Atom Bomb and Peace Memorial

I decided to make this a stand-alone post because it deserves its own place. To be sure, these are MY thoughts, and certainly, you will have your own opinions and ideas. But this is my blog, so you can read mine or not.

In August of 1945, the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Hiroshima was a vast military complex, housing thousands of troops and producing the machines of war. They conscripted children as young as 13 to work on the streets and in factories to help the war effort. The area had a population of about 350,000.

At that time, in summer of 1945, the US was about to launch an invasion of the Japanese mainland. The plans included about 500,000 personnel from the US and allied nations. The Soviets would be included.

Coming fresh off the invasion at Normandy (D-Day) and the losses suffered there, President Truman was reluctant to lose so many American lives to another invasion. Also, relations with the Soviets were already very tense. Stalin was proving to be a real thorn in Truman's side.

The decision was made to drop the bomb, in hopes that it would bring a rapid end to the war, save countless soldiers' and sailors' lives, and keep the Soviets from being included in the "spoils of war."

All of that is the "Why" of how the US came to the decision to drop the bomb. It had never been done before. No one knew what the radiation would do or how long it would last.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial doesn't explain any of the WHY. It focuses on the WHAT. What happened? How many died, how much land was destroyed? What were the after-effects, what if another bomb were used again? All of those things are important, to be sure. But it was the only thing, the only part of the story being told. Young people are there, learning of the horrors, but not how to avoid the situation that brought forth the use of such a devastating weapon.

As a United States military man, I hate war. I believe that there are no real winners in war. I also know that history is written by the victors, so every story has more than one side. I want people to learn from the event and understand the horrors of atomic warfare. But they also need to understand that three days after the bombing on Nagasaki, Japan surrendered. Not another American life was lost. Not another ally's life. Not another Japanese child. It was OVER. Who knows how many lives would have been lost had the war continued? Would Japan now be a communist country, ruled by Russia? We can't know for sure.

In the end, the lives lost attributed to the atomic bomb in Hiroshima are calculated by the UN at 300,000 (approx). This number is contrary to the 140,000 stated by the city of Hiroshima. This includes those lost in the explosion, lives lost to radiation, and those lives lost by the aftereffects of treating the injured.

Yes, that's a lot. But please, spend some time to know the "Why" of this. Nowhere did they show the unprovoked surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The death march of Bataan, etc. Just the aftermath of the bombing.

My take on the whole thing is that they missed a real lesson: Don't mess with the sleeping dragon. The United States. Fuck around and find out.