WWII Assignment 3

The Descision to Use Atomic Weapons
from

A People's War?
Howard Zinn

Still, the vast bulk of the American population was mobilized, in the army, and in civilian life, to fight the war, and the atmosphere of war enveloped more and more Americans. Public opinion polls show large majorities of soldiers favoring the draft for the postwar period. Hatred against the enemy, against the Japanese particularly, became widespread. Racism was clearly at work. Time magazine, reporting the battle of Iwo Jima, said: "The ordinary unreasoning Jap is ignorant. Perhaps he is human. Nothing .. . indicates it." .... Not everyone would feel this way so it is an opinion but I do agree with this. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:23 PM
The bombing of Japanese cities continued the strategy of saturation bombing to destroy civilian morale; one nighttime fire-bombing of Tokyo took 80,000 lives. And then, on August 6, 1945, came the lone American plane in the sky over Hiroshima, dropping the first atomic bomb, leaving perhaps 100,000 Japanese dead, and tens of thousands more slowly dying from radiation poisoning. Twelve U.S. navy fliers in the Hiroshima city jail were killed in the bombing, a fact that the U.S. government has never officially acknowledged, according to historian Martin Sherwin (A World Destroyed). Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, with perhaps 50,000 killed.
The justification for these atrocities was that this would end the war quickly, making unnecessary an invasion of Japan. Such an invasion would cost a huge number of lives, the government said-a million, according to Secretary of State Byrnes; half a million, Truman claimed was the figure given him by General George Marshall. (When the papers of the Manhattan Project-the project to build the atom bomb- were released years later, they showed that Marshall urged a warning to the Japanese about the bomb, so people could be removed and only military targets hit.) These estimates of invasion losses were not realistic, and seem to have been pulled out of the air to justify bombings which, as their effects became known, horrified more and more people.This whole paragraph is again pretty much opinions. They talked about how they felt, after the use of facts which makes it more believable. I agree with what they are saying. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:26 PM Japan, by August 1945, was in desperate shape and ready to surrender. New York Times military analyst Hanson Baldwin wrote, shortly after the war:

The enemy, in a military sense, was in a hopeless strategic position by the time the Potsdam demand for unconditional surrender was made on July 26.
Such then, was the situation when we wiped out Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Need we have done it? No one can, of course, be positive, but the answer is almost certainly negative. How one person interviewed feels. They ask questions to make you think about what they are saying. I agree. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:28 PM

The United States Strategic Bombing Survey, set up by the War Department in 1944 to study the results of aerial attacks in the war, interviewed hundreds of Japanese civilian and military leaders after Japan surrendered, and reported just after the war:

Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated. Although they added in dates to help make it seem like facts, we still do not know because it never happened. It was a guess on their part. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:29 PM

