POW (read my commentary below) by AC40

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POW (read my commentary below)

If any idiot ever tells you we shouldn't have dropped the A-bombs on Japan, remind him that they deserved every bit of that and much more after the barbaric way they treated prisoners of war and civilians of the countries they overran. Just ask the Chinese, Filipinos, and others. Then tell said idiot to read about the Bataan Death March, Rape of Nanking, 1937 attack on Manchuria, Unit 731, and more. I think they got off easy with only 2 A-bombs.
Here's a relevant site to check out:
http://incredibleimages4u.blogspot.com/2010/04/brutal-japanese-during-second-world-war.html

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Greg		16-Sep-2013 01:02
My late father was a crewman on board a B29 bomber in the 39th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force. Only days before the first Atom bomb was dropped, Japanese fighters and bombers were attempting to crash themselves into the B 29's in order to bring them down. For anyone to say that the nuclear attacks were unnecessary is living in a fantasyland. The fanaticism of their armed forces and civilians was undeterred from years of war. My late father and many of his fellow airmen always said the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved their lives and a million more. Visit their online site at 39th.org and ask those who still survive what they think.

Eldon Erb		23-Jul-2012 03:25
My Dad was a cook in a Army hospital on Okinawa at the end of the war. He talked many times about trading 5000 Jap POW's for 50 Americans at the end of the war. he stayed until February after the war was over, until the American POW's gained enough weight and strenght to withstand the trip home. He talked about getting steaks from the Navy ships to feed them. He talked many times of the American POW's just weighing 90 pounds when they came to his hospital.

Guest		18-Mar-2012 12:43
We were doing the eqivilent damage with conventional bombings; With the A-bomb we could do it by risking just one plane and crew. Saying that the a-bomb attacks were less humane is stupid.They were in fact were more humane as it hastened the end of the war and avoided a catastrophic invasion. From Wikipedia: 334 B-29s took off to raid on the night of 9–10 March (Operation Meetinghouse), with 279 of them dropping around 1,700 tons of bombs. Fourteen B-29s were lost. Approximately 16 square miles of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the resulting firestorm, more immediate deaths than either of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[6][7] The US Strategic Bombing Survey later estimated that nearly 88,000 people died in this one raid, 41,000 were injured, and over a million residents lost their homes. The Tokyo Fire Department estimated a higher toll: 97,000 killed and 125,000 wounded. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department established a figure of 124,711 casualties including both killed and wounded and 286,358 buildings and homes destroyed. Richard Rhodes, historian, put deaths at over 100,000, injuries at a million and homeless residents at a million."

Guest		01-Dec-2011 15:34
Nuking them was the only clear choice and responsible thing to do. they would have never surrendered otherwise.

Russ Person		27-Oct-2011 15:53
By the time we captured Saipan and Iwo Jima, it was obvious that Japan would lose. Almost all of the bombing of Japan could have been avoided if Japan had surrendered. Why the everyone must die first beliefs? Germany did the same. People must take command over governments. I am married to a Russian. I would fight to protect Russians, so what about the cold war?

Guest		26-Oct-2010 21:50
My father was taken prisoner by the japs and escaped, only after they tortured him, hitting his arms with hammers and tying his hands with barbed wire. He got back to his lines, and said "Give me a rifle I will kill every jap I see," then passed out. after he healed up they wanted to send him home, hey said hell no, to many japs left to kill, so he went on to fight more,he told me that 2 bombs were not enough for what they did in the pacific and china, you morons that blame america first, leave our country and don't come back.you don't deserve to be here, if your military, you are sad, we fight for all the right reasons, that desk you flew, and those splinters are hardly worthy of those who gave it all for this country...

David		19-Jul-2010 00:47
The political comments are all worthy of debate for the past and, of course, the future. With that in mind let us not forget the bravery and sacrifice of our heroes that took orders and did their best in times that would challenge each of us in a way we can not imagine. For our Country, regardless of the cause, the present and the future, each has made or will make the sacrifice. For that I am proud to be an American and am thrilled to look back at our past and forward to our future. Each of us should, with OUR current duty or memory of past, from those of 1776 to present, let us do OUR duty to carry the committment and the actions of our founders forward. GOD BLESS AMERICA.

mitch		28-Jun-2010 19:42
OK, Who drives a Toyota? Thanks for posting the pics.

