Quotable quotes

[Bruce_in_Oz]

"We shall fight them on the beaches"; Winston Churchill

"I shall return"; Douglas MacArthur

"Quantity has a quality all of its own", Marshall Timoshenko.

"What the F*** was THAT?"; the Mayor of Hiroshima.

Information

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[oldpaul]

I apologize for this late response, but not much. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August of 1945 immediately killed some 40,000 to 60,000 human beings and possibly as many as 145,000 or more in the following months. The effects of the radiation continues on even today. There is a cogent argument that can be made that this bombing and the second at Nagasaki helped shorten the war, but there is an equally sound argument that contends otherwise and that the entire raid was unnecessary and punitive. I cannot find a definitive reason to support either position. However, I think it is abhorrent and disgusting to make light of such a horrific event. There exist today radiation 'photographs' on buildings and streets of innocent people who were vaporized by the blast. I am not a hardened combat veteran but I saw enough. This is not funny. Tom

[vintage hunter]

the entire raid was unnecessary and punitive.

Oh really? They could've avoided it by accepting the surrender terms offered to them before the first A-bomb was dropped, but they didn't and chose to fight on. So, IMO they got what they had coming.

[WarPig1976]

The blame for every single one of those deaths lies at the feet of Hirohito.

[vintage hunter]

The blame for every single one of those deaths lies at the feet of Hirohito.

I agree 100%.

[oldpaul]

"There is a cogent argument that can be made that this bombing and the second at Nagasaki helped shorten the war, but there is an equally sound argument that contends otherwise and that the entire raid was unnecessary and punitive." That was my entire sentence, nice editing for effect. Hirohito caused the deaths, Truman caused the deaths aliens from the planet Xenon caused the deaths, I don't give a rat's petuti who caused these deaths (not entirely true, just not germane to my point). My post is not about who was to blame in 1945 it is about the OP making a joke of the deaths of 140,000 mostly civilian human beings who had the misfortune to be living in Hiroshima in 1945. Bad form at best. As always, just my opinion. Tom

[villiers]

Having lived in Germany for over 20 years ... and having constantly been confronted with their lament over the bombing of Hamburg and Dresden, I can assure anyone who is still interested that the final months of WWII taught the Germans an indelible lesson: military aggression is to be avoided at all costs! And the same might well apply to Japan. And it might also be worthwhile contemplating on how many lives have been saved during the ensuing seventy years as a result of having bombed Germany and Japan into submission (quite apart from the lives of allied soldiers). Demonstrating the terrible effects of nuclear destruction has prevented major world powers from escalating the Cold War and has placed politicians in the same precarious position as front line soldiers and civilians. We have a lot to be grateful for!

[mike webb]

Bad jokes aside the atomic explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrific events but if the Allies had to invade the Japanese home islands it was estimated that over 1,000,000 American lives would have been lost and over 10,000,000 Japanese(mostly civilian) would have died. Which course would have been better? Anyone can "Monday morning quarterback" events in WW2 but you have to consider that the decision to bomb was made with all information available in 1945. On another note over a quarter million Chinese civilians died in the Rape of Nanking alone at the hands of the Japanese. Blaming Emperor Hirohito is rather lame as he was just a figurehead in Japan though revered by the people. The Japanese military ran the country beginning in the 1930's and those who dissented often disappeared or were murdered by Japanese officers in civilian clothes. As in the time of the Shoguns in Japan, whoever controlled the Emperor controlled the nation.

[Badger]

Points made... thread closed...

Regards,
Doug