It is the 60th anniversary this month of the United States dropping the Atomic bomb on Japan. Heidi and I were discussing what people thought of this and we want your opinion. Please leave comments and tell us. We will tell your our opinions if you ask, but we want to know what people think.
One of the reasons we bring this up is that last week I watched two excellent films on World War 2. Each movie was about Allied soldiers in Japanese POW camps. Both films I recommend, but neither should be viewed by children. These movies deal with true but terrible times and do not gloss over the events.
The Great Raid is currently in theaters and deals with the survivors of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines. It is a patriotic, flag waving, true story of a raid by American soldiers to free 511 POWs held by the Japanese. The movie does give its due props to the Philipino guerillas who aided the Americans.
The second film, To End All Wars, is a low budget film that had a short theatrical run in 2001 and went to DVD. While also a true story, it is different from the other film in that the main character, (who wrote the book it is based on) came at it from a Christian point of view. The story is of him and his fellow POWs coming to grips with forgiving their brutal captors. Hollywood had to get its hands on it and dumb down the Christian message, but it still shows clearly that the teachings of Christ were the turning point for those men. The end of the movie shows the soldier clutching a Bible and talking about how his life was transformed through that experience. It is a powerful film.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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4 comments:
I believe it was the correct thing to do. The Japanese demonstrated on many occasions that they would fight to the last. They defended small islands of very little importance this way. Also, having studied the history of Japanese soldiers and the bushito code. Many of the Japanese soldiers believed dieing in battle for ones country to be the ultimate honor and sacrifice. Also, an invasion of main land Japan would have cost millions of lives and taken several more years for the war to end. It would have also cost billions of dollars in taking and rebuilding the country. While the lose of life taken from a single bomb and the suffering of those who lived through it is hard to swallow at times. It is nothing compared to the lose of life that could have happened and the countless injured from attempting such a feet would have been staggering.
As a believer in Christ I am mournful to the fact that we sent so many unbelievers to their deaths. I can only hope that God encouraged all the local Christians in the areas the 2 bombs were dropped to share there faith and to be bolder than they have ever been in so doing. Anyway these are my thought on the issue. I would be interested in hearing your opinion on this matter.
You mentioned the movies that are out about how American POW’s were treated by the Japanese. Tim I do not now if you remember or not but we had a substitute teacher in high school that was there for the 1000 mile forced march. I talked with him several times about this after class and after school and while he never went into graphic detail about what happened it was very clear the Japanese did not follow the Geneva Convention in anyway shape or form. Anyway I really want to see the move that is out now but will need to go on my own, as Kristi will not want to see it. Anyway hope you are all well……
Jess
I saw To End All Wars with Tim and my family and it was an outstanding film. A phenomenal message about the forgiveness and sacrifice that can be birthed in a man (or woman) with the understanding of the Gospel and life of Christ.
Tim will have more to say, but thanks for your thoughts. We really wanted to get a good discussion going rather than a debate. We sincerely welcome any and all thoughts on this.
Jess,
I do remember that teacher and his stories. I also talked with him after class. He was amazing.
Thanks for your great insight.
You, too, Duane-o.
Tim
I could write a story or two on this. I remember the day the news told about the Bomb. And the excitement when there was a second bomb,a few days later and Japan deciding that If they did not surrender, the entire country would be toast! I rode my bike all around the neighborhood hollering that the war was over. Many years later, I learned of a relatives personal involvement, preparing the planes that would carry the Bombs. That had been so top secret that he could not even share the information with his wife. It was only when he received notice that the information had been declassified that he could tell some of the story. Some was never told.
I have snce visited Yokohama, and Hiroshima, and have gotten to know many japanese people. while as a nation, they are not Christian, I believe that this even changed the course of the Japanese attitudes, and they found a new and more fitting relationship and place in the world community. Most japanese now are more aware of the rest of the world, and more accepting of an equality amoung people.
In recent days, Hurricane Katrina, and the earlier Tsumani in Asia, have both been responsible for much greater destruction, and apparently deaths than even imagined could happen by a Hydrogen Bomb. It is still to early to have a count, but from the news stories, I believe we will find that there was more loss of life in Lousiana than caused by the 2 bombs dropped in Japan.
Now... what will we see from Japan in the form of Aid and response. Will they be as supportive as U.S. was in 1945?
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