Guest		25-Jun-2010 22:03
Dropping the bombs had to be done in order to defeat an enemy that would not surrender. My grandfather said it well in his letters from Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Tinian. "There is no glory in this business." Many of the civilians involved in the Pacific Theatre islands committed suicide out of fear of the Americans as we took control because of Japanese propaganda. If they tried to go to the Americans for surrender/help they were taken down by a Japanese sniper. If we didn't drop the bombs I strongly believe there would have been mass suicide on a much greater scale than the casualties of the bomb devastation.

Guest		25-Jun-2010 20:20
Dropping the bombs had to be done in order to defeat an enemy that would not surrender. My grandfather said it well in his letters from Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Tinian. "There is no glory in this business." Many of the civilians involved in the Pacific Theatre islands committed suicide out of fear of the Americans as we took control because of Japanese propaganda. If they tried to go to the Americans for surrender/help they were taken down by a Japanese sniper. If we didn't drop the bombs I strongly believe there would have been mass suicide on a much greater scale than the casualties of the bomb devastation.

Guest		05-Jun-2010 16:39
How can you say such a stupid thing!?! No one deserves an A-bomb on his head doesn't matter what! How can you think that killing 140k innocent people is right!?!

Steve		06-May-2010 22:20
The people in Japan may have been innocent but they too fed on nationalistic, racist ideals and believed they were "superior" to everyone else and that god appointed them to rule the world. I believe that the A-bombs put them back into their place of believing themselves just as mortal as anybody else.

student		26-Feb-2010 06:01
who is in that picture? & is that a real body? & what's the story behind this photo? I might use this picture for a history project & was wondering if it was a legit photo

chris		18-Feb-2010 02:55
war is cruel

chris		11-Dec-2009 03:29
there is no right or wrong answer regarding this debate. war is hell. when humans go to war, no one really wins. did innocent Japanese people deserve to die because Japanese soldiers acted like barbarians? probably not. now flip the coin. did innocent Chinese, Korean, Mongol, and Russians deserve to die just because the Japanese Imperial Army wanted some test subjects for sick, perverted experiments? probably not. even though they did manage to find a more suitable way to treat frost-bite... both "sides" in this debate acted barbarously. unfortunately, you have to come down on the side of the United States. the US were not the ones conducting horrific "medical" experiments on civilians in occupied territory (see: Unit 731). the US was merely trying to introduce an event, so powerful in its singularity, that it might immediately bring an end to this horrible war. and they were successful in that attempt. in my mind, those Japanese civilians who were instantly vaporized by the bombs were pretty damn lucky. even those who died subsequently of cancer and radiation poisoning, by contrast, were far more lucky than their Chinese counterparts; taken from their homes at all ages and subjected to acts so cruel that I cannot bear think of them.

Guest		10-Dec-2009 03:12
Are you just dumb or something? If my english was better, I wish to say more... But it is not because those japaneses had killed people that innoncent deserve to be kill.

thepoliticalcat		08-Dec-2009 01:45
To those who say the Japanese deserved the nuclear bombardment of their nation: please try to remember that the Japanese government/military and the Japanese people are two separate entities. Those killed in the nuclear bombardment were civilians, mostly elderly men and women of all ages, and children; disabled people, the sick. By then (August 1945) most able-bodied men were in the military, and the military was nowhere near the two sites bombed. This is true in every war. It is the civilians who suffer the most. Military members are protected by weapons, fortifications, shelters, and the like. Civilians are at the mercy of anyone who cares to cause them suffering. Please think about how you would feel/felt when 3,000 innocent civilians died in the attack on the Twin Towers in NY. We, as a species, need to find a way to end war before it ends us. The increasing number of civilian casualties in wars ensures that at some point we will have killed off most of our women and children, to the point where the entire species is at risk of annihilation. Although, after looking at photos of the Unit 731 atrocities, I find myself hard pressed to feel as if that would be a bad thing.

