Recollections of the Hiroshima / Nagasaki Bombings

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brianscott

New Member
Hi all;
My name is Kyle, and I am in high school. I have an assignment to interview someone that remembers the Hiroshima bombing during WW2. Both of my grandfathers were WW2 veterans but my grandparents have passed away, and I do not know anyone that I can interview. So I am posting here and hope that someone can assist.
Thanks for any help that you can offer. I realize that the tone of these questions may be offensive to those that lived through the war, but the assignment is to discuss the morality of the bombings. So I would appreciate any responses to any of the questions below. Thanks again!

At the time did you, and the people around you, feel that the Hiroshima bombing was necessary?
Did the newspapers and radio announce the destruction, and did they feel that it was justified?
Do you remember hearing anyone say that the bombing was wrong or unnecessary?
Do you remember the bombings mentioned during church services, and do you recall what was said?
Did anyone recognize the moral dilemma of destroying entire Japanese cities to spare American lives?
People today would protest – do you remember any protests over the bombing?
In retrospect, has your opinion changed regarding the need to drop the bombs?
Also in retrospect, if you had been the president, would you have authorized the bombings?
 

I remember thanking President Truman for saving a million lives that would have been lost in invading Japan. Japan killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor and thousands later as well as their terrible treatment of prisoners. Not one person that we knew felt anything but relief at the bombs that forced a surrender by Japan. Japan asked for what we brought to the table. War is hell.
 
I have complete recall of WW 2 events re: our war with Japan from Pearl Harbor to the end of the war with Japan.
Morality of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings was never an issue with my generation considering the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, The Batan Death March, all the many atrocities committed by the Japanese in China, Phillipines and the South Pacific. The use of the Atomic bombings was not only necessary but justified in order to end the war because the Japanese Military was not about to surrender otherwise and had prepared their civilian population for invasion,and had the war continued thousands of Allied troops would have died. I would have ordered the bombing if I had been president.
 

I beg to differ, Lon. My mother was a bomb girl in Sorel, Quebec, during the war. She stated categorically that two bombs were unnecessary, the second motivated by revenge, as was the appalling treatment meted out to resident Japanese in both our countries imprisoned in concentration camps after we stole their land. Funny, how we neglected to inter the Germans.
 
My dad was in the Pacific theater during WWII.. never heard a word of regret out of him. He claimed to have seen some of the destruction, but dad had some suspect stories about his time in the war. He did love to embellish a bit.

My grandmother was a German citizen in Chicago during WWII... she had a curfew and was not allowed near the Lake Michigan.. and Navy Pier.. At least that's what she claimed, but no she was not hauled off to an interment camp.
 
Shalimar said:
I beg to differ, Lon. My mother was a bomb girl in Sorel, Quebec, during the war. She stated categorically that two bombs were unnecessary, the second motivated by revenge, as was the appalling treatment meted out to resident Japanese in both our countries imprisoned in concentration camps after we stole their land. Funny, how we neglected to inter the Germans.
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Shalimar, what is a "bomb girl"? Japanese were interred her (not in concentration camps) but it may look cruel in retrospect but we in America had submarine attacks on the California coast, the Japanese attempted to burn out out forests with aerial firebombs (in Oregon and Washington) and there was tremendous anti-Japanese anger, also it was a time of massive paranoia. Remember we lost most of our navy at Pearl. It was suspected that Japanese might be communicating with their homeland so interment was the policy to protect them and us. As to the bombs, Japanese had a display of what they would do but chose to ignore our warnings and continue to fight. We did exactly what needed to be done to stop the Japanese war machine. Lon was actually in Europe fighting WW2 so I think his feelings are especially important.
 
Shalimar said:
I beg to differ, Lon. My mother was a bomb girl in Sorel, Quebec, during the war. She stated categorically that two bombs were unnecessary, the second motivated by revenge, as was the appalling treatment meted out to resident Japanese in both our countries imprisoned in concentration camps after we stole their land. Funny, how we neglected to inter the Germans.
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The interment of Japanese Americans during WW2 was wrong, wrong, wrong, but has nothing to do with the Atomic bombings. Your mom may have been a bomb girl but I don't believe she has or had the military or political expertise to know if the second bomb was required. It's more like just her opinion, which others share. Many bad things as you certainly know, happen in wars and let's just hope that this kind of history does not repeat its self. I went to Junior High School with Japanese kids in California that had just returned from some of the interment camps and got to hear all their stories. I got to see Tokyo, Fukuoka, Nagasaki & Hiroshima in 1953 on my way to serve in Korea. The devastation of the bombings 9 years earlier was still apparent.
 
A bomb girl worked in factories with little or no safety making torpedoes for the war effort. I am not completely unfamiliar with the Pacific Theatre. On my father's side, three of my uncles and one aunt perished in that part of the world. Another aunt survived internment in a Japanese camp. Until she died, she spoke out against the second atomic bomb and internment of Canadian and American Japanese, and praised the exploits of the muchh decorated Nisei airmen.
 
Shalimar said:
A bomb girl worked in factories with little or no safety making torpedoes for the war effort. I am not completely unfamiliar with the Pacific Theatre. On my father's side, three of my uncles and one aunt perished in that part of the world. Another aunt survived internment in a Japanese camp. Until she died, she spoke out against the second atomic bomb and internment of Canadian and American Japanese, and praised the exploits of the muchh decorated Nisei airmen.
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Shali, a bit OT, but have you watched the series called Bomb Girls about women in a bomb factory in Toronto during WWII?
 
