> I guess it's a matter of definition of "warning",
> but by any reasonable use of the language, in
> the case of the two bombs on Hiroshima and
> Nagasaki respectively, there was no warning
> that would have given the civilians a chance
> to escape. More than 100 000 civilians were
> killed there.
Lasse,
I regret the great loss of civilians in our bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. My
father, who would have been part of the invasion armies and served in our occupation
army, always had a different view. He saw it as saving many lives on both sides.
Given the extraordinary defense of Saipan that Japanese soldiers mounted, I expect and
he expected, it would be much worse on their home island. Down to death before
dishonor.
The two bombs certainly put a swift end to the war. I was wondering this morning if
Germany or Italy (or for that matter France or Belgium or Netherlands) would rather
have picked a city or two for total distruction versus having all of their nation
serve as a battle ground with the accompanying civilian casualties and destruction.
I'm sure the Russians, who lost millions of military and civilians would have no
problem making the choice.
Finally, you should get your facts straight. We dropped leaflets in Japanese on
Hiroshima 2 or 3 days before the bombing warning the civilian population to leave the
city. We did this again at Nagasaki.
I have no doubt that these leaflets were totally ineffective and viewed as a
propaganda message. But warning was given and I don't know what more we could have
done. This doesn't excuse the tragity of killing all these civilians, but it does
correct your knowledge of the facts.
It was a horrible event, but don't paint us as evil monsters for doing this. Save
that for those who killed millions or let millions be killed and just sat by and
watched without lifting a hand.
Regards, Bob S.
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