Link: Hiroshima A-bomb survivors reflect on horror, healing

[banjeaux]

Sixty-seven years ago ...

Indeed, war is hell! Hopefully, we'll never have to use such weapons, again. However, in this case, these bombings save many thousands of lives on both sides.

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/08/hiroshima-abomb-survivors-reflect-horror-healing

HIROSHIMA, Japan

Aug. 6, 1945 8:15 a.m.

The U.S. dropped "Little Boy," as the bomb was called, after the Japanese government refused to issue an unconditional surrender. The 13-kiloton bomb flattened a 4.6-mile radius of downtown Hiroshima and immediately killed more than 80,000 people.

For decades, Hiroshima survivors didn't talk about the horrors of that day. During occupation, the U.S. military did not allow public discussion of the bombing and its aftermath. Then there was the stigma of radiation, fears about its effects on future generations and discrimination against those who were exposed.

Now, as the youngest survivors of the bombing become members of Japan's oldest generation, they are faced with a choice: let their stories die with them, or keep the legacy of Hiroshima alive.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is the most visible reminder of the atomic bomb in the now re-built city. The A-bomb dome, a sign of the city's survival, anchors the park in the back. A memorial in the middle contains a cenotaph with all of the names of the deceased victims and a flame that will be extinguished when all nuclear weapons have been eliminated from the Earth. (Biz Carson | The Virginian-Pilot)

 

[JPT4Bama]

I have somewhat mixed feelings on the whole Hiroshima peace memorial deal. The Japanese military culture in the 1930's-1945 was among the most brutal, bloodthirsty and savage in modern history. Ask the thousands of butchered Chinese and Korean civilians or the thousands of brutalized and tortured POW's. Where is the Japanese memorials for them?

For them to make out that the Allies unfairly or unnecessarily used nukes on them thus making the the Japanese some sort of noble victim is just wrong.

 

[Crimson1967]

I lived in Knoxville for several years and every year on this day a bunch of peacenicks would have a rally in Oak Ridge. I'm sorry innocent people had to die, but that is part of war, unfortunately.

 

[willie52]

Not all have forgotten. When I was stationed at Yokota AB, just outside Tokyo, you always knew who had not forgotten the bombings, most had lost family. It was noticeably different how they treated you. The majority realize that is was Japan who attacked the US and brought that on themselves and they harbor no ill will. I would live there again if I could, enjoyed my time in Japan immensely.

 

[Bamaro]

I lived in Knoxville for several years and every year on this day a bunch of peacenicks would have a rally in Oak Ridge. I'm sorry innocent people had to die, but that is part of war, unfortunately.

Weren't a lot more civilians killed during the fire bombings? This was the 1st war where civilians became a primary target.

 

[skrayper77]

Weren't a lot more civilians killed during the fire bombings? This was the 1st war where civilians became a primary target.

Japan killed a lot of civilians in their "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" - outside of those areas, not so much (i.e. American civilians suffered very little in WWII - Chinese, French, British, Russian and Polish civilians were probably hit the hardest by the Axis powers)

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I've often wondered if the Germans didn't really kick off the civilian target idea with the London blitz. I know that the British had such a burning hatred over that episode that they continually pushed the Allies and Eisenhower for more carpet bombing, whereas Eisenhower preferred strategic bombing. For example, at Dresden, the US B-17s bombed the rail yards on the outskirts and the British swept in at night with incendiaries and hit the central city. I've been there and the destruction was just about total and thousands died there also. The British were open about Dresden being a pay-back for London. It had little strategic value.

By the time we firebombed Tokyo, word was well out about Japanese savagery, as JPT notes above, and any inhibition about sparing civilians was a thing of the past. I think there was also the feeling that the Japanese people as a whole were totally invested in the war and their emperor, who had semi-divine status. I've actually known and talked to a couple of guys who were Japanese POWs and heard them relate what they went through. It's hard to listen to, TBF. They did not recognize nor follow the Geneva Convention.

A year or two ago, one of the networks had a special on the A-bombings. One poor guy was unlucky enough to survive both. I forget exactly how he made his way from Hiroshima to Nagasaki, but once there, he was totally unable to convince the people there what had happened in Hiroshima and what they would have to do to survive. What he described was simply beyond their ability to understand and believe. Then, of course, the bomb hit...

 

[Bodhisattva]

From my time in Korea I learned that the resentment toward Japan is still pretty strong. The Japanese occupation was cruel - from the pointless destruction of Korean cultural artifacts to the enslavement of 200,000 Korean women.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/06/world/asia/korean-comfort-women/index.html

And, of course, the Japanese treatment of Nanking - @350,000 Chinese slaughtered in eight weeks - is one of the worst displays of savagery in recorded history.

