Comments on: Pilot Who Dropped Hiroshima Bomb Dead, 92

Commander of "Enola Gay" B-29 Which Dropped First A-Bomb On Japan Dies

[Krazcarl]

TOOL....One of my most respected friends is a man {navy} that''s ship got hit by a german dive bomber of Africa he broke his neck and while in the hospital the germans sunk his ship with all hands lost. He went stateside refused discharge was put on a ship to the pacific and was in on the Iwa Jima invasion and was on the first ship to dock in Japan after the said the japenese bowed when they saw americans had many other stories T.F. was the greatest hero I ever knew one H*LL of a man and is in a wheelchair now the neck injuries came back to cripple him around retirement. The only one I ever knew that fought germans and japanese.

[jn122736]

With his decision to use the atomic bomb, Truman saved far more lives than were lost as a result.
Anybody with a normal amount of intelligence can figure that out.

One reason Hiroshima was chosen instead of Tokyo was to have fewer casualties.

If, after Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945, the Japanese had admitted what they were facing and surrendered, the bombing of Nagasaki would not have been necessary.

That alone is clear evidence of what it would have taken to force them to surrender by conventional methods.

As for there being INNOCENT civilians killed, one must realize that the COUNTRY of Japan was the aggressor; there were no innocent civilians, children notwithstanding.

The responsibility for the loss of the children%u2019s lives is on the shoulders of their parents/guardians.

The people lost in the 911 attacks, including those on the hijacked planes, were innocent victims.

Those killed in the takedown of the Taliban in Afghanistan, were not innocent. The same cannot be said about Iraq however, because WE are the aggressors there.

For those who condemn the use of atomic bombs on Japan, something to think about:

Some of your parents or grandparents were probably in uniform during WW2.

If they had been killed in action invading/defeating Japan%u2026.. YOU WOULD NOT BE HERE TODAY

ToolMangler, correct. The Japanese were in a brutal war with China. Remember the "Flying Tigers?"

[toolmangler-2009]

Richard (Dic-k) Bong was the alltime leading American ace. (40 kills)

[toolmangler-2009]

Tensions between the US and Japan had been growing for some time before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Posted by nolalou at 05:22 PM : Nov 01, 2007

There would have been no embargos if the Japanese had not tried to dominate the Pacific by conquest, They made the same mistake Hitler did, bit off more than they could chew, our emargo just speeded things up a might.

[toolmangler-2009]

It was hot on New Guinea.

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 05:21 PM : Nov 01, 2007


That is a nice way of saying it.
Richard Ira Bong is the name of the P38 Ace I was asking about.
If you have any emailable info I will give you an email address. Just let me know.

Nancy_Naive, there were no civilians on Iwo Jima, it was a deserted island so to speak. It was supposed to be used for taking off with our B-29''s to get ready for the bombing attacks on the Mainland Japan. Okinawa had little to no civilians, again another strategic place for our airmen to do their duties. You really should do a little research before making statements. Most of the south pacific islands were not populated until after WWII....that is when the US started populating them with military and civilian workers...

[nolalou]

It''s always a tragedy when innocent civilians are killed in war, especially on such a massive scale. I hope we are never faced with such a decision ever again.

Airwinger said "Dont forget that the Japanese started this war by the dastardly and unprovoked attack Sunday morning ". While I certainly do not condone the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was not unprovoked. The US had an embargo against Japan to protest their attempted expansion into Manchuria & French Indochina, and had stopped selling it Oil. (yup, another war about oil!). Tensions between the US and Japan had been growing for some time before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

[bm6005]

Ernest said surrender was a dirty word to the Japanese.

Posted by ToolMangler

For anyone who doubts this see "Letters from Iwo Jima" from Clint Eastwood.

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by crzmeat at 03:21 PM : Nov 01, 2007


Crzy, My uncles Ernest and J.K. were both on Iwo and Okinawa, when they got home after the wars end, I asked was the A-Bomb needed. They both said yes, if it hadn''t stopped the war when it did,neither one of them would have made it back. Ernest said surrender was a dirty word to the Japanese.