August 6th A Controversial Anniversary

Tomorrow, 6 August 1945, the first Atomic Bomb was dropped. The target,  Hiroshima, Japan. The bombing has since caused rants and debates. Some say the bombing was necessary, others think the bomb was dropped out of noting more than racial hatred.

Much has been made of America's racial animousity towards the Japanese prior to, and during, World War II. Those who claim that the west considered the Imperial Army inferior are quite correct. I have read military manuals written prior to World War II and have found descriptions of the Japanese soldier, and airman, as stereo typically bespecaled and short sighted. Japanese pilots were considered a joke because, the shape of their eyes made them unable to see during areobatic flight. And, because of their short stature the common infantryman was below par as a fighting man. Both assumtions proved false. Little is said about the eastern thought of American military martial skills. . 

Japanese ideas on the merit of western, American in particular, military skill is hardly if ever mentioned. The Japanes military considered the average American, a playboy, weak and self centered; useless and unable to withstand any type of hardship. The Japanese heiarchy thought all people of the western world were beneath contempt. The sword of racial hatred cut both ways, despite claims to the contrary. The use of the Atomic Bomb haunts us to this day but, its use wasn't because of bigotry.

Having visited Peace Park, in Hiroshima, I can tell you it is a place of contrasts. It is a very disturbing place and, at the same time, peaceful, and hopeful. Looking at photos of the city after it was bombed, and seeing the metropolis in modern times, one would never know that this is the same place. Unlike the old pictures, modern Hiroshima is bustling and thriving.

Still, reminders are there and speak volumes. At the cement walled building, still standing after the bomb was dropped, and known as Ground Zero, shadow images of people were photographed into the smooth cement wall by the intense heat and light of the blast. 

Those souls stand forever in their terminal positions. Some are looking up into the sky, shading their eyes to see the aircraft flying above the city. Some are simply standing and, apparently, going about their daily business. On the bridge, spanning the river, there are darkened images on the cement benches where people were sitting when the bomb detonated above them. These shadow images remain as mute testament of the intense light and heat caused by the bomb. 

There is a museum at Peace Park. At the exit of the museum is a book that visitors can sign and express their thoughts prior to leaving the disturbing exhibits. The reviews given are mixed.

All are horrified and wish that such an event had never occured. Many westerners express themselves with single word entries such as: Nanking, Pearl Harbor, and Bataan. One entry caught my eye and has remained with me over the 40 plus years since my treks around Hiroshima.

It read; " If this hadn't happened, I wouldn't be here writing."

That is an interesting way to look at the pivitol event of 6 August. No matter the nationality of the writer, he/she may well have not been alive to write in the register. Had the allies invaded Japan the outcome would have been more of a horror than both Hiroshima, and Nagasaki combined.

Aside from the allied casualty estimates of over one million killed and wounded, just in the opening days of the invasion, Japanese losses would have been worse. This would have been the vilest, and bloodiest battle in human history.

 With Stalin's Soviet forces swooping down from the north, like vultures, and the allies driving up from the south, trying to out pace the communists, an entire civilization would have been lost forever. Would any Japanese have survived? Very few.

As the allied armies moved closer to Japan proper the more fierce the battles became. Truman didn't want to fight another battle such as Okinawa. And, as horrible as the Okinawan operation was to complete, fighting within the home islands would make Operation Easter almost a footnote in the carnage of World War II. No matter how one feels about war, I doubt that many would just stand by and allow a foreign power to peacefully walk ashore and take over their country. Especially one that has been vilified as raping, child murderers. Allied soldiers, especially U.S. Marines were labeled as such monsters.

Japanese propaganda told the average citizen that American Marines were recruited from prisons and insane asylums; the more violent and sadistic, the better. Who wouldn't fight to the death against such a foe? The mass suicides of cilvilians on Saipan, and Okinawa proves the effectiveness of  Japanese myths regarding Americans as monsters.

Plus, the politics of the dawning cold war, would have trumped humanity on both sides. One side fighting for their homes, the other trying to gain advantage over a future enemy. An entire culture would have been destroyed in this homicidal process forever. The world would be a poorer place without the richness of Japanese tradition.

Dropping the bomb saved my father's life, and the lives of millons of others, American and Japanese. It is easy to sit back 60 plus years after the event and play Monday morning quarterback.

Pronouncing judgement on events of the past using the political correctness of 2013 thought is arrogant at best. No historical event, or person, can withstand the shallowness of modern moral tought.