No sympathy. No regrets.

[wombat_socho]

I probably should have posted this yesterday, the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki, but better late than never.
The annual whining in the press about the use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki leaves me cold, but then, unlike most of the journalists and commentators, I actually know something about the war

Comments

[haikujaguar]

Everything I've read about the fights at Iwo Jima and Okinawa was frankly horrifying.

[wombat_socho]

Yeah, the whole chain of Central Pacific island assaults were not pleasant bedtime reading by any stretch of the imagination. I first read about them in Samuel Eliot Morison's magisterial History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, which is sixteen volumes of entertaining and awesome but doesn't pull any punches about how bloody and, yes, horrifying, the Marines' experience was on those atolls leading up to the Golgotha of Okinawa.

[haikujaguar]

I have read it, actually, as part of the research for my web serial. As well as "Helmet for my Pillow," which was from the same time period. ( I discussed my reaction to those books, as well as a book written my a living Marine officer, in this entry.)

Amazing and horrifying stuff.

[433]

I've actually noticed a shift in the media from "Wah wah wah, dark days in American history" to simple observances of the event over the past few years.

[wombat_socho]

I guess that's progress.

[harvey_rrit]

Just read the above.

Just added you to my Friends list.

My father was a historian, and I got interested further by the bits of history referenced in SF works. One thing that most people in the West don't realize, and often deny automatically, is that in Asia, war atrocities are traditional.

In Asia the most universally respected Western ruler is Adolf Hitler.

Atomic bombs changed the game. They made them afraid. Afraid in a way they had never experienced.

They're still freaking out over it.

I like Japanese culture, as a general thing.

But I'm glad.