Ft. Worth Frog
Acrobat
I know there was a discussion awhile ago that discussed the Enola Gay exhibit. However, it had more do to with what label should go with it rather than the actual usage of it. I have come to the conclusion that, horrific as it may sound, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the right thing to do. It actually saved lives. I think the whole situation surrounding the ordeal must be looked at in order to get an objective picture of the bombing. Often, people's argument against the bombs stem from its seemingly horrific results instead of the context it was in.
Let's place ourselves back in 1945. Japan is fighting ferociously and is giving no sign of giving up. Okinawa has just been captured by the Americans at a massive cost of lives. Japanese civilians and soldiers refused to give up and resorted to jumping off cliffs to avod surrender. More than 99% of the Japanese garrison there was killed. Now imagine an invasion of the Home Islands-Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido being the main ones. Contemporary estimates placed the loss of American lives from between 500,000 to 1,000,000. The planners of the invasion had no idea of the atomic bomb. How many more Japanese lives would it have cost? Iwo Jima, the Marianas, Tarawa, etc.-the Japanese soldiers on these Pacific islands also fought to nearly the last man. Even if the United States did not invade but relied on continuous conventional bombing and a tight blockade, many more Japanese civilians would have died than did at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thus, millions of lives were spared because of the Enola Gay.
Let's place ourselves back in 1945. Japan is fighting ferociously and is giving no sign of giving up. Okinawa has just been captured by the Americans at a massive cost of lives. Japanese civilians and soldiers refused to give up and resorted to jumping off cliffs to avod surrender. More than 99% of the Japanese garrison there was killed. Now imagine an invasion of the Home Islands-Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido being the main ones. Contemporary estimates placed the loss of American lives from between 500,000 to 1,000,000. The planners of the invasion had no idea of the atomic bomb. How many more Japanese lives would it have cost? Iwo Jima, the Marianas, Tarawa, etc.-the Japanese soldiers on these Pacific islands also fought to nearly the last man. Even if the United States did not invade but relied on continuous conventional bombing and a tight blockade, many more Japanese civilians would have died than did at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thus, millions of lives were spared because of the Enola Gay.