thepoliticalcat		08-Dec-2009 01:38
I have not read all the comments, but I would like to ask my fellow Americans commenting here if you're aware of the fact that the U.S. authorities, instead of prosecuting Shiro Ishii, head of Unit 731, and his colleagues, instead covered up all their crimes in exchange for their data. Many of these war criminals went on to become respected professionals and were awarded some of the highest honours in the land for their subsequent work. I have not heard that any of them confessed to their crimes, or showed any remorse. The U.S. subsequently used bacteriological and chemical weapons, development of which was based on the Japanese data and live human experiments, against Korea in the war of 1952. And Americans claim that the North Koreans are "paranoid" when they speak of U.S. war crimes against their people. It's all documented in the Williams/Wallace book, for those of you who might not believe it.

Guest		03-Nov-2009 00:51
Nothing justifies killing innocent people, whether the enemy "killed innocents first" or not. If point of the a-bombs was a display of military power, why target and kill innocent civilians, only a bully attacks those that are weaker. Not just Japanese suffer effects from atomic bombs, the whole world did and does, atomic radiation and it doesn't just go away. Some things should have never been created. The genius should be smart enough to know when to stop a search for the greater good, instead of feeding their ego. There are many guilty parties involved and maybe there is no right answer, just events that occurred much like snowball effect.

sih		16-Oct-2009 13:02
the Jap deserved much more horrib punishment than what they've gotten

Guest		29-Sep-2009 17:22
IF we didn't drop the bomb there would have been another 5+ years of war. It was the right thing to do.

Guest		29-Sep-2009 17:21
Brent said: "The US just went in and shot men, women, and children. " They got off easy compared to people in Unit 731 and the Nanking Massacre. I'd much rather be shot than have my organs removed while I'm awake and screaming.

Guest		29-Sep-2009 17:17
soooo glad we nuked the crap out of japan. Shame we never held those responsible for Unit 731. Should have done experiments on them.

Guest		29-Sep-2009 17:17
soooo glad we nuked the crap out of japan. Shame we never held those responsible for Unit 731. Should have done experiments on them.

Guest		22-Aug-2009 20:54
The point is, the total casualty count as a direct consequence of the two A-bombs was LESS than the total no. of casualties of the Nanking massacre ALONE, so were the A-bombs justfified? Hell yes. Also, those Japanese "civilians" backed theor country's war effort 100% so they weren't that innocent anyway. Is there really a big difference between civilians and soliders (whom came from being a civilian) as long as they both support the Japanese war effort?

Guest		28-Jul-2009 20:02
those who choose to ignore history do so at the peril of us all. quoted from alex jones

Guest		26-Jul-2009 13:09
Killing civilian and innocent people it is bad,but dont forget in Nagasaki and Hiroshima lived innocent and civialian people too...It is not about nationality. It is about fucking crazy people...they deserve to die...

John Hannan		18-Jul-2009 20:55
John Hannan The two A- bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima saved millions of lives both Japanese and Americans, were we to invade Japan. One of them would have been me. 3rd battalion 184th infantry scheduled to invade the southern islands off the southern coast of Kyushu on October 15, 1945. 1952 was a crew member of a B-36 atomic bomber carrying A-bombs within a short flight around Japan to North Korea. We were ready to hit North Korea bigtime, but Truman never gave us the GO! There wouldn't have benn a Viet Nam war if we had our way.

e		06-Jun-2009 08:10
No one deserves any kind of violence against them, whether or not YOU believe it is justified or not...by killing or harming another you are only causing more suffering.

Guest		06-Jun-2009 01:32
as we know the usa has killed more now in death toll sure. Also the usa has signed a not so secret deal to not mention or do anything about what japan did in trade for the records and information from the experiments. www.iraqvideos.net has a page on it. look it up for yourself.

Guest		27-May-2009 01:55
I guess the US wasn't responsible for the deaths of the millions of Native American and Phillipinos throughout it's history. I won't deny that what Japan did was wrong, in fact, it's probably one of the most horrific acts in human history. But trying to defend a barabaric act by saying "They did it too!" is childish.

