Speech by the US General Congress: No Wrong Soul Under the Atomic Bomb
Political and Business Reference 2015-08-23
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This article is about the American pilot who dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima in 1945. The retired U.S. Air Force Major General Charles Sweeney gave a speech to the U.S. Congress in 1995. It discussed why the United States dropped the atomic bomb against Japan and clarified the prejudices that overflowed with love. Throwing an atomic bomb at Japan is a just act. As the title says, there is no wrongdoing under the atomic bomb.
I’m Charles W. Sweeney, a retired U.S. Air Force Major General. I was the only pilot who participated in the two atomic bombings of Japan. I served as the pilot on the right seat of Colonel Tibbets in the bombing of Hiroshima and the formation commander in the bombing of Nagasaki. As the only pilot who participated in two atomic bombings, I will state my personal experiences. I want to emphasize that what I have stated are indisputable facts, and some people just ignore these obvious facts because they do not match the prejudices in their minds.
At the moment of the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing, as a person who has experienced that period of history, I want to state my thoughts, observations and conclusions. I believe that President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb in Japan is not only in line with the situation at the time, but is also morally necessary to overwhelm other possible choices. Like most people of our generation, the last thing I want to happen is war. Our nation is not a militant knight and we do not desire that kind of glory. And when our country was struggling in the Great Depression, Japan began to conquer its neighboring countries-what is the "Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Circle". Fascists always use the most beautiful banner to cover up the most despicable conspiracy.
This "co-prosperity" is carried out through a brutal overall war against China. As a country, Japan fancies that it is destined to rule Asia, and therefore it should have Asian natural resources and vast land. Japan slaughtered innocent men, women and children without the slightest pity or hesitation. In the tragic Nanjing Massacre, hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians were slaughtered. These are facts.
Japan believes that the United States is the only obstacle to the destiny of the “divine” in Asia, so it carried out a carefully planned attack on the Pacific Fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor. The attack time is scheduled for a Sunday morning, because at this time the operation can destroy the fleet's strength to the greatest extent, eliminate personnel, and deal a fatal blow to the US Navy. The lives of thousands of American sailors were annihilated in the battleship Arizona still sleeping at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Many of them did not even know why they died in a sudden attack. The war was thus imposed on the United States.
The fall of Corregidor and the subsequent massacre of Allied prisoners of war dispelled the last suspicion of Japanese animalism. Even in wartime, the brutality of the Japanese army was heinous. Bataan’s death march was full of horror. The Japanese believe that surrender is an insult to themselves, their families, their motherland, and the emperor. They are not merciful to themselves and their enemies. Seven thousand American and Filipino prisoners of war were beaten, shot, stabbed to death with bayonets, or died tragically from disease and starvation. At the end of the war, the Japanese troops were about to be driven out of Manila by the US troops and massacred civilians. These are also facts.
As the United States made a slow, arduous, and bloody march toward Japan in the vast Pacific Ocean, Japan showed to the greatest extent that it was a ruthless, brutal and inhuman killing machine. No matter how desperate the battle is, no matter how slim the chance is, no matter how certain the result is, the Japanese will fight to the last. In order to achieve the greatest possible glory, the Japanese army went all out to kill as many Americans as possible.
The closer the U.S. military advances to the Japanese mainland, the crazier the Japanese behavior becomes.
In Saipan, 3,000 Americans were killed in action, of which 1,500 died in the last few hours.
In Iwo Jima, the US military killed 6,000 people and injured 21,000.
On Okinawa, 12,000 American troops were killed and 38,000 injured.
This is a heavy fact.
Kamikaze, the "Kamikaze", drove a bomb-laden plane into a U.S. warship. The team members think this is the highest glory in the heavens and the earth, and it is the sublimation to the realm of gods. In the waters of Okinawa, a suicide attack by the Kamikaze squad killed 5,000 US Navy soldiers.
Japan's words and actions show that as long as the first American set foot on Japan, they will execute all Allied prisoners of war. Japan prepared for the massacre and forced Allied prisoners of war to dig graves for themselves. Even after the surrender, they still executed some prisoners of war.
The "Potsdam Proclamation" requires Japan to surrender unconditionally. The Japanese think this is absurd and dismissive. We learned from the intercepted code that Japan intends to delay time and strive to negotiate surrender on acceptable terms.
In the months leading up to August 6, American aircraft began bombing the Japanese mainland. One by one, Japanese cities turned into flames, and thousands of Japanese died. But the Japanese vowed never to surrender. They are ready to sacrifice their people in exchange for the glory and honor they understand-no matter how many people die. They refused to help civilians, even though our pilots had dropped leaflets in advance of a possible air attack. In a 10-day bombing operation, many places in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, and Osaka were reduced to ashes. Even after bombing Hiroshima with an atomic bomb, the Japanese military still believes that the United States has only one bomb and that Japan can continue to insist. After August 6, they have 3 days to surrender, but they don’t. Only after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the Japanese emperor finally announced his surrender. Even in this case, the military still claims that they can and should continue to fight. A group of army officers launched a rebellion in an attempt to intercept and destroy the emperor’s decree of surrender to the Japanese.
