ENOLA GAY

[kgnu_fan]

SUGIZO - RISE TO COSMIC DANCE - ENOLA GAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMMezWwLUYE

SUGIZO & THE SPANK YOUR JUICE - Ballad of their footsteps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFnEOFSYsrA&feature=channel

SUGIZO - RISE TO COSMIC DANCE - Synchronicity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yggxbW8zj6M&feature=related

At 08:15 (Hiroshima time)on August 6, 1945, the gravity bomb known as "Little Boy", a gun-type fission weapon with 60 kilograms (130 lb) of uranium-235, was released from the 393d Bombardment Squadron B-29 Enola Gay (named after Colonel Tibbets' mother), piloted and commanded by 509th Composite Group commander Colonel Paul Tibbets. The bomb took 57 seconds to fall from the aircraft to the predetermined detonation height about 600 metres (2,000 ft) above the city. Due to crosswind, it missed the aiming point, the Aioi Bridge, by almost 800 feet (240 m) and detonated directly over Shima Surgical Clinic.

70,000–80,000 people, or some 30% of the population of Hiroshima were killed immediately, and another 70,000 injured. Over 90% of the doctors and 93% of the nurses in Hiroshima were killed or injured. Although the United States had previously dropped leaflets warning civilians of air raids on twelve other Japanese cities, the residents of Hiroshima were given no notice of the atomic bomb.

Estimates of total deaths by the end of 1945 from burns, radiation and related disease, the effects of which were aggravated by lack of medical resources, range from 90,000 to 140,000. Some estimates state up to 200,000 had died by 1950, due to cancer and other long-term effects.

from Wiki


May Peace on Earth Prevail....

[customerserviceguy]

1. Ok, 800 feet; atomic bomb

there's really no case to be made that if the winds had not shifted, it would not have taken out the Shima Surgical Clinic.

[WeDidIt]

2. Pretty low casualty rates

compared to the estimates for an invasion.

And unconditional surrender was the only acceptable option in '45.

[Hoopla Phil]

7. Agreed. It is hard but we must remember how things were back then.

[proteus_lives]

8. People don't know....

I've read about the proposed invasion and the projected figures. It would have been hell on earth.


It took two nukes to knock them into unconditional surrender. It should tell how hard they would have fought a land invasion.

[kgnu_fan]

14. FYI: Howard Zinn on Hiroshima & Nagasaki: The Bombs of August

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Bombs_August.html

In fact, the bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not forestall an invasion of Japan because no invasion was necessary. The Japanese were on the verge of surrender, and American military leaders knew that. General Eisenhower, briefed by Secretary of War Henry Stimson on the imminent use of the bomb, told him that "Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary."

After the bombing, Admiral William D. Leary, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the atomic bomb "a barbarous weapon," also noting that: "The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender."

[WeDidIt]

15. Tojo was nowhere near surrended

An Tojo called the shots.

[Bonobo]

16. Tojo resigned in July. You don't know what you are talking about. nt

[WeDidIt]

18. Forgive me, I meant Anami

Sorry about that. Anami was the person adament against surrender, and he controlled the military.

He even opposed surrender AFTER Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but after the bombs, Hirohito had enough and threw in the sponge.

The bombings were the only way you were going to get Hirohito to end the war. He depended upon his War Ministry and Anami ran it.

[Archae]

3. I saw the Enola Gay...

At the Smithsonian Air & Space museum back in 1996.

Awesome aircraft, and "Little Boy" was *NOT* little.

When I think of that time, 64 years ago, things were far different.
"Smart Bombs" were so primitive they hardly worked at all.

We were facing an enemy, (Japan,) at Iwo Jima and Okinawa they fought until they died. Literally.
Had US and other Allied troops invaded the home islands of Japan, the slaughter would have been in the millions.

The A-bombs were a severe shock, to the Japanese military, and jolted them out of their "We'll all fight to the death" mentality.

That's why I don't judge Truman, LeMay, etc by my standards.

[Hoopla Phil]

10. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The Japanese military did refuse to surrender. The Emperor of Japan had to step in and surrender himself. He did this after he was informed of the new weapon that the U.S. had that destroyed entire cities.

It was a terrible thing but in the end it did save more lives than it took. I hope that nukes are never used in anger again but some day it may be necessary. We would be wise to be prepared for the worst but hope for the best.

[eyepaddle]

19. Yes, it was only when Emperor Hirohito told the most ardently militaristis members of

the governement that he was thowing in the towel that they actually submitted.

[Archae]

22. And even then, a group of fanatical officers tried a coup.

They killed their CO, tried to disrupt the Emperor's brodcast and when that failed, they killed themselves.

[TheMightyFavog]

21. Let's not forget the Soviets.

You know they would have involved themselves in an invasion of Japan. We would have likely ended up with a situation in Japan similar to North and South Korea today.

[kgnu_fan]

4. No More Nukes - War is Outdated - War No More!

Supporters of the bombings generally assert that they caused the Japanese surrender, preventing massive casualties on both sides in the planned invasion of Japan: Kyūshū was to be invaded in October 1945 and Honshū five months later. Some estimate Allied forces would have suffered 1 million casualties in such a scenario, while Japanese casualties would have been in the millions. Others who oppose the bombings argue that it was simply an extension of the already fierce conventional bombing campaign and, therefore militarily unnecessary, inherently immoral, a war crime, or a form of state terrorism.

[Hoopla Phil]

12. There was NOT going to be an invasion of Japan.

After the bonsai charges the U.S. learned that an invasion of Japan would cost too many U.S. lives. The question was how to get Japan to surrender. The nukes were most likely the best option that resulted in the least loss of life with the least human suffering.

[Bonobo]

17. "Bonsai charges" LOL

[unkachuck]

5. and we were the first and only!

....200,000 innocent civilian men, women and children perished because we couldn't invent a more creative way to release that nuclear genie on humanity....

....and we wonder why smaller nations want nuclear weapons to defend themselves from us....

[proteus_lives]

9. They died because the Japanese government wouldn't throw in the towel.

We offered them terms several times before we used the nukes.

[Hoopla Phil]

11. Yep.

[kgnu_fan]

6. Lyric - Ballad of their footsteps

nothing, nothing, nothing at all
what was born? a star is born in the dark universe

nothing, nothing, nothing at all
dying, dying, dying into tomorrow
on the star, dying from the dirty past

The star was in the night, then morning came
nothing on the earth, just wind was blowing through

<whisle...>

nothing, nothing, nothing at all
dying, dying, soldiers are dying
on the star, dying from the life that could not love

The battle does not stop
why do they want to kill each other?
The battle does not stop
Why don't they understand?
The battle still continues on
Nothing will be born out of this
Somebody, please stop
Stop the world's horror

nothing on the earth, only a soul was wondering haunted
nothing on the earth, only wind was blowing through

[kgnu_fan]

13. By remember the truth of war, we can abolish it nt

[kgnu_fan]

20. gosh, nobody is commenting how great Sugizo is!!!!

I love his guitar and he is an amazing violinist!!!!!!

He is also really beautiful to look at!!!!!!