Reb,

Eatonton was also saved, the legend in our family being that the Union general sent to burn it was a cousin of my great great grandfather who lived there.

(09-25-2009 02:20 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(09-25-2009 02:01 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Seeing the video of the burnt children was haunting. I understand the 1st bomb I don't get the 2nd bomb three days later. We should of given them a month at least. I'm going to do some more research. I won't post again til tommorrow. I want to know why the sites were chosen. I want to know if any attempts were made for surrender before fatman. If any of you know please feel free to respond.

The Wikipedia article on bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is pretty accurate to the depth that it goes (assuming what the Hiroshima/Nagasaki tour guides tell you is accurate). A few details of interest. The Hiroshima bomb missed the intended target by a few hundred yards due to unexpected winds. Nagasaki was a secondary target both days. Hiroshima was open on the first day, but the primary target on the second day (Kokura) was not so they switched to Nagasaki. The USSR essentially declared war against Japan on August 5 (the day before Hiroshima) and invaded Manchuria on August 9 (the day of Nagasaki).

The Wikipedia article suggests that Japan did not offer surrender during the interim between the two bombings, and that what the Japanese were considering was an offer of surrender under terms that would not have been accepted.

This is extremely surprising to me. Granting that wikipedia implies that over 100,000 died in the few months after the war due to the bombs, but I would have expected the incidence of fatal cancer to be in the many 10s of thousands, not under 600.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bomb...d_Nagasaki

Quote:since then [ed: the end of 1945], more have died from leukemia (231 observed) and solid cancers (334 observed) attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs

I find this very encouraging as I continue to look for depleted uranium keychains online.

The Target Committee at Los Alamos on May 10?11, 1945, recommended Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and the arsenal at Kokura as possible targets. The committee rejected the use of the weapon against a strictly military objective because of the chance of missing a small target not surrounded by a larger urban area. The psychological effects on Japan were of great importance to the committee members. They also agreed that the initial use of the weapon should be sufficiently spectacular for its importance to be internationally recognized. The committee felt Kyoto, as an intellectual center of Japan, had a population "better able to appreciate the significance of the weapon." Hiroshima was chosen because of its large size, its being "an important army depot" and the potential that the bomb would cause greater destruction because the city was surrounded by hills which would have a "focusing effect".

Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson struck Kyoto from the list because of its cultural significance, over the objections of General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project. According to Professor Edwin O. Reischauer, Stimson "had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier." On July 25 General Carl Spaatz was ordered to bomb one of the targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, or Nagasaki as soon after August 3 as weather permitted and the remaining cities as additional weapons became available.



My apologies it was the Secretary of the war not a general.

(09-25-2009 12:36 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Where in the F does this mentality come from???????????

The US spent billions to develop the nuclear bomb........................

because we spend billions we had to get our money's worth........ What exactly are you trying to say here?

The lives of Americans troops WAS SAVED. I was perfectly clear, maybe learn how to comprehend. I told you about that comprehension problem you got.

You point to the cruelty of the atomic bomb. Better check your history, the fire bombings were by far the cruelest action America has EVER taken. Estimates vary but 100,000 dead, 125,000 wounded. How, you can continue with your OUTRAGEOUS LIBERAL LEANING interpretation of history.You could actually do some research.

I am offended that the Greatest Generation are not all even IN the ground and their struggle is being minimized by Lets Make Nice Liberal Learners.

(09-25-2009 09:38 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson struck Kyoto from the list because of its cultural significance, over the objections of General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project. According to Professor Edwin O. Reischauer, Stimson "had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier." On July 25 General Carl Spaatz was ordered to bomb one of the targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, or Nagasaki as soon after August 3 as weather permitted and the remaining cities as additional weapons became available.



My apologies it was the Secretary of the war not a general.

Yeah, sorry, that was not a recanting by you. What "you" said was:

Quote:A general nixed Kyoto in one of the articles I read because he visited there and it was one of his favorite cities. This is fascinating research.

Clearly I'm right here. It was nixed because the "Evil Americans", what you clearly think we are, nixed it due to it's religious importance to the Japanese.

Dude

I read like 20 articles on this yesterday. I confused the secretary of the war with a general. JEESH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote:Stimson "had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier."

Just substitute Stimson for a general. Honest mistake.