These facts help explain the nature of the enemy we face, help to recognize the background that President Truman must consider when making various choices, and help understand why the atomic bombing of Japan is necessary. Like every male and female soldier, President Truman understands these facts. Casualties are not some kind of abstract statistics, but painful facts.
Did the atomic bomb end the war?
Yes.
Are they necessary?
There is a dispute about this.
Fifty years have passed. In the eyes of some people, Japan has become a victim and the US military has become a brutal conqueror and revenge; the use of the atomic bomb is the unjust and immoral starting point of the nuclear age. Naturally, in order to support this distortion, they must deliberately ignore facts or fabricate new materials to prove this argument. One of the most surprising acts was to deny that the Japanese army had committed massacres.
How could things be like this? The answer may be found in some recent events.
The current debate over why President Truman ordered the atomic bombing of Japan has in some cases turned into a game of numbers. The "Consequences of Atomic Bombing" exhibition curated by the Japanese consortium in the United States showed a despicable revisionist argument, which caused an uproar in the historians. The "Consequences of Atomic Bombing" exhibition conveyed the message that Japan is an innocent victim and the United States is a criminal aggressor. Imagine if your children go to the exhibition, what impression will they leave? Will they still know the truth?
In a national television debate, I heard such a so-called outstanding historian claim that the atomic bomb was unnecessary. President Truman wanted to use the atomic bomb to scare the Russians. Japan had planned to surrender. Others have suggested that General Eisenhower once said that Japan is ready to surrender and there is no need to use an atomic bomb. However, based on the same judgment, Eisenhower seriously underestimated Germany's will to continue fighting, and concluded in 1944 that Germany was unable to conduct offensive operations. This was a catastrophic misjudgment, and the result was the failure of the "Battle of the Bulge". Tens of thousands of allied forces were sacrificed unnecessarily during the campaign, and the allies faced the risk of allowing Germany to delay the war and conditionally surrender. A fairly fair conclusion is that based on the conditions of the Pacific War, it is reasonable to expect that Japan will be a crazier enemy than Germany.
Finally, there is a theory that if the Allied forces attack the Japanese mainland, our casualties are not 1 million, but 46,000 deaths are enough. It's just 46,000! Can you imagine the coldness of this argument? Only 46,000 people, as if these are the lives of insignificant Americans.
At this moment, I want to admit that I don't know how many Americans will be injured or killed in an attack on the Japanese mainland, nor anyone knows. Based on the judgment of Japan’s wartime behavior, I believe that a fair and reasonable assumption is that the attack on Japan’s mainland will be long and costly. Based on what we know and not based on some people's unwarranted assumptions, Japan does not intend to surrender unconditionally.
In the attack on Iwo Jima, an 8 square mile island in the Pacific Ocean, 6,000 Marines died and the total number of casualties reached 27,000. For those who think our loss is only 46,000 people, I would like to ask: Who are the 46,000 people? Whose father? Whose brother? Whose husband?
Yes, I only noticed American lives. However, Japan’s destiny is in the hands of the Japanese, and the United States is not. Tens of thousands of American troops are anxiously waiting for the attack in the ocean. Their fate depends on Japan's next move. Japan can choose to surrender at any moment, but they chose to wait. When Japan was "doing nothing", as the war progressed, the US military suffered more than 900 casualties every day.
I have heard another saying that we should negotiate with Japan to reach a conditional surrender acceptable to Japan. I have never heard anyone propose to negotiate a surrender with Fascist Germany. This is a crazy idea, and no rational person would say such a thing. To negotiate with such an evil fascist demon is to recognize its legitimacy, even if it has been defeated in fact. This is not an empty philosophical principle of that era, but a requirement of human justice, that the forces of fascist demons must be completely and cleanly eliminated, and these evil forces must be crushed. Fascist leaders have ruthlessly shattered the credibility of diplomacy.
Why is the history of the Pacific War so easily forgotten?
Perhaps the reason lies in the ongoing distortion of history and the distortion of our collective memory. Fifty years after the defeat, the Japanese leaders rashly claimed that they were victims. The massacres of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Nanjing are essentially the same thing!
Entire generations of Japanese did not know what their country did in World War II. This can understand why they do not understand why Japan apologizes.
Unlike Germany’s posture of confession, Japan insisted that it did nothing wrong and its behavior was dragged down by the situation at the time. This attitude shatters any hope of truly healing the wound.
