wow I saw this a couple years back and I’ve held it for a long time as well… She was a wise grand old woman… pretty cool and weird how we remembered the same thing
Yeah that just stuck out to me for some reason….I was also very disgusted and revolted when those pilots of the plane that dropped the bomb and developers of the bombs said they had no remorse and no regrets….and the one guy was even smiling while recounting his memories of developing the bomb…..made me truly sick to my stomach….god how I wanted to slap the dog shit out of this man…..you have to be a certain degree of evil to do what these men did and then recount the story with a smile
@PnL … Perhaps you should read a few stories from survivors of the Bataan Death March, survivors of the death ships or other POWs of American/allied servicemen – look into the rape of nanking in china … know that the japanese culture of the time treated prisoners grotesquely and then talk to survivors of the Island hopping campaign and all the pacific D-Days … it was common knowledge of the time that if we were to win a war against the japanese people – civilians AND soldiers, that they would fight to the death at every turn and even in the face of certain death they would attempt to inflict any/all misery on american/allied forces.
It was a Total war that America did not ask for in the pacific. As detestable as the bomb was – both them AND us would have lost 10 times more than those lost in the bombings
@Dawg …. I understand killing soldiers and military related personnel but….to kill civilians that have no choice in what those in power do? is that acceptable?….I mean pearl harbor as horrible as it was ….was allowed to happen…. It wasn’t like they had no clue whatsoever that it was going to happen….and even still they attacked soldiers…. if they had attacked cities and normal people then I could understand the use of the bomb but war is just evil…. I thought there were unwritten rules but I guess not….. innocent babies that just happened to be born in Nagasaki and Hiroshima…dead….children…elderly…. young adults….all people who had no say….dead…..I mean both sides did detestable acts but I don’t recall Japanese attacking the infrastructure of america (non military related) unless they have and I’m just ignorant of it….otherwise a bomb of that scale on innocent people was highly unwarranted
The phillipines was a US protectorate … the japanese completely subjugated Manila and upon the approach of US troops to retake the city the japanese excessively and arbitrarily bayoneted men women and children so they simply would not taste freedom. I don’t disagree that the choice to bomb the japanese cities was a detestable choice but the only other option available was an invasion of japan itself – the cost in lives and displaced people would have been exponentially higher than those lost in the bombings … inaction was not an option … history records that the decision was not made blithely
Yes “detestable” things were done by all sides in WW2 but japan was exceptionally vicious and cruel to civilian populations and prisoners of war. I’d counter that on the whole, the US military behaved honorably and professionally, ESPECIALLY when it came to civilians but also to POWs … but understand that war in inhabited areas, a soldier’s first job is to the mission and to his fellow soldiers … to the extent that civilians can be helped, the us military largely goes out of it’s way to make every effort to save civilians and get them out of harms way.
FYI – i know that both conventional or the Atom bombing seemed indiscriminate and aimed largely at civilians, but but that was largely a victim of the technology of aerial bombing … the actual targeting was geared towards industrial, war manufacturing and transportation targets … the idea was to do what we can actually do now – one bomb one target (bridge/bunker/comm tower etc … the reality back then was they were lucky to hit the right city with 599 planes and 5999 bombs … much less hit the actual intended factory or rail yard … different times. it was horror for everyone
The good ole american art of the disproportionately severe and excessive retaliation. We are the masters of escalation and oneupsmanship.
I was also taking issue with “…war that america did not ask for…”
Depends on who defines “america,” and how. Sure, the general populous and most active military probably didn’t ask for it. But that’s not who really makes the decisions and gives the orders in this country. I would be hard pressed to name a single war that “america didn’t ask for.” As i recall, america is rather notorious for instigation and “pre-emptive” strikes. There are valid reasons why many in this world call us “bullies” (among other things). The states as state-entities may be united in this federation, but the people surely aren’t… and the degree and nature of unity among the states themselves, is rather abstract and not exactly what the term “united” seems to imply.
That said; OTOH, one good early strike most likely did avert a potentially far greater number of casualties… at least to all non-japanese sides.
