Thread: Hiroshima
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Old 08-08-07, 01:39 AM   #78
Iceman
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chock
It's difficult to put yourself in the shoes of people at the time, and that is what you have to do when thinking about how the two atomic bombs were used in WW2. Most of my relatives who served in the Pacific theatre (sadly all now deceased), wouldn't have p*ssed on a Japanese person if they were on fire as a result of what they saw and experienced when fighting the Japanese, particularly those who ended up as POWs, and while this may seem harsh to us, it is nevertheless true.

Having endured several years of war in which barely a family in the entire world hadn't experienced some tragedy or other, it's obvious that most people on the Allied side would have wholeheartedly approved of the attacks, although with the caveat that most people at the time would have had little understanding of the effects of radioactivity, or the tremendous damage from blast and fire.

It should be noted that several raids using conventional munitions exacted larger initial death tolls than the atomic attacks, including one on Dresden and one on Tokyo, both of which started firestorms.

Hard as it seems, some good has come out of the attacks, in that it has served to show people what a terrible thing a nuclear weapon is.

In the UK, Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, who was invited as an observer on one of the nuclear raids, said that it made him very anti-war, and in fact ended up driving him to pursue a very humanitarian life afterwards, culminating in his creation of the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, which provides charity sheltered housing for the infirm in the UK. An organisation from which many thousands of people have benefitted (and still do).

Chock
Some excellent points Chock again...

I think that it is a missed point that Americans were deeply hurt and felt betrayed by Japan for the Sunday attack that came like thief in the night...I cannot help from working with many many retired WWII vets that they felt some revenge/retrobution or whatever was in order as the above Quote from the president makes me lean to agree with that like unto 9/11 attack,the pain of such attacks, out of the blue hurt...and hurt alot of people in different ways...
Quote:
President Truman announced, "If they do not not accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth.
I do not condone the use of such weapons either but it is worth noting to see that none again have been used again in such anger...hopefully cooler heads will always prevail...and keep these weapons out of the hands who would use them without forethought of the consequences for our times.
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