across about it, because sadly enough these things are easily forgotten.

[Kanaric]

Two choices, drop the bomb or invade. Estimates for the invasion put FAR more casulties on both sides than the bomb could ever of done, what with how Okinawa was defended and all. Imagine how we would look back at THAT. Also the fact that Russia would of invaded as well creating a possible separated country like in Germany. The bomb saved them more than anything else.

I find it ironic that Japan always complains about how we show the bombing when they refuse to acknowledge their WW2 atrocities in historybooks and other material. At least we are taught that it happened and that it was a horrible event. Nobody cares about the Nanjing massacre, and simular events THROUGHOUT asia, or the killing of POWs.....

[Honeohvovohaestse]

I think it meets the deifnition of our current terrorism policy, had it been reversed we'd be crying and moaning about it still.

[Erik]

It's always very sad when the lives of innocent people are sacrificed in war.
I hope people wil take their time to remember this humanitarian catastrophy tomorrow, and honour their deaths no matter what "side" your on because we are all human.

This should realy be taken out of the mudpit and placed in the regular forum.

[slash]

If there was a better way of ending the war, do you not think it would have been used instead? But there wasn't. And remember that Japan attacked America and Britain first, so they brought it on themselves.

[Ulyaoth]

If we didn't drop the bomb, people now would still be calling America racist because we would have killed so many more Japanese in a land invasion than just dropping the bombs. Yeah, we all wish it could have ended another way, but it couldn't. I just wish it was dropped on a military position rather than just a pretty much completely civilian target.

If there was a better way of ending the war, do you not think it would have been used instead? But there wasn't. And remember that Japan attacked America and Britain first, so they brought it on themselves.

Well, the U.S. ended trade with Japan for their invasion of China, meaning Japan had no other choice but to attack, as they needed America's oil. Still, it was their fault, they invaded China, they brought it upon themselves.

Please don't double-post. Just use the Edit button. Thanks. -Ardeur.

[ShangTang]

Sad? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Wars are always terrible, especially with weapons such as these.

[LegionnaireX]

Well, the U.S. ended trade with Japan for their invasion of China, meaning Japan had no other choice but to attack, as they needed America's oil. Still, it was their fault, they invaded China, they brought it upon themselves.

Thats crap. The true reason that the Japenese attacked the american fleet at Pearl Harbor is because they new that in order for them to continue conquering the pacific islands they would need to destroy it because it was a threat to their plans.

[slash]

Well, the U.S. ended trade with Japan for their invasion of China.

Well they shouldn't of attacked china, should they?

[Erik]

Well, the U.S. ended trade with Japan for their invasion of China, meaning Japan had no other choice but to attack, as they needed America's oil. Still, it was their fault, they invaded China, they brought it upon themselves.

The inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not bring it upon themselves, their government did.
It's very offensive to talk about their deaths like that.

It doesn't matter who is to blame or if it can be justified or not.
Fact is: Thousands of innocent people died and they should be remembered.

[Honeohvovohaestse]

If we didn't drop the bomb, people now would still be calling America racist because we would have killed so many more Japanese in a land invasion than just dropping the bombs. Yeah, we all wish it could have ended another way, but it couldn't. I just wish it was dropped on a military position rather than just a pretty much completely civilian target.

I believe there's a fundemental difference between armed soldiers dying and the mass killing of civilians (we generally call it terrorism or genocide).

"The inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not bring it upon themselves, their government did."

I totally agree.

[Ulyaoth]

The inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not bring it upon themselves, their government did.
It's very offensive to talk about their deaths like that.

It doesn't matter who is to blame or if it can be justified or not.
Fact is: Thousands of innocent people died and they should be remembered.

Sorry, I should have put that better. I wasn't saying the inhabitants of those cities brought it on themselves, I meant what you said, sorry if I sounded offensive, as I said, I really wish it wouldn't have had to come to that, but they wouldn't have backed off unless it was done.

And, Honeohvovohaestse, you must not get it. If we invaded, the civilians of Japan would be driven to arms and they would have to be pretty much wiped out until they realized the same way they did after the bombings, that they had no chance. It would most likely have caused deaths in the millions for both sides.