If you get advance warning that someone’s going to pick a fight, do you knowingly bait them into it, just so you can show off your shiny new weapon for all your friends, and intentionally ruin the guy’s life? Seems kinda fucked up, IMO. Then again, i have trouble believing that Japan didn’t know we had WMD’s. Someone must have known.
I think war only happens in this day and age, because propaganda prevents both typical civilians and military personnel from understanding what is actually occurring. In my mind, we shouldn’t do things without proper justification, or without knowing WHY we’re doing them… and our standards should be quite a bit better than “because i said so” being valid or sufficient justification.
In context we are not talking about every other war we are specifically referring to WW2… and while i agree that Britain/Churchill made no secret that he desperately wanted america to enter the war in Europe, there isn’t much evidence to suggest that there was any advanced knowledge of a imminent war in the pacific … yes, i’m aware that there are some dubious facts that could suggest conspiracy plots to some effect, but the country predominantly was isolationist both popularly and politically and barely tolerated FDR and his lend lease stuff.
FYI – nobody knew we had the bomb until truman alluded to it to stalin at potsdam
Okay so question to all…..what would you have done? dropped the bomb? or what? …..personally….I would have put all efforts into a truce…..Germany had already been defeated (or was very close to defeat) and japan was really in no shape to pose a real threat to the USA….so I would have tried to negotiate some truce to end the war….If these negotiations had broken down I would have warned them that any attack will not be tolerated and will be met with severely deadly force….However….I wouldn’t have used the bomb until they attacked infrastructure of the USA ….. I would have probably ended up with more deaths if things went bad but whats the plus?…..pandoras box would remain closed and nuclear weapons might not be in existence or in known existence until many decades or even centuries later….I don’t think (not sure actually) any other country was developing nuclear weapons at the same time as the USA…..honestly those weapons need to be dismantled by all nations and people and banned from being used or created and if any body tries to make them they need to have their militaristic forces sanctioned for a long period of time…..nothing good can come from nuclear weapons….defense is one thing….annihilation is another
12 comments
What did it feel? You hid under a blanket or sumthin?
huh?
When it went off?
I don’t know I watched a documentary on it and that’s what the lady said….if you want you can watch it on YT here
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00914E174863E7AC
wow I saw this a couple years back and I’ve held it for a long time as well… She was a wise grand old woman… pretty cool and weird how we remembered the same thing
Yeah that just stuck out to me for some reason….I was also very disgusted and revolted when those pilots of the plane that dropped the bomb and developers of the bombs said they had no remorse and no regrets….and the one guy was even smiling while recounting his memories of developing the bomb…..made me truly sick to my stomach….god how I wanted to slap the dog shit out of this man…..you have to be a certain degree of evil to do what these men did and then recount the story with a smile
@PnL … Perhaps you should read a few stories from survivors of the Bataan Death March, survivors of the death ships or other POWs of American/allied servicemen – look into the rape of nanking in china … know that the japanese culture of the time treated prisoners grotesquely and then talk to survivors of the Island hopping campaign and all the pacific D-Days … it was common knowledge of the time that if we were to win a war against the japanese people – civilians AND soldiers, that they would fight to the death at every turn and even in the face of certain death they would attempt to inflict any/all misery on american/allied forces.
It was a Total war that America did not ask for in the pacific. As detestable as the bomb was – both them AND us would have lost 10 times more than those lost in the bombings
war dawg
@Dawg …. I understand killing soldiers and military related personnel but….to kill civilians that have no choice in what those in power do? is that acceptable?….I mean pearl harbor as horrible as it was ….was allowed to happen…. It wasn’t like they had no clue whatsoever that it was going to happen….and even still they attacked soldiers…. if they had attacked cities and normal people then I could understand the use of the bomb but war is just evil…. I thought there were unwritten rules but I guess not….. innocent babies that just happened to be born in Nagasaki and Hiroshima…dead….children…elderly…. young adults….all people who had no say….dead…..I mean both sides did detestable acts but I don’t recall Japanese attacking the infrastructure of america (non military related) unless they have and I’m just ignorant of it….otherwise a bomb of that scale on innocent people was highly unwarranted
The phillipines was a US protectorate … the japanese completely subjugated Manila and upon the approach of US troops to retake the city the japanese excessively and arbitrarily bayoneted men women and children so they simply would not taste freedom. I don’t disagree that the choice to bomb the japanese cities was a detestable choice but the only other option available was an invasion of japan itself – the cost in lives and displaced people would have been exponentially higher than those lost in the bombings … inaction was not an option … history records that the decision was not made blithely
Yes “detestable” things were done by all sides in WW2 but japan was exceptionally vicious and cruel to civilian populations and prisoners of war. I’d counter that on the whole, the US military behaved honorably and professionally, ESPECIALLY when it came to civilians but also to POWs … but understand that war in inhabited areas, a soldier’s first job is to the mission and to his fellow soldiers … to the extent that civilians can be helped, the us military largely goes out of it’s way to make every effort to save civilians and get them out of harms way.
