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Post by pdh54 on Aug 7, 2012 6:07:46 GMT 8
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Post by okla on Aug 7, 2012 7:36:05 GMT 8
Hey Patty....I am somewhat ashamed/embarrassed to tell this story, but back in 1952 while riding a troop train from Yokohama to Iwakuni, Japan, our train stopped in Hiroshima. From our vantage point at the station, we could see no remaining damage in the "downtown" area, only scrub foliage growth on the surrounding foothills. I was going to get a drink of water from a public fountain inside the station, but "chickened" out because of radiation fear on my part. It had only been seven years since the Enola Gay made it's fatful run over the city. Most of my buddies called me an ignorant "Okie" and other endearing monikers due to my reluctance to swill at the public watering hole. At the time I really did think it risky to drink the local mizu, but later did begin to feel that I had shown my ignorance about such matters. Now, all these years later, I sometimes wonder if I might have done the right thing. I don't think we yet know all there is to know about radiation exposure and it's lingering after effects,etc. Anyhow, "discretion might be the better part of valor". I still don't regret the fact that I waited until the train's next stop for a chance to quench my thirst. What say you? Would you and Chad have lined up and drank to your heart's content? Maybe I was just another ignorant "Okie".
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Post by EXO on Aug 7, 2012 8:26:58 GMT 8
I get somewhat annoyed at the lame people who add persons who have died of old age to the number of people alleged killed in Hiroshima. If ever there was an elastic figure, this is certainly the grand-daddy of them all. I see no reason why we shouldn't add the deaths of every POW, even at age 99, to the numbers blamed upon the Japanese. Further, there are the legions of manipulators who, claiming to be erudite, do not factor into the equation the huge numbers of Chinese being killed by the Japanese, which numbers entirely dwarf the numbers of people killed in the nuclear raids. The lame-stream media sure have dumbed down the understanding of history to such an extent that one considers it can only be a "consensus agenda." I'll let MacArthur have my last say: The issues involving divergent ideals and ideologies, have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate.
Nor is it for us here to meet, representing as we do a majority of the people of the earth, in a spirit of distrust, malice or hatred. But rather it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone befits the sacred purposes we are about to serve, committing all our people unreservedly to faithful compliance with the obligation they are here formally to assume.
It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past—a world founded upon faith and understanding—a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish—for freedom, tolerance and justice.
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Post by okla on Aug 7, 2012 10:30:10 GMT 8
Hey EXO....I would imagine there are numerous people who are not aware that Curtiss Lemay's B-29s wiped out more civilians than did the Hiroshima/Nagasaki raids. Somehow the A-Bombs killed people "deader" than did conventional and incendiary ordnance, thus a difference is projected for all to judge. Postscript....How many Chinese were murdered at Nanking? I am too lazy and tired at this point to look it up? ? If memory serves that total surpasses that of Hiroshima. Of course, it took the Japanese several days to run up their score at Nanking, whereas Hiroshima/Nagasaki took only seconds. I am not including secondary casualties that resulted in ensuing weeks, months and even years. As W.T Sherman so ably stated, "war is Hell".
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Post by darthdract on Aug 11, 2012 1:54:05 GMT 8
Hey EXO....I would imagine there are numerous people who are not aware that Curtiss Lemay's B-29s wiped out more civilians than did the Hiroshima/Nagasaki raids. Somehow the A-Bombs killed people "deader" than did conventional and incendiary ordnance, thus a difference is projected for all to judge. Postscript....How many Chinese were murdered at Nanking? I am too lazy and tired at this point to look it up? ? If memory serves that total surpasses that of Hiroshima. Of course, it took the Japanese several days to run up their score at Nanking, whereas Hiroshima/Nagasaki took only seconds. I am not including secondary casualties that resulted in ensuing weeks, months and even years. As W.T Sherman so ably stated, "war is Hell". Is it because of the revisionist View on the Atomic Bombings since the A-Boms is potentially more Destructive than any weapons even today? I don't know what are the sentiments of people back then so I can't make any conclusions
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Post by dmether on Aug 11, 2012 16:38:39 GMT 8
Ground Zero, Nagasaki, 8 September 1945 Attachments:
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Post by dmether on Aug 11, 2012 16:43:10 GMT 8
Nagasaki Attachments:
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Post by okla on Aug 11, 2012 22:52:58 GMT 8
Hey dmether....I wonder if and when that early US "sightseer" began to suffer from possible radiation sickness??? Did you read my post about being afraid to drink Hiroshima water seven years after the bomb was detonated. With the aid of hindsight and more knowledge on the subject, I suppose it was the notion of a naive, twenty year old kid, but I still am not sorry that I "passed" on the opportunity. At least, as far as I know, any known exposure, thru the intervening years, has been during yearly chest X-Rays at my friendly "Sawbones". lol.
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