Aug. 6, 1945

[PGJPJ]

Hiroshima, a good time to reflect how that event changed the world.
Some for the better, and some for the worst.

[Jacks or Better]

Got to visit Peace Park and the museum in Hiroshima when I was stationed at Iwakuni in '70-'71. Going through the museum and seeing coins melted together and beverage bottles melted and fused together, photos of what was left of people - you pray that it never happens again - to anyone, anywhere, ever.

[PGJPJ]

Originally Posted by Jacks or Better

Got to visit Peace Park and the museum in Hiroshima when I was stationed at Iwakuni in '70-'71. Going through the museum and seeing coins melted together and beverage bottles melted and fused together, photos of what was left of people - you pray that it never happens again - to anyone, anywhere, ever.

Yep, MCAS Iwakuni JP. I was stationed there from about 92-94. We went to Peace Park many times, really an interesting place. Especially the museum.

[1pump]

Yeah, it was too bad that had to happen. The only good thing about it is that the whole world learned a lesson about the horrors of nuclear weapons.

[Dave G]

Originally Posted by 1pump

Yeah, it was too bad that had to happen. The only good thing about it is that the whole world learned a lesson about the horrors of nuclear weapons.

......and not to mess with America baby!

Let’s not forget history now. Had we not done that, how much longer would the war have gone on?

But it killed civilians! Like America was the only country that killed civilians. everyone, dust off your history books. Pearl Harbor! NO IT ISN'T A LAKE WITH PEARLS IN IT!!!

Ya, we learned. How many Countries have nukes now! And we thought Warsaw Pact was crazy. Oh ya, I hear it now....Warsaw Pack, who is that? There are some Countries that have nukes and you just pray their leaders stay on their meds.

Tragic yes, necessary I also say yes. Will it ever happen again, I hope not but if it does, only then will we realize how really tragic these nuclear weapons are.

[Silver Hilton]

Dave, methinks you protest a bit too much. Let's not revel in the fact that we killed a lot of relatively innocent folk, regardless of how justified it may have been. It's still sad.

On a brighter note, Aug 6 is my anniversary, and my wife Sally and I have now been married for 25 years.

[Dave G]

Originally Posted by Silver Hilton

Dave, methinks you protest a bit too much. Let's not revel in the fact that we killed a lot of relatively innocent folk, regardless of how justified it may have been. It's still sad.

On a brighter note, Aug 6 is my anniversary, and my wife Sally and I have now been married for 25 years.

Well there you go 25 years, my 25 is next year.

[1pump]

When I say it had to happen, I mean it HAD to happen. The Japanese didn't leave us any choice. Their conduct during the war absolutely necessitated it. The Japanese government was more than willing to sacrifice every last man, woman and child in the "defense" of the Home Islands. I say "defense" because their only aim was to inflict as many Allied casualties as possible while sacrificing themselves for their Emperor. Banzai!

Kinda funny how nobody remembers that the Tokyo B-29 raids in early 1945 killed more Japanese than the Hiroshima atomic bomb did, and they died every bit as horrifically. The 1945 bombing of Dresden, Germany (a non-military target) incinerated even more civilians than that, courtesy of the British.
Nobody seems to care about the millions of Chinese who died during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. Oh, yeah, and the Filipinos, Vietnamese, Indonesians, Malaysians, Micronesians, Koreans, and about every race of Pacific Islander.

I always hear about how American lives were saved by Hiroshima and Nagasaki. True enough, but those bombs saved far more Japanese lives than American. The unfortunate citizens of Nagasaki and Hiroshima died to save their countrymen from their own arrogant government.

Just another sad chapter during the global nightmare of 1939-45.