tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post7616551987700797450..comments2024-03-28T13:37:26.314-04:00Comments on Grim's Hall: WoahGrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-63644093834543868282017-05-23T02:14:58.497-04:002017-05-23T02:14:58.497-04:00If I could afford it, I'd pay for an exhibit a...If I could afford it, I'd pay for an exhibit at the National WWII Museum of a collection of a million purple heart medals. That would sure make for a visceral experience of what the bombs spared both us and the Japanese. Keep in mind too that we were a country of about 140 million at the time. Today it would be like expecting a battle with casualties around 2.4 million.douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03241790925053112959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-85476687730768556702017-05-22T15:31:38.510-04:002017-05-22T15:31:38.510-04:00It's interesting that revisionist historians c...It's interesting that revisionist historians can only get support for their "fresh" outlook after a few decades have obscured some memories.<br /><br />I lived in Germany in the '70s, when the German population was still missing its adult men. It was a huge subtext to everything around us. The sheer cost of an extra year's war after the German high command knew it was defeated was staggering, for us and for the Germans, too. <br /><br />By that time, our leaders knew that the Japanese planned to do the same thing as the Germans, and they decided to put a stop to it. I refuse to second-guess a decision like that. <br /><br />ValerieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-88333301994897328042017-05-22T09:22:06.443-04:002017-05-22T09:22:06.443-04:00I may have told this story here before. But a few ...I may have told this story here before. But a few years back I was with three old friends at the funeral of one of their fathers. In conversation we discovered that all four of us were born to men who had been headed for the invasion, and so might not have survived except for the bomb.Lars Walkerhttp://www.brandywinebooks.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-80233576500148233422017-05-22T01:10:27.775-04:002017-05-22T01:10:27.775-04:00Both my father and FIL were training for the invas...Both my father and FIL were training for the invasion of Japan in the Philippines when the bomb was dropped. They were both in combat infantry positions, , my father a draftee with three kids, and my FIL fresh from the War in Europe. Very good chance the bomb saved their lives and resulted in the lives of my wife and myself. <br /> So every time some commie jerk goes off on the "war crime" of dropping the bomb, it raises my hackles something fierce. It's all so wonderfully abstract and humanitarian to them. It was not abstract, not in the least , to our families. ravennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-51291271058351477282017-05-21T22:39:20.943-04:002017-05-21T22:39:20.943-04:00I've always heard that, but it's amazing t...I've always heard that, but it's amazing to see that expectation has physical consequences that are still with us today.Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-30976959909454595322017-05-21T22:03:25.540-04:002017-05-21T22:03:25.540-04:00They were planning for a million casualties. They were planning for a million casualties. Eric Blairnoreply@blogger.com