Grandson of President Truman lays wreath for Hiroshima dead

[Douglas Carpenter]

Clifton Truman Daniel, left, is greeted by Japanese peace activist Masahiro Sasaki at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park Photograph: AP

A grandson of former US president Harry Truman – the man who ordered the atomic bombings of Japan during the second world war – is in Hiroshima to attend a memorial service for the victims.

Daniel said in a statement that he decided to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki because he needed to know the consequences of his grandfather's decision as part of his own efforts to help achieve a nuclear-free world.

He said he hoped to hear stories from survivors about how they overcame their adversity.

Susumu Miura, a 78-year-old Hiroshima native, wrote in the newspaper Tokyo Shimbun that he was enraged when he learned that many Americans still support the decision to drop the atomic bombs.

"But when I heard on the news that former President Truman's grandson is visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I felt as if I lost some weight from my chest," Miura wrote in an op-ed article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/04/truman-grandson-hiroshima-memorial-wreath?newsfeed=true

[kooljerk666]

1. If u look at the firebombing (napalm) of many cities.........

plenty of them had casualty counts close to both atomic attacks.

Fighting door to door, for the whole country would have had a higher casualty count for both sides.

Tokyo fire bombing kills 100,000 & wounds 100,000..............

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/fire_raids_on_japan.htm

The atomic attack ended the war b4 every last person was incinerated.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Bravo for him.

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy.” - Mohandas K. Gandhi

[exboyfil]

3. Let me know when the grandson of Hirohito

lays a wreath in Nanking or Bataan or Sandakan.

Truman's grandson is welcome to do whatever he wants, but make no mistake we would have no modern Democratic Party if Truman had refused to use the atomic bomb on Japan. That is not justification for the action, but remember even with two atomic bombs and the Soviets declaring war on Japan, it was still was not a slam dunk that the Japanese would surrender. A military coup almost stopped the emperor (which was unheard of in that society). The Soviets would have loved to see us fight our way into southern Japan while they scooped up most of the north with little resistance (a pay back for the embarassment of 1904-1905).

Nothing is moral about modern warfare especially that against civilians, but remember the Japanese brought it onto themselves. The first president that apologizes for Hiroshima or Nagasaki will do so over my objections. The Japanese cannot even come to grips with what they did in the war and intentionally exclude facts regarding their behavior from the history they teach their children let alone making a public apology for it. I am sorry that Mr. Miura is enraged but hell was brought to his city by his leaders and that of Japan's allies.

[eShirl]

4. "A military coup almost stopped the emperor (which was unheard of in that society)."

Well... unless this counts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period

[lunatica]

5. Our crime is not justified because they committed crimes

That reasoning is what perpetuates wars again and again. When does the buck stop being passed and people put an end to vendettas?

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor they bombed the Navy and military installations. They did not bomb civilian sites. We did though when we dropped those bombs and destroyed two entire cities. I see nothing to be proud of or that justifies that other than pure naked murderous vengeance.