General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: killing the enemy is no atrocity
Posted by:
Mike McCarthy
()
Date: June 30, 2001 06:09PM
<HTML>Walt,
You call yourself a \"former\" Marine, but all my good friends at MCAS Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune always say there\'s no such thing as a former Marine, because once a Marine always a Marine! Anyway, I recommend you read up on Operation Coronet, the land invasion of Japan going into 1946, and what it would have meant in US casualties. You say your father was a Marine combat vet of Iwo and Okinawa, eh? Being where he was in the Pacific at the time there\'s no doubt he would have been slated to go. Unless you\'re at least 56 years old now, what do you think his survival chances would have been to return home as a civilian and become your father? Slim, if at all. If you ever visit an American Legion or VFW you might want to seek out the WW II vets who were earmarked to participate in the invasion of Japan and ask them if they agreed with the use of atomic devices to end the war. You\'ll get a swift and straight forward answer. Then put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself the same question.
President Truman had one question before him - should he use atomic devices to end the war immediately, or let the slaughter of a young generation and subsequent generations not yet born continue indefinitely? He had no choice and accepted full responsibility for his actions.
You might also want to study up on the unrestricted firestorms unleashed upon Tokyo and Kobe by Gen Curtis LeMay prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You\'ll note that the non stop firestorms caused many more casualties than the combined use of the first atomic devices.
War is hell, that\'s why it\'s called war. It\'s shameful to think it happens in a civilized society, but as long as there are tyrants in the world there will be war. Like it or not it\'s a matter of fact - plain and simple.
Why not provide your email address like everyone else and we can discuss the issues off line, so to speak, and not clog up this site?
Regards,
- Mike McCarthy -
</HTML>
You call yourself a \"former\" Marine, but all my good friends at MCAS Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune always say there\'s no such thing as a former Marine, because once a Marine always a Marine! Anyway, I recommend you read up on Operation Coronet, the land invasion of Japan going into 1946, and what it would have meant in US casualties. You say your father was a Marine combat vet of Iwo and Okinawa, eh? Being where he was in the Pacific at the time there\'s no doubt he would have been slated to go. Unless you\'re at least 56 years old now, what do you think his survival chances would have been to return home as a civilian and become your father? Slim, if at all. If you ever visit an American Legion or VFW you might want to seek out the WW II vets who were earmarked to participate in the invasion of Japan and ask them if they agreed with the use of atomic devices to end the war. You\'ll get a swift and straight forward answer. Then put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself the same question.
President Truman had one question before him - should he use atomic devices to end the war immediately, or let the slaughter of a young generation and subsequent generations not yet born continue indefinitely? He had no choice and accepted full responsibility for his actions.
You might also want to study up on the unrestricted firestorms unleashed upon Tokyo and Kobe by Gen Curtis LeMay prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You\'ll note that the non stop firestorms caused many more casualties than the combined use of the first atomic devices.
War is hell, that\'s why it\'s called war. It\'s shameful to think it happens in a civilized society, but as long as there are tyrants in the world there will be war. Like it or not it\'s a matter of fact - plain and simple.
Why not provide your email address like everyone else and we can discuss the issues off line, so to speak, and not clog up this site?
Regards,
- Mike McCarthy -
</HTML>