Truth		08-Apr-2009 23:58
Killing hundreds of thousands of Civilians is what we hate the Japanese for, and the Atomic bombings of Japan were just that - killing civilians. It makes us little better then them. Although we did have better reasons than the Japs for murder, it's still murder and wrong. Every single official of the Imperial Japanese army as well as every member of the imperial Family should have been tried and executed for their disgusting crimes. I personally think that Japan should have been annexed into (America? perhaps?), America should have done to Japan exactly what it did to the phillipines, as well as used the entirety of Japans wealth to reparate the victims of their crimes.

Guest		26-Mar-2009 15:55
I believe that when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor we should take a look about what our government was doing at the time. Yes I think the war may have been in avoidable, but to drop a bomb so destructive such as the a-bomb should have never been done. I don't think we should posses such a powerful and destructive weapon, we are not ready for that kind of power because we are still power hungry... I will say that we shouldn't have sat around and let the use fall to Japan, but even though Bataan happened we killed many more with a bomb that should have never been created for the purpose it was. Humans are greedy creatures, but that is our nature. I will say that I am American and I'm proud of my background. But that's just it. Americans are a mix of all different nationalities, and races. I have seen people persecuted for their race, and I laugh inside because they entered this country just as the Japanese, German, chinese, Irish, French, Dutch, English. So look around and see where your roots really are. Destroying people won't accomplish anything. War leads to War yet without peace there can be no war, just as without war there can be no peace. Balance is key but only when ness., talking the life of someone innocent is barbaric and unjust. Though I've come to ask myself just what justice is anymore.

Guest		04-Mar-2009 01:21
I don't believe that two wrongs make a right. You shouldn't drop a bomb on a bunch of innocent Japanese, and then let the guilty Japanese go!

Guest		15-Feb-2009 09:24
Devine my ass. We should have executed Hirohito nice and slow. If there had been no Pearl Harbor, there wouldn't have been a Nagasaki.

james		14-Feb-2009 21:01
it is horrible what the Japanese did i do personally think if the a-bomb was not dropped that would still of gone on .

Guest		10-Feb-2009 04:59
Tokyo War Crimes Trial: On December 14 1937, Yao a native of Nanjing, was ordered to watch the performance when Japanese soldiers took turns raping his wife. When his eight-year-old son and three-year-old daughter pleaded for mercy on behalf of their mother, the rapers picked them up with their bayonets and roasted them to death over a camp fire. -- Unfortunately, even this can not portray the atrocities that occurred at the Rape of Nanjing. Killing more people with the dropping of the atomic bomb is not rationalized with noting this horrific event; yet the bomb helped the Japanese admit defeat, and helped stop the overwhelming atrocities like this, committed by both east and west from continuing to happen

Guest		04-Feb-2009 09:52
The Japaneese have outdone some of the most horriffic and terrifying crimes in our history. And there is no excuse for what they did. I just want to make a small reminder on the fact that the reason none of the responsibles for the medical war crimes commited by Unit 731 were ever convicted, is that the United States gave them their freedom in return for documentation on the human-experiments they conducted in the camp. And A-Bombs are no solution to the problem...

Pete		04-Feb-2009 09:37
Remember the 98 massacred on Wake Island.

Guest		29-Jan-2009 10:15
makes me agree we should of done it

Wren		16-Jan-2009 17:33
I understand anyone would be angry about the Japanese government's wartime crimes. There's no excusing their barbaric actions during war, both towards their enemies and their own countrymen. In fact, it makes me angry that most of the scientists involved in unit 731 essentially got away with murder. However, the reasons the atomic bomb were developed and later used are much more diverse than simple revenge. The level of understanding that most Americans have for WW2 and the atomic bomb specifically is shamefully lacking. I have recently taken a 400 level atomic bomb history course, and would like to suggest a few things for anyone interested in WW2 or the atomic bomb to read: Fallout by Jim Ottaviani The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb by Gar Alperovitz The Atomic Bomb: The Critical Issues by Dwight MacDonald Japan at War Feel free to email me, I enjoy discussing these topics.

