Hiroshima; Lesson Learned?

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65 years ago Hiroshima was the target for the first atomic bomb, and we evil Americans did it, or at least that’s the bent you’ll get on it these days.

On August 6, at 8:15AM, Hiroshima was the first target; it was believed to have ultimately killed 140,000 people. Three Days later at Nagasaki another atomic bomb resulted in an estimated 70,000 deaths.

It is devastating to think that over 200,000 people, most of them civilians, had to die this horrible death.

For the first time in history, the United States, Britain, and France, all allies in World War 2, were present at the ceremonies in Hiroshima, remembering these events, supposedly to signify a mutual desire end to weapons of mass destruction.

I would like to point out one obvious fact. 60 million people died in this war. It was estimated that millions more would die in a ground assault of Japan, who admit they literally ignored our final treaty; they used the term to “kill it by silence”.

Before the final bomb landed, American aircraft were showering leaflets all over Japan informing its people that "We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man.” Our purpose? To end the war; to prevent the killing of millions more. It was done at the cost of 200,000 lives.

It was estimated that well over a million American soldiers would lose their lives invading Japan. That’s not including the number of Japanese that would have certainly died as well. To quote General Sherman, “War is Hell”. Man’s savage cruelty to man still doesn’t cease to amaze me fifty years into my personal parade of humanity, but there is a practical side to civilization. If you try to harm me I will most certainly try to (if there is no avoidable alternative) harm you before you succeed. If I know you are on the way to harm me and I can ambush you before you get close enough to do so, it may appear cruel of me, but I will do it.

This is not to say that America is guiltless; that we were pure in all our motives and actions. God knows there is no such creature walking this earth. But what is the message for today? While we “good guys” disarm, who’s gonna stop the “bad guys” from harming us? A 5th grader should be able to figure that out.