[JP226]

i'm sorry, but i would trade a few hundred thousand dead for millions as what could and would have been. If we had physically invaded, millions more would have died. If we had starved them out, hundreds of thousands even possibly millions more would have died. Either way, many many more people would have died. It was war and war sucks. Infact the peace after the first 2 bombs almost didn't happen. A coupe was failed just in time. If it had succeeded, god only knows how much longer things would have gone on.

[ShangTang]

The invasion plan for Japan had the coupe succeeded would've involved 7 atomic bombs with infantry follow up. Imagine the damage to our troops as well from radiation.

[allthesedamnnamesaretaken]

yep if japan wasn't forced to surrender by the abombs the soviets would have invaded and occupied northern japan. they were MUCH better off being nuked and made a rapid recovery. under soviet occupation the north would still be a backwards wasteland like east germany is now. Japan defeated the soviets in a short war just prior to ww2. they were gonna be treated just as badly as the germans were.

keep in mind that if an invasion took place japan would have continued to be firebombed, which in the long run would have run up just as much civilian casualties as the 2 abombs. the abombs simply condesned the suffering to a few short moments instead of letting it drag on for months. they were better off and the complainers just don't see the big picture. if you ever saw videos of japanese disecting chinese victims alive and testing chemicals on them, you wouldn't be so sympathetic to them getting radiation sickness. in ww2 it was blood for blood. live by atrocity, die by atrocity. i agree the japanese people as a whole brought the suffering on themselves. it's called karma

[IronBrig4]

Yes, the military dictatorship that Japan was had brought it on itself, but the average people didn't bring it on themselves. Sadly, in wartime, bad things happen to those who don't deserve it. Without the bombs, there is no doubt that an Allied and Soviet invasion would have resulted in millions of deaths. My grandfather was a US Marine back then, so he probably would have hit the beaches and I might not be here right now. And many of my Japanese friends probably wouldn't be around either. It was necessary, but that doesn't mean those Hiroshima and Nagasaki residents deserved it.

And hell yes, if the position had been reversed, Americans would still be angry about it. Just look at how some Southerners are still whining about Sherman's march. On the other hand, it may have given Americans a healthy dose of humility.

Edit: I've seen pictures of Japanese soldiers using Chinese as bayonet practice, and a Japanese officer about to behead a downed Australian pilot. I also have an old family friend who was born in a Japanese internment camp in California. The US government treated the Nisei like criminals, but didn't even admit it until decades later.

[Turek The Terrible]

I find it ironic that Japan always complains about how we show the bombing when they refuse to acknowledge their WW2 atrocities in historybooks and other material. At least we are taught that it happened and that it was a horrible event. Nobody cares about the Nanjing massacre, and simular events THROUGHOUT asia, or the killing of POWs.....

A good point, the Japanese treated especially Chinese like animals. Something cruel about the way the Japanese have conducted war. Maybe it dates back to the Samurai period.

...I just wish it was dropped on a military position rather than just a pretty much completely civilian target.

Actually both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were major contributors in military industry, so they could be argued to be more 'legitime targets' for military action than many targets in Germany. It was just that this was not a normal bombing mission to attack a single factory, but to annihiliate the whole city.

I agree with the rest of the posters, in that the invasion and the preceeding conventional or fire bombings would have caused atleast as much, if even more casualties. Also, if the Soviets would have invaded from the north, the world would have had one cold war playground more.

[Virgo Vestalis]

I don't know why Americans feel (or are made to feel) the need to defend the use of the A-bomb on Japan. Does the fact that it was a few bombs, (rather than the tens of thousands dropped by the European allies over Germany) make it any less justifyable?

All countries involved in WWII have blood on their hands (in regards to civilian casualties).

[Tom Paine]

All countries involved in WWII have blood on their hands (in regards to civilian casualties).

Belgium?
The reason Americans feel the need to justify it is strange. I'd guess its to do with being the only time they were ever used in a war. Plus there are some few people who keep asking "Why?" and never get persuaded or think about it. But the more you try to justify it (impossible to do because it is justified by its result but we cannot give a perfectly accurate account of what would otherwise have happened) the more people ask you to so its a vicous cycle.

The thing I can't understand is people blaming the Japanese as a whole for the attacks. That is equivalent to blaming the Iraqis as a whole for the Gulf Wars, or all Germans for the two World Wars; nonsensical. When you are living under a dictatorship there is **** all you can do about the actions of the dictator.