Guest		31-Dec-2008 22:49
Wow, thank you so much... That really levitated something I had in mind for the longest time. Thank you.

death		16-Dec-2008 02:43
Let me remind you that all the resposible people for what happend in Unit 731 never faced the trial. Do you have any idea why? Well I will tell you... Because US gave the money, gave them their promise that nohing going to happen to them. Do you want to know what US got in exchange? All the results (medical and biological) achieved by Unit 731... and do you know for what purpose? Ahhhh...Think a sec...TO USE IT!!!! So i guess that US also deserve a little atom bomb...

Nathan		14-Dec-2008 20:11
There is no moral high ground in total war - on either side. Only survival. I am glad that the USA won WWII - despite the terrible costs on both sides.

Guest		14-Dec-2008 20:09
You can choose not to care you lucky child. The rest of us should pray that we continue to live in a world that is mostly without total war.

Guest		13-Dec-2008 00:28
I don't care

Meli		13-Dec-2008 00:27
I do not think that they deserve it. no one does. the japanese was also treated bad, probably also tortured by other countries, For and example, the United States, we cannot find any proof because...its the US.

Just Me		09-Dec-2008 19:30
I agree with Mr. Brent above, Americans were ass holes too but you don't see Japan killing all of us.

Guest		09-Dec-2008 05:09
one of the men who dropped the bomb says just the opposite. he said that anyone who thinks dropping the a bomb was a good idea clearly has no idea the lasting pain and destruction it caused. this wasn't a regular bomb, it forced the survivors to suffer radiation poisoning for years afterward, and the towns themselves are still undergoing fallout. what you should be angry about is the cover-up of unit 731. not all japanese people are barbaric, but the ones who were got off scott free. it was innocent people who suffered, and they suffered at our hands. this sort of thing is still going on today, and the united states is still ignoring it and covering it up. you and i are just as bad as the japanese perpetrators of these crimes because we are doing nothing to stop it from happening now, let alone in the future. no human being deserves to be tortured in the way people were at unit 731, just as no human being deserves to be tortured in the way the citizens of hiroshima and nagasaki were after the atomic bomb was dropped.

Guest		02-Nov-2008 03:32
the people killed by the A- bombs were innocent people, they sought refuge in hiroshima and nagasaki. the japanese government and military is to blame for those atrocities, not the civilians.The fact the japoanese government is still in denial, while the japanese people feel remorse is proof of it.

Guest		28-Oct-2008 21:37
I really wonder how they view this world in those times? When they don't even have sympathies for the truelly innocent, youngs & babies. Every other races are just cats & dogs? More scary than the Nazi.

Guest		28-Oct-2008 21:33
Yes, war created innocent victims. But for someone to enjoy torturing & making games in killing on innocents in that enormous scale is evil on earth. Look at their porn culture in Japan right now, you will find out they still take pleasure in that. And manga porn is a proof of their sick fantasies. When they deny their mistakes and bears no guilt, means there's no remorse to do it again. BTW, do you know they're heavily funded in the robotic industries. Do you smell a perfect soldier for Japan?

Guest		19-Sep-2008 23:20
and by the way ur american patriots arent any better than the japanese who supported the stuff that happened. u also follow ur leader bush blindly and give a shit about innocent ppls lifes in iraq. also torture the prisoners etc. you are the same scum. but yeah as i said...no wonder america got such a shit reputation in the world when theres ppl out there who cant even speak a second language haha :) dumb people answer with fists...but when u dumb u cant understand this...

Guest		19-Sep-2008 23:16
lol no wonder america is regarded as the country of retards. when i read the comments here everything is more clear to me:P

All hail		10-Sep-2008 23:48
I agree that Japan fully deserved the A bomb and many more. There was no innocent civilians all dedicated themselves to the Emporer and the absurd harshness of the Imperial Army. Although I am not American, the USA and western democracies are the light of all light and for thousands of years races such as the Japanese and other racial filth have prevented the rightful Arian owners of the the world to step through the sacred fires of baptism and march forward as a technological, scintific and universal cast of supermen and women to take their rightful thrown over abomination.

