"One Plane, One Bomb, One City"

[aaatripp]

6 Aug 45 - The B-29 (#82) of the 509 Composite Group based at Tinian overflew the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Within approx. 15 secs of the scheduled time bombadier Thomas Ferrebee released the atomic bomb known
as Little Boy, with an aiming point of a t-shaped bridge. Col. Paul W. Tibbetts, Jr. commanded that mission and, after the bomb was released, executed a sharp diving turn with Maj. Charles Sweeney (flying "The Great
Artiste") on his wing after dropping the instrument package to monitor the effects of the explosion.

Let's remember the courage, skill & precision of these men in trying to bring a
brutal war to an end.

[eslima]

"one hundred thousand people dead".

[Larry deZeng]

aaatripp -

I absolutely concur. Unfortunately, those who have the courage, principles and honesty to stand up for freedom and human dignity and fight the forces of evil are becoming fewer and fewer. Dropping the bomb was the right decision at the time and it is by that standard that it must be judged; not in retrospect decades later by those who were not there or even born yet.

[aaatripp]

Thanks, Mr. deZeng-----

You obviously "get it" and recognize the difficulty of this mission. Interesting reading are Tibbets' book ENOLA GAY and Sweeney's book WARS END. The contrasts of these two missions are amazing. When you read about the problems on the 2nd mission, 9 Aug 45, it is truly a feat of airmanship by Sweeney that they were able to land at Okinawa....with only a few gallons left in the massive B-29! The Japanese city of Kokura was the primary target on 9 Aug and was spared only due to weather conditions (also smoke from other bombing obscured 1 or both targets).

To others----this thread was not started to debate the decision to drop the two atomic bombs. It is a sincere salute to the leaders, men, machines, organization and operational security which permitted SILVERPLATE to be successfully completed.

Tripp

[aaatripp]

9 Aug 45----a tribute to Charles Sweeney and his crew, bombardier Kermit Behan and the others aboard #77 BOCK'S CAR (Sweeney's GREAT ARTISTE was loaded with instrumentation which could not be easily switched between a/c). Sweeney had swapped a/c with a/c commander Fred Bock. The mission was plaqued with problems and is a thoughtful study of many elements of command.

By careful fuel management, trading altitude for distance, Sweeney was able to stretch his limited fuel enough to make it to his emergency field at Okinawa. Luckily the a/c was extremely light (the "Fat Man" atomic bomb had been dropped, they were very low on fuel, and most armament had been removed long before the mission). On final approach one engine was out (fuel). Upon touchdown another of the Wright R-3350 turbosupercharged radial engines quit, and by the end of the rollout, a third engine quit. When they measured the fuel in the tank it was about 10 gallons! So, read Sweeney's book WARS END for the entire story.
Tripp

[OakTree]

There could have been a far better way to force Japan to surrendered by used the atom bomb.
They could have radio in to the japs to look out to sea and watch what will happen 5 miles away. After that demo, we could have told them that there are many more bombs that size ready to be drop on mainland at designated cities if they do not declare a unconditional surrender in "X" amount of days.

[Dan O'Connell]

Originally Posted by OakTree

There could have been a far better way to force Japan to surrendered by used the atom bomb.
They could have radio in to the japs to look out to sea and watch what will happen 5 miles away. After that demo, we could have told them that there are many more bombs that size ready to be drop on mainland at designated cities if they do not declare a unconditional surrender in "X" amount of days.

I rarely comment on this type of thing, but this is exceptional.

Do you perhaps forget December 7, 1941?

Possibly you have also forgotten September 11, 2001.

Frankly, we were attacked, violently, with out warning. In both cases. We should send them a telegram? In both cases, these are (were) enemies who would not quit. You would prefer the projected casualties of an invasion of Japan?

I suggest you do a bit more research on the history of WW2 before making such callous remarks in the future.

[Birgir Thorisson]

Mr. DeZeng.

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

aaatripp -
Dropping the bomb was the right decision at the time and it is by that standard that it must be judged; not in retrospect decades later by those who were not there or even born yet.

This is the worst case of absolute moral turpitude that I have seen. Do you realize that you are justifying every crime, every atrocity ever committed in human history. This absolute moral relativism you express eradicates any possibilty of anyone making any moral judgement.

The issue of whether dropping the atomic bomb is controversial. Trying to shout down criticism in the despicable manner adobted by you, and Mr. O' Connell is beyond contempt.

Birgir Thorisson.

[Dan O'Connell]

Originally Posted by Birgir Thorisson

Mr. DeZeng.



This is the worst case of absolute moral turpitude that I have seen. Do you realize that you are justifying every crime, every atrocity ever committed in human history. This absolute moral relativism you express eradicates any possibilty of anyone making any moral judgement.

The issue of whether dropping the atomic bomb is controversial. Trying to shout down criticism in the despicable manner adobted by you, and Mr. O' Connell is beyond contempt.

Birgir Thorisson.

Mr. Thorisson,

I am personally quite astonished you would find my comments a justification of atrocity. My comments show other wise; it ENDED one of the most horrible acts by humanity, the Second World War.

It's obvious you were not in preparation to invade the mainland of Japan. The projected casualties were almost unspeakable.

You were not there, facing almost certain death from a still heavily armed and very motivated enemy, determined to carry the war on despite the cost.

You were not there, preparing to land on the beaches.

But my Father was.

[Birgir Thorisson]

"You were not there, preparing to land on the beaches.

But my Father was. "

Mr. O´Connell;

I understand your comment as saying; "you are not entitled to criticize the decisions made there and then, because you were not there."

This is a widespread attitude. It is an argument that is commonly made. It is also an argument that is totally invalid. In fact it is as morally wrong as any argument can be. It is a prime example of the moral relativism, I so strongly condemned.

If you judge history from the perspective of those who were there, "the perpetrators", you will always find that they had their reasons for what the did, and if you surrender your judgment to them, you will have to end up accepting what they did.

If you haven´t read it already, I strongly recommend to you the autobiography of Rudolf Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz. You should examine the structure of his rationalization, and compare it to the case made in defence of dropping the atomic bomb.

We study history in order to judge.

If not, it is just a hobby, comparable to stamp collection. Harmless pasttime, but of no consequence.

This is mainly a "philatelic website". When serious issues emerge, they tend to be so sensitive that they are quickly shut down, in order not to disturb the "stamp collectors."

There is however a strong undercurrent, especially among the younger users; Adoration of the efficient killer as a hero. (The adulation of Ace-dom). This is confusion of techné and areté. Skill and Virtue, to use the most common translations. "Heroism", of the skillful killer, is a technical attribute, and has no connection to the "justness" of the cause this "hero" fights for. It is therefore a-moral.

This is a problem that seems, from the outside, to be thoroughly confused in modern American culture, so I am not surprised at the stand adobted by you and Mr. DeZeng.

Birgir Thorisson.