This column was submitted by James Fletcher Baxter, Sgt. USMC, WW II and Korean War. Mr. Baxter will be available to respond to comments, so feel free to pose questions directly to him. We thank him for sharing his experiences and views with us.
Every September, I recall that is more than half a century (62 years) since I landed at Nagasaki with the 2nd Marine Division in the original occupation of Japan following World War II. This time every year, I have watched and listened to the light-hearted “peaceniks” and their light-headed symbolism-without-substance of ringing bells, flying pigeons, floating candles, and sonorous chanting and I recall again that “Peace is not a cause - it is an effect.”
In July, 1945, my fellow 8th RCT Marines [I was a BARman] and I returned to Saipan following the successful conclusion of the Battle of Okinawa. We were issued new equipment and replacements joined each outfit in preparation for our coming amphibious assault on the home islands of Japan.
B-29 bombing had leveled the major cities of Japan, including Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, Yokosuka, and Tokyo.
We were informed we would land three Marine divisions and six Army divisions, perhaps abreast, with large reserves following us in. It was estimated that it would cost half a million casualties to subdue the Japanese homeland.
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10-25-2007 |
21 Comments »The second (and final ever, so far) atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped by the United States on Nagasaki, Japan on today’s date in 1945. It was detonated at 1800 feet over the city, instantly killing somewhere between 40,000 and 80,000 people, and leading to many thousands of further deaths in the aftermath.
According to wikipedia, there are currently around 20,000 active nuclear weapons in the world, down from a high of 65,000 in 1985. By far the vast majority of these are owned by the United States and Russia.
and a quote from wikipedia: “most international experts conclude that South Africa has completed its nuclear disarmament. South Africa is the first and to date only country to build nuclear weapons and then entirely dismantle its nuclear weapons program.”
What’s up with the South Africans? What did they do right?
Is there a group of people in the United States and Russia who became enormously wealthy from the production of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, and now they or their heirs are living off the benefits of that welath?
08-09-2007 |
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In honor of the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Benjamin and I wanted to tell about a recent experience that our two families have shared. Earlier this year, my daughter Anna and her 5th grade classmates read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Anna was deeply moved by the story and learned that children worldwide express their hope for peace by sending paper cranes to be placed on a statue of Sadako. We learned that there was a Sadako statue in Seattle Peace Park, so Anna folded 100 cranes and we mailed them to Benjamin and Megan. This picture is of their lovely daughters Eowyn (left) and Coco hanging the cranes. I will let Anna share more about the story of Sadako and about her wish for peace…
Sadako Sasaki was an ordinary 11 year old Japenese girl, that had survived the Hiroshima bombing when she was 2 years old. Nine years later, she had a dizzy spell on the playground at school. She was brought to the school nurse and she told Sadako’s family that they should have her checked out at a hospital. So they did and sure enough Sadako had luekemia, “the atom bomb disease”. She was shipped to a hospital for people with diseases, mostly luekemia, and while she was in the hospital, her friend visited her and gave her a crane she had folded. There is a Japanese tale that if a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes, the gods will make them better. Her friend taught her how to fold them and she got started. For a long time she stayed in the hospital, folding cranes. She got over 600 folded, but she died before she was done. Her classmates folded the rest and buried them with her.
In Hiroshima, Japan there was an enormous statue made of her, and a smaller one in Seatle, Washington. To this day, children all over the world show their wish for peace by making paper cranes and hanging them on the statues. I decided to make cranes and send them to the Adys in Seatle. Folding cranes was extremely hard at first, but my hands got used to the motions and it was really easy after I made a bunch! My mom had this cool idea to use junk mail and magazine pages for the cranes and I did. It was cool, and a good use of junk mail! The cranes I folded stand for a wish for peace and justice in the world. I did this for Sadako, and because it was fun! :-) Also, thank you Eowyn and Coco for hanging the cranes!
08-06-2007 |
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