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Donatella;
I suggest you go to Okinawa, where I spent 3 months once. On the northernmost part of that island, there is a shrine on behalf of the 100,000 innocent civilians who jumped to their death there. They were convinced to jump to their death by the Japanese soldiers, who told them that their life would be hell under the advancing Americans.
After the battle of Okinawa, the Americans were psychologically defeated. After what they had witnessed in the capture of this island which the Japanese did not even consider important, they knew what awaited them on the mainland. In fact, a Japanese general took to the airwaves and broadcast to the Americans something like “You took Okinawa, but we actually beat you”. As a WWII vet who participated in that theater told me: “He was right”.
My dad’s ship was kamikazeed off Okinawa. In fact, my dad was relieved of duty because he had a cold or something. Were he at his normal position, he would have been killed, as the plane hit his area.
The fact is, we won quickly and decisively and our boys got to go home immediately.
Maybe we could have threaded the needle just right to avoid all the deaths *and* avoid a protracted land war *and* who knows. Maybe. Speculation.
The Japanese started it, and frankly I don’t give a damn how many Japanese civilians had to die to keep even a single additional U.S. soldier from dying.
How is it speculation or second guessing history as to ways civilian deaths could have been avoided in Hiroshima or Nagasaki? We made a choice as to whether or not bombing those cities would stop the war- THAT was speculation.
Ishtar, I think that is true about dogs. My sister has Lupus. Her dog always knew when she was feeling really bad, would be very affectionate…even to the point of knowing what bothered her sometimes, i.e. he would lay near where she was feeling pain (?) and she had sleep apnea on top of everything and the dog would wake her up when her breathing became irregular. That dog was amazing.
i was thinking more along the lines of Debbie Downer, DH
quote:
Dogs are great animals for people with certain illnesses and disabilities. My friend has live with dogs her entire life. All of them have been able to detect when her blood sugar gets low enough for her to go into diabetic shock. I wonder what the dog senses. Changes in behaviour? Smell?
Donatella;
I suggest you go to Okinawa, where I spent 3 months once. On the northernmost part of that island, there is a shrine on behalf of the 100,000 innocent civilians who jumped to their death there. They were convinced to jump to their death by the Japanese soldiers, who told them that their life would be hell under the advancing Americans.
After the battle of Okinawa, the Americans were psychologically defeated. After what they had witnessed in the capture of this island which the Japanese did not even consider important, they knew what awaited them on the mainland. In fact, a Japanese general took to the airwaves and broadcast to the Americans something like “You took Okinawa, but we actually beat you”. As a WWII vet who participated in that theater told me: “He was right”.
My dad’s ship was kamikazeed off Okinawa. In fact, my dad was relieved of duty because he had a cold or something. Were he at his normal position, he would have been killed, as the plane hit his area.
“Second guessing history and speculating as to ways civilian deaths might have been avoided is exactly that: second guessing and speculation.”
This sounds a lot like something some of us were saying during another discussion, but a certain someone wasn’t trying to hear it.
The fact is, we won quickly and decisively and our boys got to go home immediately.
Maybe we could have threaded the needle just right to avoid all the deaths *and* avoid a protracted land war *and* who knows. Maybe. Speculation.
The Japanese started it, and frankly I don’t give a damn how many Japanese civilians had to die to keep even a single additional U.S. soldier from dying.
How is it speculation or second guessing history as to ways civilian deaths could have been avoided in Hiroshima or Nagasaki? We made a choice as to whether or not bombing those cities would stop the war- THAT was speculation.
Ishtar, I think that is true about dogs. My sister has Lupus. Her dog always knew when she was feeling really bad, would be very affectionate…even to the point of knowing what bothered her sometimes, i.e. he would lay near where she was feeling pain (?) and she had sleep apnea on top of everything and the dog would wake her up when her breathing became irregular. That dog was amazing.
i was thinking more along the lines of Debbie Downer, DH
quote:
Dogs are great animals for people with certain illnesses and disabilities. My friend has live with dogs her entire life. All of them have been able to detect when her blood sugar gets low enough for her to go into diabetic shock. I wonder what the dog senses. Changes in behaviour? Smell?
dogs are psychic
*rob*
Bravo Truman- hmmm. You think he could have detonated those bombs on military installations instead?
I’ve seen places in japan where the gay bomb has dropped!!!!
Ending the war quickly and decisively as soon as humanly possible is something to like. Bravo Truman.
Second guessing history and speculating as to ways civilian deaths might have been avoided is exactly that: second guessing and speculation.
Bravo President Truman. You weren’t just a party machine toadie from Kansas City after all.