But could American leaders have known this in August 1945? The answer is, clearly, yes. We don't really know this. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:30 PM The Japanese code had been broken, and Japan's messages were being intercepted. It was known the Japanese had instructed their ambassador in Moscow to work on peace negotiations with the Allies. Japanese leaders had begun talking of surrender a year before this, and the Emperor himself had begun to suggest, in June 1945, that alternatives to fighting to the end be considered. On July 13, Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo wired his ambassador in Moscow: "Unconditional surrender is the only obstacle to peace.. .." Martin Sherwin, after an exhaustive study of the relevant historical documents, concludes: "Having broken the Japanese code before the war, American Intelligence was able to-and did-relay this message to the President, but it had no effect whatever on efforts to bring the war to a conclusion."
If only the Americans had not insisted on unconditional surrender- that is, if they were willing to accept one condition to the surrender, that the Emperor, a holy figure to the Japanese, remain in place-the Japanese would have agreed to stop the war. Not facts!! -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:31 PM
Why did the United States not take that small step to save both American and Japanese lives? Was it because too much money and effort had been invested in the atomic bomb not to drop it? General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project, described Truman as a man on a toboggan, the momentum too great to stop it. Or was it, as British scientist P. M. S. Blackett suggested (Fear, War, and the Bomb), that the United States was anxious to drop the bomb before the Russians entered the war against Japan? Although interviewing people does help, it still does not make their opinions facts. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:31 PM
The Russians had secretly agreed (they were officially not at war with Japan) they would come into the war ninety days after the end of the European war. That turned out to be May 8, and so, on August 8, the Russians were due to declare war on Japan, But by then the big bomb had been dropped, and the next day a second one would be dropped on Nagasaki; the Japanese would surrender to the United States, not the Russians, and the United States would be the occupier of postwar Japan. In other words, Blackett says, the dropping of the bomb was "the first major operation of the cold diplomatic war with Russia.. .." Blackett is supported by American historian Gar Alperovitz (Atomic Diplomacy), who notes a diary entry for July 28, 1945, by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, describing Secretary of State James F. Byrnes as "most anxious to get the Japanese affair over with before the Russians got in."
Truman had said, "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians." It was a preposterous statement. Those 100,000 killed in Hiroshima were almost all civilians. The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey said in its official report: "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as targets because of their concentration of activities and population."
The dropping of the second bomb on Nagasaki seems to have been scheduled in advance, and no one has ever been able to explain why it was dropped.No one is even sure if this is a fact either. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:35 PM Was it because this was a plutonium bomb whereas the Hiroshima bomb was a uranium bomb? Were the dead and irradiated of Nagasaki victims of a scientific experiment? Martin Shenvin says that among the Nagasaki dead were probably American prisoners of war. He notes a message of July 31 from Headquarters, U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces, Guam, to the War Department:

Reports prisoner of war sources, not verified by photos, give location of Allied prisoner of war camp one mile north of center of city of Nagasaki. Does this influence the choice of this target for initial Centerboard operation? Request immediate reply.

The reply: "Targets previously assigned for Centerboard remain unchanged."
True, the war then ended quickly. Italy had been defeated a year earlier. Germany had recently surrendered, crushed primarily by the armies of the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, aided by the Allied armies on the West. Now Japan surrendered.Although this had a lot of opinions/propoganda, sometimes in a paper it is necassary. A good paper doesn't always revolve around all facts. Sometimes it requires both. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 7:36 PM

WW2 Second Assignment

Ira Gilliand recalls his night on the ridge.

It's tough to talk about this stuff. It's been fifty-eight years. It gives me the chills thinking about it. It must be big if it is still that clearly in his memory. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 9:30 AM

The Japanese were trying to outflank us and looked like they were going to overrun our position. I remember their screams.I would personally have nightmares about these screams! -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:35 AM They screamed a lot, especially when they were charging. It made you alert in a hurry even after being up for two days and you're ready to fall asleep.Being awake for two days and needing to keep fighting is something I honestly could never do -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 9:29 AM

They kept charging, but that's where the grenades came in. We threw grenades all night long.That would just plain out scare me! No way around that. -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:37 AM I remember rolling the grenades down. We were up on the hill and they were below us. They kept feeding us boxes of grenades. I remember the sound of Plante's BAR. He kept it going all night long. A lot of guys spent a terrible night out there.

The 1st Parachute Battalion was with us. I remember one of the paratroopers got shot. The corpsman came over because of his cry for help, and he [the corpsman] got shot right through the heart. Watching anything like this happen to anyone would scar me for life. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 9:28 AM His name was Smith,Is this James Smith. I read my article about a James Smith! -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:38 AM so when I saw Smith go down, I grabbed him and carried him down the hill. I didn't think he was going to die. When I got him down to the first aid station, I saw one of our doctors cry. [chokes up] Old Smitty was my friend, a real nice guy, and I broke down also.

*** The comments are in red (:

On September 27, the 1st Raider Battalion would help launch an attack near the mouth of the Matanikau River. Poor intelligence greatly underestimated the strength of the Japanese defenses facing them, turning the operation into a disaster. The Japanese halted the Raiders and 5th Marines' advance at the mouth of the river and nearly wiped out the amphibious landings by another Marine battalion at Point Cruz. Jim "Horse Collar" Smith recalls the battle.

