65 years since Hiroshima - The Lives Saved

[REK]

As we approach the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombs, let's not lose sight of the wider picture.

This short video clip features a former prisoner of the Japanese - one of countless thousands whose lives were changed by the bombings in a way that is hardly ever mentioned today.

[paul wood]

As we approach the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombs, let's not lose sight of the wider picture.

This short video clip features a former prisoner of the Japanese - one of countless thousands whose lives were changed by the bombings in a way that is hardly ever mentioned today.

Reminds me of the story told by my school religious studies teacher in the 1970's who had been a Military Chaplain. He evidently was going to be on the first wave of the land invasion of Japan which was "Operation Certain Death". When he heard that Japan had surrendered after the Nagasaki bomb he definitely was most grateful that the bombs had given him a further lease of life although he was shocked by the horrific results of the weapons.

Paul

[Paul R]

Thank God we dropped those two bombs. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if we(Allies) invaded the mainland Japan.

[army historian]

YES, people forget. The United States Quartermaster Corps ordered 550,000 Purple Hearts for the invasion! Most estimates of causalities for the landings were a million or more for just US. My father was a Combat Engineer on El Shima in the Ryukyu Islands. My father-in-law was at the San Francisco Harbor Defenses (back from Greenland) and would have been sent to the invasion of Japan. One of my Uncles was in the Pacific, and another was there also in the Navy. I do not believe any would have survived. So I and my wife and a number of cousins would not have been born. I believe the bombs though very destructive (200,000 lives) really saved millions of soldiers and Japanese civilians. A note: the firebombs raids on Tokyo killed 250,000 civilians, that is more than both atomic bombs. Captain Albert

[Brian Wolfe]

This is one of those topics where you can't really quote the statistics because part of the equation is missing, that being what if the bombs hadn't been dropped. Since the Japanese Air Force and the Navy had been effectivly destroyed, what if we had simply continued to bomb Japan into surrender. The "what ifs" can go on forever.

One must take comfort in believing whichever scenairo you are willing to accept.

When we look at this we can't simply say the "bomb" probably saved X number of Americans. The bomb probably ended up saving more Japanese lives than American, strange how such a horrific event may well have been a blessing for all involved.

Respectfully submitted

Brian