Only memory can bring true forgiveness, and forgetting may risk repeating history.
Through well-planned political public relations activities, Japan now recommends the use of "Pacific Victory Day" (VP Day) to replace the term "VJ Day" (VJ Day). They say that this term will make the end of the Pacific War appear less particularly related to Japan.
Some people may ask, what can these words explain? For the victory of Japan, the victory of the Pacific, let us celebrate an event, not a victory.
I want to say that words are everything.
Please celebrate an event! It is similar to celebrating the opening ceremony of a shopping mall, rather than celebrating the victory of the war. This will divide the whole earth. Tens of millions of the dead, tens of millions of people who have suffered physical and psychological harm, and many more will be at a loss. This attack on language is a tool to reverse history and confuse right and wrong. Words or words can be as devastating as any weapon: black is white, slavery is freedom, and aggression is peace!
To a certain extent, the attack on our language by erasing precise descriptions is more harmful than the real invasion of us by Japan 50 years ago. At least in the real invasion, the enemy is clear. Yes, the threat is clear.
Today, Japan cleverly plays the card of racism to declare the justice of its actions: Japan is not carrying out criminal aggression, but only liberating the oppressed Asian masses from white imperialism.
liberation! Yes, they "liberated" 30 million innocent Asians by massacre. I firmly believe that these 30 million innocent people, their families, and their descendants will never appreciate the noble behavior of Japan.
I am often asked whether the atomic bombing of Japan was out of revenge, or whether it was the deliberate destruction of an ancient and respectable civilization. There are the following facts about this:
One, include Kyoto on the original bombing target list. Although Kyoto was also a legitimate target and had not been bombed in previous airstrikes, Secretary of War Stimson removed it from the target list because Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and the cultural and religious center of Japan.
Second, during the war we were strictly restricted, and under no circumstances could we bomb the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, even though we could easily identify the Imperial Palace and kill the Emperor. After all, we are not for revenge. I often wonder if Japan has a chance to bomb the White House, will it be as restrained as the United States. I don't think Japan will.
Let me clarify a fact and correct a long-standing prejudice that we deliberately choose to bomb densely populated cities. Every target city we want to bomb has important military value. Hiroshima is the seat of the Japanese Southern Command, and has assembled a considerable defensive force. Nagasaki is an industrial center with two important arsenals. In these two cities, Japan has deployed arsenals and troops in the center of the city.
As in any war, our goal, the natural goal, is victory. This is an unshakable goal.
I don’t want to deny that many people died on both sides. I am not proud or joyful of the cruelty of the war. I don’t want the people of my country or an enemy country to suffer. Every life is precious. But I believe that such a question should be asked of the Japanese war criminals, who are pursuing their own glory at the expense of the Japanese people. They started a war and refused to stop it. Shouldn't they take the ultimate responsibility for all the suffering and the disaster in Japan?
Perhaps if the Japanese really understand the past and recognize their country’s responsibilities in the war, they will see that Japanese war criminals should be responsible for the war. The Japanese people should give the people of the Far East an answer. Who imposed the disaster on the Far East countries and finally on Japan itself. Of course, if we work with the Japanese to erase the truth of history, then this will never be possible.
If Japan does not pursue and accept the truth, how can Japan get along with its Asian neighbors and the United States? When we carried out the atomic bombing mission, my subordinates and I firmly believed that we would end the war. We are not happy. It is a sense of responsibility and mission, and we want to return to our family.
Today, when I stand here to testify, I am not celebrating the use of the atomic bomb, but on the contrary. I hope my mission is the last time. We as a nation should be afraid of the existence of the atomic bomb. I feel scared.
But this does not mean going back to August 1945. Under wartime conditions, under the stubborn and brutal conditions of the enemy, President Truman was not obliged to use all possible weapons to end the war. I agree with President Truman's decision, then and now. In the years after the war, someone asked President Truman if he had other options. He said loudly: No. Then he reminded the questioner: Remember, the victims of Pearl Harbor have no other choice!
War is always costly, as General Robert Lee said: "It is a good thing that war is so cruel, otherwise someone will like it." Thank God for giving us atomic weapons instead of Japan and Germany. Science has its own logic, and sooner or later someone will design an atomic bomb. Science cannot be denied. The question of whether it is wise to make an atomic bomb will eventually be overwhelmed by the fact that the atomic bomb has already been made.
As German and Japanese fascists were defeated, the world became better. Young people in Japan and the United States no longer kill each other, but grow up, get married, and live in peace. As the father of 10 children and the grandfather of 21 children, I can show that I am very happy that the war ended in this way.
It is recommended to watch in a WIFI environment.
The moment the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, Japan. . .
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