Guest		05-Aug-2008 08:43
I agree, they deserve it. And maybe someone should drop a few a-bombs on USA and Israel for their attrocious acts in Iraq, Afghan, Vietnam, Cuba, Palestine, .....

Guest		01-Jul-2008 15:49
i agree that what the Japanese did was horrible the several times it happened and i agree that the atomic bomb was needed and that is what they had coming to them but it is hard for me to justify innocent people that had nothing to do with it being killed.....yet the Japanese killed a lot of innocent people too. but let's also remember there are some country out there that do the same thing as Japan.....(not mentioning any names) but overall Japan def needed to be stopped

Guest		31-May-2008 18:00
by the way Alex you are exactly the liberal pussy type that would give simpathy to the Japanese people. Fuck u! Im glad our soldiers and leaders do not think like u. This world is not a perfect little playground where everyone is nice and fair. Im a Soldier in the military and u better listen. the only way you can beat the enemy is by matching their anger and intensity. if we did not drop the bombs the war would have dragged on for many more months, Which equals many many more american deaths. I would not trade 1 american soldiers life for 1000 japanese citizens, innocent or not.

Guest		31-May-2008 17:53
right on man, people should know about baatan and unit 731. I think most people have no idea

Alex		22-May-2008 04:44
Man, it's Horrible to say that any nation deserves "much more" bombing and death. I've studied extensively about Unit 731 and Shiro Ishii, but I could never advocate for killing innocent people the way the U.S. did when they dropped the two atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Why should the innocent masses be held responsible for the actions of chosen few (the word being used in its most liberal sense) disturbed individuals? Even though I disagree with you, Tom and company, I cannot help but think that there is a severe injustice that Japan has dealt its East Asian neighbors. I believe the central problem lies with the fact that Ishii (The Lieutenant General of Unit 731) and his senior "advisors" were given immunity in the trials - given to them by Macarthur - for the information they "collected" throughout their experiments. I would never have disagreed with the decision to execute Hirohito or Ishii, but the mass killings of civilians? We cannot use the same tactics the Japanese used lest we become what we hate.

Tom		14-May-2008 05:19
I agree, they got off easy and they deserve far worse than just two atomic bombs. Every nation that has suffered at the hands of Japan should do the same to the Japanese!!

gunners mate		08-May-2008 06:21
Our troops who were taken prisoner surely didn't deserve the brutal treatment they received. We need not remain angry or defensive, though. We killed almost every Japanese defender we found, and pretty much laid total waste to their cities. We used nuclear weapons on Nagasaki and Hiroshima because they were about the only places left we hadn't bombed into oblivion. Of course, the people whose decisions led us to war -- on both sides -- mostly escaped with their lives, while others -- on both sides -- who had no argument with each other, died horribly. As these pictures amply demonstrate

Anthony		14-Sep-2007 11:10
At Brent the Japs killed much more Pinoys than the Americans so shut yout trap. They got off lucky yes for the brutal wickedness they perpetrated all over their short lived empire. But thats all in the past, everything worked out well in the post war period so lets give thanks.

Guest		17-Jun-2007 20:24
We don't have to remake war or events. That's done, that's all, discussions are sterile because only those who were at time and in action can decide. We don't have to judge a tragic event a-posteriori. But I think japanese military clan was horrific and US should have kill japanese emperor because it's the source of problem and may be in the future Japan will become a threat. JC

Guest		14-Dec-2006 01:37
What about the thousands of Filipinos the US killed when Teddy Roosevelt was president? It was approximately 100,000. The US just went in and shot men, women, and children. Read the book Flyboys before you mouth off about something you really can't explain in a short paragraph in a web site.

Mel Ramos		11-Feb-2006 08:42
Sir, I am working on a report for my grandfather and family about his life. He is a survivor of the Bataan Death March. May I use your pictures in my report? Thank you, Mel Ramos

Blair Howell		16-Jan-2006 07:37
I couldn't agree more. If you have a chance check out my gallery of the Charles T. Brown collection.

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