Hiroshima...

[Neil]

A collection of images... Not pleasant viewing of course... http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/2007/0...ant-us_05.html

[EvilNed]

World War 2 was the single (even though it wasn't single) most important war, event or era in the history of mankind. It's important that we never forget any part of it, and that we do not judge to harshly. There were no saints in that war. We must remember it, however, so that we can make sure it never happens again.

[bassman]

That atomic eye photo is wicked....

[Usumgal]

the people who got super powers from it. Like Sushiman and Bambooguy

[MikePizzoff]

The pictures are very sad/disturbing/chilling. Can you imagine being a victim of the blast? Not at ground zero, but far enough away that you survive and are completely deformed from the flash/blast. Not only do you have to go through probably the most painful thing ever, but you also have to witness murder, and destruction, on an astronomical scale... all in the blink of an eye.

[SymphonicX]

"65% of the dead were children under 9 years old..." One of the darkest things we've ever done to human beings...and today it continues...just not in a nuclear capacity. Have we learned anything? No. This is the human condition....

[Dillinger]

My old neighbor in rural Missouri was a survivor of the Bataan death march. His son and my father went to school together and remained pretty decent friends and worked at Armco steel together for many years. Herb was his name and his son's name is Jerry. I sat and listend to a few things Jerry told my dad about the stuff his dad went through and some of that stuff will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. I've never been in the service and thank the Lord never been put in that kind of situation, but I do have a little knowledge of the toll war can take on a person. My maternal great uncle, my grandma's brother served in Korea, and just a hair over a year after he came home committed suicide. I'm just rambling, but what i'm saying is war is just a Goddamn tragedy and it's really bad when it spills over to civilian centers like when the krauts were bombing London or when the allies were bombing Dresden or when we dropped "two purple bastards on those little yellow bug-eyed mother****ers.*" Unfortunately, that's how the Japanese were percieved and that's how the people justify nuking two cities with little to no military significance whatsoever. But then again, I look at what happend to Herby and I start justifying Nagasaki and Hiroshima myself. So really I don't know what I think about Hiroshima. One part of me says they were at war with my country, kill 'em all, and another part knows damn good and well that nobody deserves that. *Kurt Vonnegut

[EvilNed]

Considering Japan had declared itself fighting a "Total War", and that Nagasaki and Hiroshima were great industrial centers, I will say that I percieve them as quite significant military targets. However, they certainly could have warned the citizens of the city first. Give them a day or two to clear out. Or maybe they would have been forced to stay, like the russian citizens in Stalingrad who were prohibited from leaving the city due to the morale of the troops...

[Khardis]

As sad as it was, the bombs were the most humane thing to do. A land invasion would have cost us and them 10X more deaths than the meager 200-300 thousand that died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hardly as many as were butchered when the Imperial scum-bag japanese took China and south Asia. IMO they got off light. And I think they should be thankful we did that for them so they could surrender and become our puppets. It worked out well for them in the long run anyway.

[EvilNed]

As sad as it was, the bombs were the most humane thing to do. A land invasion would have cost us and them 10X more deaths than the meager 200-300 thousand that died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hardly as many as were butchered when the Imperial scum-bag japanese took China and south Asia. IMO they got off light. And I think they should be thankful we did that for them so they could surrender and become our puppets. It worked out well for them in the long run anyway. Harsh words, but I actually agree with the essence of it. Except for the reasoning that Japan "got of light" or that they "had it coming" due to what they did in SE Asia and China. You don't kill civilians for what their leaders did. Then we should round up and kill millions of Americans right here and now. No, but the bombs were the most humane, and sensible, thing to do. Less lives lost. It is by no means less of a tragedy. But I can only shiver with horror when thinking about the alternative.

[Legion2213]

If Germany or Japan had had a nuclear capability, they would've dropped more than two nukes, these are the people responsible for the holocaust and the rape of Nanking, I refuse to feel "guilty" about Dresden or Hiroshima. If dropping those bombs saved one allied life than it was worth it IMO. Sorry to seem so calous, but I always thought the idea of war was to inflict as many casualties on the enemy as you can whilst limiting the casualties among your own people...that's exactly what the US did when nuking Japan, they also (as pointed out by others) most likely saved a few million Japanese lives by not having to invade the Japanese mainland.

[Yojimbo]

Having lost family members in Hiroshima with other family members suffering long term disease from the blast, in addition to having visited the site of the bombing as a child and being deeply affected by what I saw, I find it difficult to be objective about this subject. Certainly to some degree I understand and accept that the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war. My own grandfather who served in the US Army Air Corp probably would have died in battle had the war not ended as it did. So as an American, I know that the bomb actually may have saved lives. I understand it was a time of war and war is lousy, and the Japanese Army perpetrated some evil junk, but know that my family members who died in the atomic blast had nothing to do with Nanking, or Pearl Harbor, or Battan. So, please forgive me if I am being overly sensitive, but I just don't find any part of it humorous or glorious in any way.

[mista_mo]

So, please forgive me if I am being overly sensitive, but I just don't find any part of it humorous or glorious in any way. There is nothing more glorious then the slaughter of ones enemies.

[Khardis]

Having lost family members in Hiroshima with other family members suffering long term disease from the blast, in addition to having visited the site of the bombing as a child and being deeply affected by what I saw, I find it difficult to be objective about this subject. Certainly to some degree I understand and accept that the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war. My own grandfather who served in the US Army Air Corp probably would have died in battle had the war not ended as it did. So as an American, I know that the bomb actually may have saved lives. I understand it was a time of war and war is lousy, and the Japanese Army perpetrated some evil junk, but know that my family members who died in the atomic blast had nothing to do with Nanking, or Pearl Harbor, or Battan. So, please forgive me if I am being overly sensitive, but I just don't find any part of it humorous or glorious in any way. Not that I am saying your ancestors were guilty of anything in Nanking but SOME people like say Ward CHurchill a rabid america hating communist claims that no one in society is 100% innocent when they go to work and pay their taxes while their government perpetrates wrongs. He even called the people who died on 9/11 "little Eichmanns".

[EvilNed]

If Germany or Japan had had a nuclear capability, they would've dropped more than two nukes, these are the people responsible for the holocaust and the rape of Nanking, I refuse to feel "guilty" about Dresden or Hiroshima. Ok, so your government goes to war. You are against it. You and your family get bombed and killed because hey, you were living in an area occupied by the government (which you hated in the first place). Something tells me you didn't think your statement through enough, or that you did and you're simply one of those guys capable of mass-murder.