The Japanese use the same word for fingers and toes. How can that be?
Tonight, watching the A's-Mariners game on TV, played in Seattle, I witnessed the crowd's chant "Ichiro, Ichiro!" This is the way the greatest hitter of our era, with a career .332 batting average, who happens to be Japanese, is worshiped by Seattle fans.
I wonder how many Americans reflect about the strange relationship we maintain with Japan. When I was a kid, in Royal Oak, Michigan, it seemed like every cheap item had a "Made in Japan" label, much as the "Made in China" label dominates now.
Yet, this was only a decade after we had dropped not one, but two atomic bombs on unarmed citizens in two cities. During my reporting career, I interviewed a number of the scientists who created the bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. Every one of them regretted what our government did with their discovery.
In retrospect, however, I think the U.S. government's decision to bomb Hiroshima was correct. We had to show the stubborn Japanese elite that we had a weapon so terrible that resisting would mean suicide. It is clear that the Japanese military leadership, which continuously lied to the Emperor and the population alike, had bullied an entire nation into being willing to fight to the death rather than allow the evil U.S. to conquer their homeland. The loss of life that would have resulted from a land invasion, Americans and Japanese, is unimaginable.
But the second bomb, on Nagasaki, remains, in my opinion, indefensible. Whenever you take the time to study history, and the repercussions of the decisions leaders take, you are required to exercise your own judgment.
I've read everything I could get my hands on about the Pacific Theater of WW2. My conclusion is my country committed a war crime on Nagasaki. Sixty years later, we don't yet have any resolution whatsoever. All we have is the haunting chant for a Japanese hero in a baseball stadium in the far northwest. Few, if any, of those chanting, I would guess, have any sense of the terrible and tragic irony this represents.
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3 comments:
Harry S. Truman, Democrat President from Independence, Missouri was, then, a war criminal?
VE Day in Germany found my father, like hundreds of thousands of other soldiers, rejoicing that they might finally be able to come home. After many weeks the formula for determining which troops would return and in what order set his date for departure in early August, 1945. But it was not departing Europe to return to the US. The invasion of Japan was a foregone conclusion. Major elements of allied armies in Europe were being redeployed to the Pacific as massive preparations were finalized to launch what was to be the last major operation of the war, Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.
Estimates of Allied casualties ranged to over 1,000,000, based on the known fanaticism of the Japanese up to that point. Beyond the demonstrated determination of the Japanese soldier to die rather than surrender, there was the fresh spectacle of Okinawa. Begun in March, 1945, and lasting for 82 days, the blood bath consumed more than 90,000 Japanese soldiers, 50,000 Allied soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians. Many thousands of the civilian men, women, and children were victims of suicide to avoid capture. Assuming that the population on the main island of Japan was at least as extreme in their determination to fight an invasion, the 1,000,000 allied casualty estimate was probably not overstated.
Dad, as did many other young soldiers, doubted he would ever make it home. Their doubts were well founded.
I do not believe for one minute that the likes of Harry Truman would have employed the deadly force of a second atomic bomb except that it was, in his best judgment, absolutely necessary to end the war and stop the carnage. For us today to pass such harsh pronouncements on Harry Truman is absolutely wrong.
Dan, you have overlooked my point.
I agree that the first bomb had to be dropped, because the fanatic Japanese military elite (which lied to the emperor and the population) would have mobilized the population of Japan to fight to the death had the US invaded. This would have led to unimaginable casualties, both American and Japanese.
But what I wrote is that the decision to drop the second bomb was a war crime. Here is true history: Japan was in disarray. Nobody in Tokyo had yet reached Hiroshima to assess just how devastating our uranium bomb actually was. They were on their way, trying to find out. Had they gotten there in time, they clearly would have recognized that they could never defeat our forces.
But the evidence shows that Truman, et.al., were really by this time focused not on Japan but on the USSR and therefore wanted to demonstrate that we also had a plutonium bomb...thus, Nagasaki.
We dropped it and murdered more civilians than anyone could count. It is reasonable to argue that since Japan did not surrender after Hiroshima that we logically had to seal the deal at Nagasaki.
But historians agree that we acted too soon, and that our true target was the Kremlin, not the collapsing Japanese leadership.
So, all we got out of this was the Cold War. All the Japanese got out of it was the needless death of hundreds of thousands of innocents.
Sorry, but I expect better from my country. We have never even apologized for this unnecessary carnage.
Human beings should always weigh our actions not only on practical grounds, but also on ethical grounds. In that context, America failed us all.
David,
I owe you an apology. I did get your point; I simply responded with the same pointless arguments about “morality” in the decision to use these horrific weapons. I know better.
This is only common banter between those seemingly eager to point out what is “wrong” with America and those who are eager to find what is “right”. To weigh in to this discussion with predisposition to either approach is pointless. We have had more than six decades of emotional discussions with no definitive result, even among some of our most learned historians. To weigh in believing you are free from such prejudice is folly.
As we know, there are abundant opportunities along the path which is American history to point at “terrible” actions which hurt many people. If you are so predisposed, you could spend a lifetime highlighting the “ugly” to ensure no one ever forgets what is “wrong” with America. My emotional response to your use of the term “war crime” only demonstrates my desire to defend our history against an endless litany of accusations; it's my predisposition.
I will always reject the notion that America “owes” other countries, other peoples, some special debt. The world and the history of humans who have lived in it is chock full of evil, wrongful actions. In the instant question of a nuclear bomb used on Nagasaki, one must assume god-like wisdom to fathom what was right or wrong in the monstrous conflagration of war which had already consumed more than 50 million souls. It is enough for me to know that both the Japanese and American peoples wish never to go there again.
For all of her misdeeds, America's history remains an inspiration for those who dream of a better tomorrow. While it is important to understand what has worked well and what has not to promote growth toward those ideals we cherish, trumpeting our “guilt” to somehow cleanse ourselves of past sins is pointless.
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