The man who survived both bombs.

 

Nagasaki anniversary: Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the man who survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Asia - World - The Independent

To me, the first one got their attention and the second drove the point home.

 

I'm not going to feel guilty of dropping either or criticize those that decided to do so, but am thankful we produced the bombs first.

 

Agreed. The bombs did what they were meant to do. It's CRAZY how much has changed over the past 70 years.

 

Almost all have seemed to move on from those bombings. It's almost been too easy bUT it has worked.

I've read that, following Hiroshima, the Japanese Imperial Command did send wires accepting the terms. Allegedly, those telegrams were never received, or ignored.

Just saw a program on this this morning, the Japanese refused to surrender unconditionally...that begat the second bomb not some blood thirst from the US. Their (Japan's) only concern was that the emperor be left in his position, didn't ask for anything for their people or army just that his position would be left intact. After the second bombing the emperor broke the 3 -3 tie on surrender or continue to fight and asked for peace. The US allowed his position to stay with the understanding that he answered to the allied commander, he agreed and the war ended.

Perhaps the Japaneese living in Japan have changed their stance towards Americans, but in 1967 enroute to an assignment on Okinawa, myself and a group of GIs in uniform walked through the Ginza district of Tokyo.

 

While the hawkers outside of the bars were trying to lure us inside to spend our money in their establishments, there were two occasions where Japaneese citizens spit at our shoes as we walked past them - and God Knows what they were uttering in our direction.

Just saw a program on this this morning, the Japanese refused to surrender unconditionally...that begat the second bomb not some blood thirst from the US. Their (Japan's) only concern was that the emperor be left in his position, didn't ask for anything for their people or army just that his position would be left intact. After the second bombing the emperor broke the 3 -3 tie on surrender or continue to fight and asked for peace. The US allowed his position to stay with the understanding that he answered to the allied commander, he agreed and the war ended.

 

See, that sounds sanitized. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that the version I heard was widely considered gospel until recently. That's making me beg some questions.

Just saw a program on this this morning, the Japanese refused to surrender unconditionally...that begat the second bomb not some blood thirst from the US. Their (Japan's) only concern was that the emperor be left in his position, didn't ask for anything for their people or army just that his position would be left intact. After the second bombing the emperor broke the 3 -3 tie on surrender or continue to fight and asked for peace. The US allowed his position to stay with the understanding that he answered to the allied commander, he agreed and the war ended.

 

Unless the record of history has been changed, the story I always heard was that the Japanese Imperial Command attempted to send out surrender notices on Aug. 7 and 8 that were either never received or were ignored. The story goes, the Japanese attempted, but things were so confused there that the white flag never got officially seen.

 

And whoever that was who tossed out that "bloodthirsty Americans" comment, just stop.

They love Americans. I believe Koreans and the Japanese don't really like each other.

They are just like any other group of people they have both good and bad. I've worked for a Japanese coorporation for over 24 years. There is also some animosity between the Chinese and Japanese.

I always felt that the Japanese like Americans as well. My parents lived on an Air Force base in Misawa, Japan for 2 years and I got the chance to visit them. The people were great!

 

But today, reflecting on CWB's history lesson, I'm curious how the pendulum swung from hate to love.

 

Probably lies in the way the US invested themselves in rebuilding Japan after the war.

Unless the record of history has been changed, the story I always heard was that the Japanese Imperial Command attempted to send out surrender notices on Aug. 7 and 8 that were either never received or were ignored. The story goes, the Japanese attempted, but things were so confused there that the white flag never got officially seen.

 

And whoever that was who tossed out that "bloodthirsty Americans" comment, just stop.

 

I have never heard that version but have read and seen JD's version many times. A big factor going on at the same time was the Russians declaring war on Japan about the same time as the second bomb was dropped.

I truly believe that my siblings and I would not be alive today if not for the Nagasaki bomb . My father's unit was slated to be in one of the first waves in the invasion of the Japanese mainland ,after slogging through Europe for 10+ months . It is very emotional for me to visit the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson and see Bockscar and actually touch it , even though you are not supposed to . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bockscar

I need a history refresher.

 

I am very much aware of why/how Germany was at the center of WW1 and WW2.

 

How and why did Japan get involved in WW2?

 

Thanks! Super interesting thread.

I need a history refresher.

 

I am very much aware of why/how Germany was at the center of WW1 and WW2.

 

How and why did Japan get involved in WW2?

 

Thanks! Super interesting thread.

Just got finished reading up on this.

My short version: Because of Japan's previous wars with China while trying to colonize Korea, Japan was in a pickle and out of supplies. They needed to colonize somewhere to gain supplies and they thought the South Pacific would be an easy target. So they attacked countries that were already colonized, and did not expect the U.S. and Britain's response.

 

Am I on the right track?

The resources and dominating Southeast Asia were critical to Japan becoming a world leader which was their goal. They thought the US would oppose them so hoped they could cripple the US enough to prevent us from ever attacking them or at least long enough for their goals to be met. I am not sure what their purpose was in joining the Axis Powers other than they must have figured Germany and Italy would rule Europe. They underestimated the US believing the Great Depression had severely impacted our war production potential and willingness to fight. There are also indications that they did not believe the US would react so forcefully to an attack on a base so far from the continental US.

If I remember correctly and I saw something on a historical documentary on this a while back, there was a small segment of high ranking military officers who tried to perform am 11th hour "coup", take over the Japanese government and prevent the Emperor from surrendering. Had they been successful, their goal was to fight to the last man and never surrender.

 

After the Japanese attacked China and the US saw their want to basically take over most of Asia, the US enacted embargos and basically put a strangle hold on much of their oil and steel supplies. They had to turn elsewhere to find a lot of natural recourses, being a country that's pretty poor in that area. At that time in the US, there was a huge isolationists movement both in the government and in the general population, and the Japanese government knew this. They were convinced that the US would not have the stomach for war and a surprise attack would both cripple our presence in the pacific, and the isolationists would immediately sway the government to ask the Japanese government to terms for peace.

 

Now I'm going by memory here but what I am stating I think is pretty accurate.

 

Also, the Chinese HATE the Japanese to this day. Read "The Rape of Nanking". If you don't know about that, Google it. It will turn your stomach and you will understand the hate.

The resources and dominating Southeast Asia were critical to Japan becoming a world leader which was their goal. They thought the US would oppose them so hoped they could cripple the US enough to prevent us from ever attacking them or at least long enough for their goals to be met. I am not sure what their purpose was in joining the Axis Powers other than they must have figured Germany and Italy would rule Europe. They underestimated the US believing the Great Depression had severely impacted our war production potential and willingness to fight. There are also indications that they did not believe the US would react so forcefully to an attack on a base so far from the continental US.

 

They hadn't reckoned on