Yes I have Annie. It was awesome, particularly the déjà vu bit re the girl unfortunately getting her hair caught in a machine, years ago, my mother told me that same story. It was eerie.
 
Shalimar said:
Yes I have Annie. It was awesome, particularly the déjà vu bit re the girl unfortunately getting her hair caught in a machine, years ago, my mother told me that same story. It was eerie.
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Did you mum work in one similar to this? My grandmother worked in an airplane factory during WWII in Detroit.
 
I remember WWII very well. The bombings were discussed on the radio, all newspapers, magazines and movie theatres displayed pictures of the destruction and the final surrender of the Japanese. As were all the atrocities, and suicide bombings of the Japanese. So, there was great fear of the Japanese vs sympathy. Everyone I heard discussing the bombings agreed that it would have taken many more bombings, with a greater toll of lives...or, the alternative, the invasion of Japan. Resulting in the loss of thousands of American lives. So people were generally relieved vs horrified. Every one I knew was relieved that at last the war had ended.
I happened to be in Radio City Music Hall, seven days later I think it was, on VJ day...when the end of the war was announced. Came out into Times Square....where everyone hugging and kissing one another.... such jubilance.
I never saw or heard of any demonstrations/protests over the bombing.
In retrospect, war is cruel....the Japanese were ruthless...I do not think there was any alternative. I think the president did what he had to.
About internment camps....Italians were interred also. My mother and maternal grandparents were not citizens. In fact they brought me back from Italy just before US was involved in the European war. So, my family was very concerned regarding their safety. I think some relatives must have been interred. For I remember my grandmother taking me to a camp, in Boston. She would pass food and money through the chain link fence. It was a secret journey...for no one would have allowed her to go there. How she knew how to get there is a puzzle, for she did not read English. And it required many changes of trollies and trains. I was just a little child...and no help.
Strangely, I was more afraid of Germans than the Japanese. I used to take food to bed with me every night, hiding it under my pillow. In case the Germans came.
 
When I was a small child, I had nightmares about the Japanese.. Probably from all the talk from my father and his war buddies.. Also, there were a lot of war movies out. Scared the heck out of me.. I really believed they were going to swarm down our street and kill us.
 
Very insightful Nona. I too feared the dreaded Nazi would get me if he could. At the penny arcade we had games featuring a "Jap" Hirohito and Hitler marching back and forth and we had a rifle that had a light beam and we got to shoot them time after time and that joy came at the reasonable price of 5 cents. Americans hated the Japanese and Germans during that war, especially when we thought of the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor and the atrocities committed by them. I had no sympathy at all for them, I still don't.
 
AZ Jim said:
Very insightful Nona. I too feared the dreaded Nazi would get me if he could. At the penny arcade we had games featuring a "Jap" Hirohito and Hitler marching back and forth and we had a rifle that had a light beam and we got to shoot them time after time and that joy came at the reasonable price of 5 cents. Americans hated the Japanese and Germans during that war, especially when we thought of the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor and the atrocities committed by them. I had no sympathy at all for them, I still don't.
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Jim, are you saying that you still hate the Japanese and Germans? Yes, what they did was despicable and I agree that the bombings were necessary. But I can't picture you meeting a Japanese or German person today and hating them because of what happened 70 years ago. Am I wrong about you? Or just misunderstanding what you said?
 
No Glinda, I don't hate them. What I said was I had no sympathy for them for the bombs and I stlll think it was the right thing to do.
 
AZ Jim said:
Very insightful Nona. I too feared the dreaded Nazi would get me if he could. At the penny arcade we had games featuring a "Jap" Hirohito and Hitler marching back and forth and we had a rifle that had a light beam and we got to shoot them time after time and that joy came at the reasonable price of 5 cents. Americans hated the Japanese and Germans during that war, especially when we thought of the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor and the atrocities committed by them. I had no sympathy at all for them, I still don't.
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But then came this:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/27628345/germanys-post-wwii-occupation-children-speak-out/
Is it fair to TAR everyone with the same brush? :hijacked:
 
AZ Jim said:
I remember thanking President Truman for saving a million lives that would have been lost in invading Japan. Japan killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor and thousands later as well as their terrible treatment of prisoners. Not one person that we knew felt anything but relief at the bombs that forced a surrender by Japan. Japan asked for what we brought to the table. War is hell.
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Yes, war is truly HELL!
Could have been even worse, if the US and Australia has been bombed to smithereens, all homes and cities in ruins and ashes, and to this day no underground BUNKERS/AIR SHELTERS for its citizens.
The most affected in Germany and Japan were the elderly, women and children, as most men were fighting the war or already killed.
I truly hate the "glorification of war" in films and TV! :eek:fftopic:
 
From what I know about Pearl Harbor, the base was there in readiness to attack Japan, and not necessarily just to protect the US, but Japanese struck first causing heavy damage to US warships and killing personnel (around 2,300 +) US was interested in South Pacific since the 1890s at which time the US entered Japanese ports with trading ships. Japan has been resentful of US since that time when US was moving in to claim territory all around South Pacific and the Phillipines, threatening Japan's interests there.

There's much more of information about this now on Wiki and history books. Meanwhile we all have to live with the guilt of atom bombs falling on Japan, and let's not forget the firebombing of Dresden. The people of Japanese ancestry (some born in US and Canada) were sent to internment camps and their property was taken from them.

This obviously warrants indepth study of 20th Century World History, a fascinating but very complex topic. War is hell, and nothing has changed. Countries are still usurping territory to this day and people are still being killed in droves.
 

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