FYI – i know that both conventional or the Atom bombing seemed indiscriminate and aimed largely at civilians, but but that was largely a victim of the technology of aerial bombing … the actual targeting was geared towards industrial, war manufacturing and transportation targets … the idea was to do what we can actually do now – one bomb one target (bridge/bunker/comm tower etc … the reality back then was they were lucky to hit the right city with 599 planes and 5999 bombs … much less hit the actual intended factory or rail yard … different times. it was horror for everyone
historian dawg
The good ole american art of the disproportionately severe and excessive retaliation. We are the masters of escalation and oneupsmanship.
I was also taking issue with “…war that america did not ask for…”
Depends on who defines “america,” and how. Sure, the general populous and most active military probably didn’t ask for it. But that’s not who really makes the decisions and gives the orders in this country. I would be hard pressed to name a single war that “america didn’t ask for.” As i recall, america is rather notorious for instigation and “pre-emptive” strikes. There are valid reasons why many in this world call us “bullies” (among other things). The states as state-entities may be united in this federation, but the people surely aren’t… and the degree and nature of unity among the states themselves, is rather abstract and not exactly what the term “united” seems to imply.
That said; OTOH, one good early strike most likely did avert a potentially far greater number of casualties… at least to all non-japanese sides.
If you get advance warning that someone’s going to pick a fight, do you knowingly bait them into it, just so you can show off your shiny new weapon for all your friends, and intentionally ruin the guy’s life? Seems kinda fucked up, IMO. Then again, i have trouble believing that Japan didn’t know we had WMD’s. Someone must have known.
I think war only happens in this day and age, because propaganda prevents both typical civilians and military personnel from understanding what is actually occurring. In my mind, we shouldn’t do things without proper justification, or without knowing WHY we’re doing them… and our standards should be quite a bit better than “because i said so” being valid or sufficient justification.
In context we are not talking about every other war we are specifically referring to WW2… and while i agree that Britain/Churchill made no secret that he desperately wanted america to enter the war in Europe, there isn’t much evidence to suggest that there was any advanced knowledge of a imminent war in the pacific … yes, i’m aware that there are some dubious facts that could suggest conspiracy plots to some effect, but the country predominantly was isolationist both popularly and politically and barely tolerated FDR and his lend lease stuff.
FYI – nobody knew we had the bomb until truman alluded to it to stalin at potsdam
Okay so question to all…..what would you have done? dropped the bomb? or what? …..personally….I would have put all efforts into a truce…..Germany had already been defeated (or was very close to defeat) and japan was really in no shape to pose a real threat to the USA….so I would have tried to negotiate some truce to end the war….If these negotiations had broken down I would have warned them that any attack will not be tolerated and will be met with severely deadly force….However….I wouldn’t have used the bomb until they attacked infrastructure of the USA ….. I would have probably ended up with more deaths if things went bad but whats the plus?…..pandoras box would remain closed and nuclear weapons might not be in existence or in known existence until many decades or even centuries later….I don’t think (not sure actually) any other country was developing nuclear weapons at the same time as the USA…..honestly those weapons need to be dismantled by all nations and people and banned from being used or created and if any body tries to make them they need to have their militaristic forces sanctioned for a long period of time…..nothing good can come from nuclear weapons….defense is one thing….annihilation is another