 

[92tide]

I've often wondered if the Germans didn't really kick off the civilian target idea with the London blitz. I know that the British had such a burning hatred over that episode that they continually pushed the Allies and Eisenhower for more carpet bombing, whereas Eisenhower preferred strategic bombing. For example, at Dresden, the US B-17s bombed the rail yards on the outskirts and the British swept in at night with incendiaries and hit the central city. I've been there and the destruction was just about total and thousands died there also. The British were open about Dresden being a pay-back for London. It had little strategic value.

slaughterhouse five is one of my all time favorite books.

 

[DiamondDust]

slaughterhouse five is one of my all time favorite books.

It is my all-time favorite.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

slaughterhouse five is one of my all time favorite books.

I re-read it before visiting Dresden. What I didn't know was that the citizens there left the central city destroyed as a monument until reunification. They then rebuilt it, using old photographs and leaving the blackened stones standing, so that every building is a patchwork. If I have time later today, I'll put up a couple of pix, if anyone is interested...

 

[92tide]

I re-read it before visiting Dresden. What I didn't know was that the citizens there left the central city destroyed as a monument until reunification. They then rebuilt it, using old photographs and leaving the blackened stones standing, so that every building is a patchwork. If I have time later today, I'll put up a couple of pix, if anyone is interested...

i really want to get to germany in some non-winter time to go visit and hopefully we will get to do that in the near future. we have to go to berlin once a year (for a trade show) but it is always in the dead of winter and not great for sight seeing.

would love to see the pics

 

[TIDE-HSV]

i really want to get to germany in some non-winter time to go visit and hopefully we will get to do that in the near future. we have to go to berlin once a year (for a trade show) but it is always in the dead of winter and not great for sight seeing.

would love to see the pics

In fact, I was in Dresden with my daughter at Thanksgiving, partially to see their Weihnacht's Markt. We made a flying trip (actually on the Autobahn, with her driving 120 MPH in Mini Cooper) from Stuttgart, where she lives. We only stayed overnight. The Markt there wasn't much bigger or more impressive than Stuttgart's. Stuttgart's name has an interesting origin. There by the Neckar River was where a duke back in 950 AD thought would be a good place for his horse breeding operation. Stuttgart = "stud garden"

 

[BamaPokerplayer]

Yeah I think the Japanese, at the time, were the worst people on the planet.

 

[92tide]

In fact, I was in Dresden with my daughter at Thanksgiving, partially to see their Weihnacht's Markt. We made a flying trip (actually on the Autobahn, with her driving 120 MPH in Mini Cooper) from Stuttgart, where she lives. We only stayed overnight. The Markt there wasn't much bigger or more impressive than Stuttgart's. Stuttgart's name has an interesting origin. There by the Neckar River was where a duke back in 950 AD thought would be a good place for his horse breeding operation. Stuttgart = "stud garden"

i bet NYBF has a condo in stuttgart

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Here a few pix of central Dresden, showing the patchwork rebuild. As you can see from the building my daughter is in front of, sometimes there wasn't much stone remaining...

 

[Dallas4Bama]

The rape of Nanking is to my knowledge still one of the most horrific acts ever committed by a people. Their savagery knew no bounds. There was no line they wouldn't cross.

 

[Crimson1967]

Earle...did you ever talk to Bert Bank about his POW experience? I've read stories about the Bataan Death March and it was unbelievable what they went through.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Earle...did you ever talk to Bert Bank about his POW experience? I've read stories about the Bataan Death March and it was unbelievable what they went through.

I've both read and heard him talk about it. Also, my former SIL's husband was actually on the march itself and I've heard his account, first hand. It beggars the imagination. I've also read other accounts. The Japanese simply think differently than we do (I'm not talking about Japanese-Americans - I'm talking about the ones who grew up under that regime in Japan). I'm disappointed in the lack of teaching of real history in Germany about the Holocaust, but WWII simply didn't happen, according to Japanese school history. I lived for nine years next to a former NAZI. His wife was a decent human being and we talked about the problem many times. She said that everyone knew what was going on and a "bogey-man" warning which was used with kids was "Do what I say or you'll go up the chimneys." Think about it...

 

[BamaFanTraeInGeorgia]

http://www.asianholocaust.org/

this is a pretty informative website dedicated to the Asian Holocaust. It may be a little harsh for younger readers, especially on some of the links it provides. Most people do not realize how brutal Japan was in their corner of the world. The Nazi's get most of the press, especially for Mengele's practices.

FWIW....it should be noted that the country of Japan has abolished its participation of extermination during WW II from its history books.