Today (9 Aug), Nagasaki Marks 69th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing

[unokitty]

In the ceremony in the Peace Park here, participants observed a moment of silence at 11:02 a.m., the moment the bomb detonated, killing some 74,000 people in 1945.

Representatives from 51 countries, the largest number to date, participated in the ceremony. From among nuclear powers that are NPT members, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy took part along with representatives from Britain, France, Russia and China.

"Let the living of Nagasaki promise the deceased that they shall not have died in vain as long as their memory can be brought before the eyes of civilized men. All of us throughout the world should pray that such an event shall never occur again in human events." --Lt. Col Victor Delnore, US Army, 1948

Never Forget:
When one person dies, it's a tragedy. When a thousand die, its a statistic.

Uno
Sentry Dog Handler
US Army, 69-71

 

[Sonikku]

I wonder if they would still be mourned had we invaded instead and inflicted even greater casualties, but over a more gradual length of time.

 

[Jaskalas]

killing some 74,000 people in 1945.

More than twice that number have died in Syria these past few years.

Perhaps it's not the body count which credits our remembrance, but the use of a nuclear bomb and the specter of their future use.

 

[theeedude]

What blows my mind is that WWI, Communist Revolutions, WWII, Cold War, etc was all in the last 100 years. So much crazy stuff in such a short time.

 

[Ronstang]

Only 74K? The Japanese got off light considering the mess they started and perpetuated. They should be celebrating the bombs because based on the Japanese mindset that would have led every citizen young, old, male, female, to fight to preserve their homeland if the US would have had to invade Japan proper there would be almost no Japanese people left in the world. The Japanese people in WWII were brutal and cruel racists.....they got what they asked for.

 

[Jaskalas]

I grew up thinking of the Japanese people as close friends of ours.
Do others share that view?

It would appear that WW2 is a success story of taking adversaries and redeeming their people.

 

[unokitty]

I wonder if they would still be mourned had we invaded instead and inflicted even greater casualties, but over a more gradual length of time.

If things were different, then things would be different.

Personally, I'm glad that Japan is now a strong US ally. Arguably, this is an important day for the whole world. I am pleased that Ambassador Kennedy was able to attend the Anniversary Ceremony.

What happened 69 years ago was a terrible thing. IMHO, remembering it will help make sure that it is never repeated.

YMMV.

Uno

 

[silicon]

I grew up thinking of the Japanese people as close friends of ours.
Do others share that view?

It would appear that WW2 is a success story of taking adversaries and redeeming their people.

The Japanese, today, are considered allies but this was not the case before WWII. Why did they attack Pearl Harbor? Because of economic sanctions imposed by the US in the 1930's. However they were very aggressive and conquered many territories because of there expansionist policies. Hong Kong, Singapore, and many many islands in the South Pacific. They even attacked Australia in the north. A fanatic enemy, to surrender was to dishonor the emperor, so they fought to their death. It took 2 atomic bombs to bring them to their senses.

 

[Olikan]

Perhaps it's not the body count which credits our remembrance, but the use of a nuclear bomb and the specter of their future use.

Kinda... both nukes were used in small citys, napalms actually killed way, way more japanese in Tokyo
Still, it shows how effective the nukes are, if tokyo got nucked, the numbers would way higher

 

[CitizenKain]

The Japanese people in WWII were brutal and cruel racists.....they got what they asked for.

Nope, but I don't expect rednecks to understand things like that.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

More than twice that number have died in Syria these past few years.

Perhaps it's not the body count which credits our remembrance, but the use of a nuclear bomb and the specter of their future use.

74,000 dead per day from one nuke vs 200,000 dead over 2 years (~270 dead per day average) during a long war. Hardly comparable.

 

[Ventanni]

As tragic as the entire situation of dropping the two bombs was, the casualties would have been ghastly had we invaded. There was also concern that the Soviets would try and invade Hokkaido.

 

[Matt1970]

More than twice that number have died in Syria these past few years.

Perhaps it's not the body count which credits our remembrance, but the use of a nuclear bomb and the specter of their future use.

I think we killed 2 times as many with carpet bombing as we did with the 2 nukes.

 

[Ronstang]

Nope, but I don't expect rednecks to understand things like that.

They were and I'm no redneck by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[bradley]

I used to believe criticisms written in the below article. Afterall, Japan was already planning on surrendering before the US dropping the atomic bomb.

Was Hiroshima Necessary?: Why the Atomic Bombings Could Have Been Avoided
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html

However, Stalin only declared war against Japan *after* Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fat Man and Little Boy were mainly a message to the Russians concerning completion of the Manhattan Project.

I now see this excellent book as the overall picture, sad to say.
Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan
http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Enemy-S...dp/0674022416/

Interesting link to an article synopsizing much of the book.
Stalin, Not the Bomb, Defeated Japan
http://www.franklycurious.com/index.php?itemid=6021

The article itself, need to register
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articl...idnt_beat_japan_nuclear_world_war_ii?page=0,0

 

[alcoholbob]

Japan surrendered the day after the Soviet Union invaded. Tokyo had already been firebombed and far more casualties than Nagasaki or Hiroshima.

 

[MtnMan]

74,000 dead per day from one nuke vs 200,000 dead over 2 years (~270 dead per day average) during a long war. Hardly comparable.

How so, 200K is still 2.7 times 74K. Dead is dead: period!

 

[cubby1223]

I used to believe criticisms written in the below article. Afterall, Japan was already planning on surrendering before the US dropping the atomic bomb.

Was Hiroshima Necessary?: Why the Atomic Bombings Could Have Been Avoided
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html

However, Stalin only declared war against Japan *after* Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fat Man and Little Boy were mainly a message to the Russians concerning completion of the Manhattan Project.

I now see this excellent book as the overall picture, sad to say.
Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan
http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Enemy-S...dp/0674022416/

Interesting link to an article synopsizing much of the book.
Stalin, Not the Bomb, Defeated Japan
http://www.franklycurious.com/index.php?itemid=6021

The article itself, need to register
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articl...idnt_beat_japan_nuclear_world_war_ii?page=0,0

wow...

The greatest myth of the past 70 years is that Russia was ever a super-power. It gives rise to the belief that they are on equal footing with the U.S. The U.S.S.R. was at best two steps above a total shithole nation, and all they could ever do was dominate over countries that were complete shitholes. They never could and never will match the economic and manufacturing capabilities of the west.

To make the claim Stalin ended the war against Japan is an utter joke.

Let's put it simply: Japan versus Russia (who was decimated by Germany), Japan has a chance of winning. Japan versus U.S., Japan got the brief victory at Pearl Harbor, but the U.S. pretty much dominated everything afterwards. And like your articles clearly say, Stalin & Japan had an agreement not to fight each other until the very end. So, yes, the U.S. dominated the fighting against Japan without any help from Russia on that front.