We were on this narrow trail along the east side of the Matanikau River, a steep cliff on the other side. As we snaked up the side of the trail, a guy named Ed Mertz had a kidney stone.With a kidney stone it would be hard to climb a mountain -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 10:35 AM And here we are plastered alongside the trail with Japs on the other side of the river and this guy Mertz goes down screaming, clutching his gut. I remember thinking, "Oh, God, we are going to get it." I would feel so bad for the guy with the Kidney stone but I would also be pissed that he gave away our position. -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:23 AM It was just a little farther along there that C Company was just a little ahead of us. Ken Bailey [the battalion executive officer and Medal of Honor recipient for his actions on Bloody Ridge], with his runner right behind him, was dashing across a log footbridge, caught a Nambu [machine gun] between the eyes and went down.

A little later in the day -- I guess we were still heading south -- Sam Griffith got shot in the shoulder at about 300 meters. I was going to say that this was a long way but I'm not really sure it is that far. -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:26 AM That left us with a bunch of young 1st lieutenants (who had just made 1st lieutenant), and there was actually a discussion at the CPWhat is a CP? -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:28 AM as to who was the senior officer. Edson was in a state of shock after Bailey was killed. It affected [Bailey's runner] more than anything else. He had been Major Bob Brown's runner until the ridge, and Brown was killed coming off the ridge. Someone said to him, "You must be a jinx, because this was the second major you lost." The poor kid became unglued. It was a terrible thing to say. Being in this position and have somebody put you down like that would just bring your performance level down. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 10:37 AM

I remember when we pulled Bailey into the aid station in a poncho. Aid station [sigh] -- a couple of guys sitting on logs and doctors treating them. This is ridiculous! They should have sufficient aid stations! -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:30 AM Yeah, because this would help them much?? -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 10:38 AM There was a kid by the name of Dobson who had been shot right in the groin. His face was absolutely dead white, you couldn't believe it. He just sat there and held his stomach. Everybody knew he was going to die, and he knew he was going to die. Not a murmur out of him; talk about stoicism. He died shortly after that. He just slid off the log and was dead. A man next to him had a flesh wound and was crying like a baby. Talk about a contrast.

Eventually they pulled us out of there because the Japs were well entrenched on the other side of the footbridge.

Email Response JFK

Dear Karissa

In response to your inquiry about the assassination of JFK.

I remember it clearly. I was at Aunt Sheila's house in New Jersey. We were watching the parade of TV, and watched it all unfold. We cried. We were stunned, and just could not grasp what we had just seen. It left us all afraid, because, if it could happen to him, then what was in store for us? There was an atmosphere of panic and speculation. The fact that no one could absolutely tell the truth made it worse.

In my heart I believe the killer was alone that day. I am not convinced that there wasn't a greater force working in the background. Our government in too complex, and are enemies are, to this day, looking for ways to dissolute our presence and power. The "Cold War" was pull of intrigue, politics, and bad policy on all sides.

Its hard to measure the impact of his departure. The civil rights movement was well under way. he was putting many social policies into place that were carried out by other members of his family. His bothers Bobby, and Peddy and his sister had a deep obligation to the poor and disenfranchised. These philosophies worried many on the other side of democracy. The power of Democracy is very threatening to oppressive governments, and JFK was a powerful democrat. He was rich, charismatic, and brilliant. It was inevitable that his light would be dimmed by a darker force.

I feel lucky to have shared some moments in history that he sculpted.

Nan

JFK Assignment 1

The fear for the people at the beginning of the Cold War was high. Everything was up in the air and nobody really knew what was going to happen. It was also included in other places like Korea and Vietnam. It also was questioning the US' self-image and if we were as good as we were supposed to be. This worried some people because we as a country was supposed to be very stable. People were saying JFK was too young and inexperienced. This was a scary thing because he was the leader of our country and everything was in his hands. Lastly, bombs were getting made to go agauinst us like the TSAR BOMBA. So there were many things to fear about the Cold War.