Whenever I would rail against the fact that we (USA) are the only ones to have used nuclear weapons, and that I believe these acts were crimes against humanity, my father — John Robert Allender (his father, William Reed Allender fought valiantly in WWII, including at Battle of the Bulge) — used to say, “Hiroshima helped end the war. It was justified. That second bombing, Nagasaki, that was purely revenge, for Pearl Harbor. It was never necessary.”
And while I do *not* agree that either was necessary, I have found that many Americans agree with my Dad’s views….
I look forward to seeing the film you have recommended here.
John Hersey, who wrote "Hiroshima," also visited Nagasaki as part of his research for the book. He never spoke of that publicly, but in a later letter to a friend, he called the bombing "Indefensible," and "A crime against humanity."
White Light, Black Rain covers the current lack of awareness by Japan’s younger generations (when interviewing young high school and college aged women and men in Tokyo, most had no idea what those dates— August 6th and August 9th— meant. 😢
This was interesting. I enjoyed reading it. I read Hiroshima high school. I can even remember the cover of it. The story of these acts has never left me. Horrifying.
I was extremely unhappy with the movie Oppenheimer. The radiation effects were known after the testing. No reference was made to the effects of the residents near that site. No reference to anything about this or the denials still today for those Victim. My grandmother died from cancer six months later. Both aunts had numerous miscarriages. Thanks for sharing this and the links.
Thank you, you are quite right. Whatever may be said of Hiroshima, the atom bombing of Nagasaki was our greatest moral blunder of the war.
Whenever I would rail against the fact that we (USA) are the only ones to have used nuclear weapons, and that I believe these acts were crimes against humanity, my father — John Robert Allender (his father, William Reed Allender fought valiantly in WWII, including at Battle of the Bulge) — used to say, “Hiroshima helped end the war. It was justified. That second bombing, Nagasaki, that was purely revenge, for Pearl Harbor. It was never necessary.”
And while I do *not* agree that either was necessary, I have found that many Americans agree with my Dad’s views….
I look forward to seeing the film you have recommended here.
John Hersey, who wrote "Hiroshima," also visited Nagasaki as part of his research for the book. He never spoke of that publicly, but in a later letter to a friend, he called the bombing "Indefensible," and "A crime against humanity."
this is in the film
White Light, Black Rain covers the current lack of awareness by Japan’s younger generations (when interviewing young high school and college aged women and men in Tokyo, most had no idea what those dates— August 6th and August 9th— meant. 😢
This was interesting. I enjoyed reading it. I read Hiroshima high school. I can even remember the cover of it. The story of these acts has never left me. Horrifying.
I will look for your movie on PBS.
I was born in 1950. I thought as terrible as it was it did a greater good. The further away in time, the more I am ashamed of myself and my nation.
I was extremely unhappy with the movie Oppenheimer. The radiation effects were known after the testing. No reference was made to the effects of the residents near that site. No reference to anything about this or the denials still today for those Victim. My grandmother died from cancer six months later. Both aunts had numerous miscarriages. Thanks for sharing this and the links.
As bad as One Thousand Paper Cranes was, Nagasaki was logarithmically worse: total moral lapse.