... because I spent the whole day at a gun show and was pooped when I got home and forgot to post that August 9th was the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki (a city in Japan for today's Geography wizards of the imbecilic moron type).
An estimated 60,000 to 80,000 died because of Fat Man, the single atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Just 3 days before, Little Boy, the first atomic bomb ever detonated during warfare was dropped on Hiroshima Japan. An estimated 90,000 to 140,000 people died due to that first bomb. (That was during WWII for those few youngsters among my readers who may have no clue.)
Thank the heavens it took only two such bombs to end the war, the United States of America could have dropped another within an another 7 to 8 days. Why we used the atom bomb when we could have fire bombed both cities - as we had done to Tokyo between March 9-10, 1945 (killing an estimated 100,000) (source) - is anyone's guess but I imagine, in great part that it was an urge to end the war as soon as possible and maybe more importantly (or so they thought at the time) was a warning to the Soviet Union. Whatever the reason - in the end they had the right effect - the two bombings effectively ended the war.
With the threat of the annihilation of the Japanese people in sight, Emperor Hirohito agreed with two of his war council members - against the advice of his war minister who thought the war was not yet lost (imagine the balls and or the stupidity of that man) - that the war needed to end. Hirohito authorized the unconditional surrender of Japan to the allies and WWII soon came to an end. (Source.)
I understand that the bomb probably saved tens of thousands of lives in the long run and ended a war that could have resulted in the takeover of the world by the remaining & extremely oppressive Axis power Japan. Yet somehow, the thought of what nuclear war would do to the world today just scares the stinky stuff right out of me. The bombs detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki turned the world in a different and much scarier place.
Oppenheimer, considered the father of the bomb, was right about one thing when he said: "I am become Death the destroyer of worlds". It was TEOTWAWKI for the people of the earth in 1945, the world as people knew it had been destroyed forever and a new world emerged from the ashes that day.
All the best,
Glenn B
An estimated 60,000 to 80,000 died because of Fat Man, the single atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Just 3 days before, Little Boy, the first atomic bomb ever detonated during warfare was dropped on Hiroshima Japan. An estimated 90,000 to 140,000 people died due to that first bomb. (That was during WWII for those few youngsters among my readers who may have no clue.)
Thank the heavens it took only two such bombs to end the war, the United States of America could have dropped another within an another 7 to 8 days. Why we used the atom bomb when we could have fire bombed both cities - as we had done to Tokyo between March 9-10, 1945 (killing an estimated 100,000) (source) - is anyone's guess but I imagine, in great part that it was an urge to end the war as soon as possible and maybe more importantly (or so they thought at the time) was a warning to the Soviet Union. Whatever the reason - in the end they had the right effect - the two bombings effectively ended the war.
With the threat of the annihilation of the Japanese people in sight, Emperor Hirohito agreed with two of his war council members - against the advice of his war minister who thought the war was not yet lost (imagine the balls and or the stupidity of that man) - that the war needed to end. Hirohito authorized the unconditional surrender of Japan to the allies and WWII soon came to an end. (Source.)
I understand that the bomb probably saved tens of thousands of lives in the long run and ended a war that could have resulted in the takeover of the world by the remaining & extremely oppressive Axis power Japan. Yet somehow, the thought of what nuclear war would do to the world today just scares the stinky stuff right out of me. The bombs detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki turned the world in a different and much scarier place.
Oppenheimer, considered the father of the bomb, was right about one thing when he said: "I am become Death the destroyer of worlds". It was TEOTWAWKI for the people of the earth in 1945, the world as people knew it had been destroyed forever and a new world emerged from the ashes that day.
All the best,
Glenn B
3 comments:
Don't forget that the Army Air Corps was carpet bombing Tokyo and other cities prior to the Atomic Bombs. The fires killed nearly as many, it just took longer.
The Bombs simply made it more efficient. One plane instead of hundreds.
I didn't forget, it was in the second or third paragraph.
The book "Downfall," by Richard B. Frank, tells the story of the end of the war and details the planning for the invasion, the casualty estimates, the Japanese planning (they could read a map, too), the U.S. reaction to intelligence about the planning, and the reasoning behind dropping both bombs. It's a fascinating read. I highly recommend it.
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