# 7:16 PM Saturday August 5th, . . . where were you?



## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

Just a note, . . . not a warning, . . . just a note that perhaps will bring some semblance of urgency to what we do.

At 7:16 PM, EST, . . . it was exactly 72 years since the Enola Gay sauntered across Hiroshima, Japan and forever flew into the pages of the history books.

Within a few moments of time, . . . 80,000 Japanese citizens lost their lives, . . . in the ensuing few years afterward, . . . another 30,000 would succumb to various problems created by the 1st Atomic bomb used in warfare.

I bring this up, . . . only to say *"Folks, . . . we do not know what today or tomorrow brings, . . . let us be prepared."*

Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it, . . . we need not repeat that one.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

A somber reminder by @dwight55 how your life can change/end in an instant.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

We can thank a Liberal, Truman, for dropping the bomb when he didn't really need to just to show the Ruskies we had one.


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

dwight55 said:


> Just a note, . . . not a warning, . . . just a note that perhaps will bring some semblance of urgency to what we do.
> 
> At 7:16 PM, EST, . . . it was exactly 72 years since the Enola Gay sauntered across Hiroshima, Japan and forever flew into the pages of the history books.
> 
> ...


and December 7, 1941 thousands of brave Americans were killed by those very same people - the worm turns ....


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

Let's see, at that time yesterday I was vacuuming and waiting for wayward and never-on-time daughter #1 to show up. I was also oblivious to the historical significance of that day. 

squach, you would have rather invaded Japan conventionally? That would have been incredibly bloody indeed, for both sides.

I already have the ultimate prep; Thank You Jesus.


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

Sasquatch said:


> We can thank a Liberal, Truman, for dropping the bomb when he didn't really need to just to show the Ruskies we had one.


Sorry to disagree. My father fought in the pacific during WW2. Soldiers there were expecting a 'fight to the last man' from defending Japanese troops. It would have been a bloodbath on both sides. Dropping the bomb killed a lot of civilians but it saved a lot of American GI lives by preventing the necessity for an invasion of the home islands. And the russians already knew we had the bomb. They had spies in the bomb development program.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

7:16 PM 8/5/17 
Slippy was sitting on his sofa at his place near the river watching the DVR of yesterday's Xfinity NASCAR race at Watkins Glen sipping some Buffalo Trace Bourbon.

If this crap gets real with North Korea...well then...it gets real. And I pray that the dipwad politicians get the hell out the way and let the warriors in the baddest-ass Armed Forces do what they do best and remove the North Koreans from existence.


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## 23897 (Apr 18, 2017)

dwight55 said:


> Just a note, . . . not a warning, . . . just a note that perhaps will bring some semblance of urgency to what we do.
> 
> At 7:16 PM, EST, . . . it was exactly 72 years since the Enola Gay sauntered across Hiroshima, Japan and forever flew into the pages of the history books.
> 
> ...


It was just after a quarter after midnight here. I knew the significance as I had been listening to this:

Enola Gay https://g.co/kgs/rGPz4Z

FF

Sent from my iPhone using Technology whilst it still exists.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Eating BQ steak and taters. Enjoying a beautiful 65 degree evening on the back porch.


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

Chiefster23 said:


> Sorry to disagree. My father fought in the pacific during WW2. Soldiers there were expecting a 'fight to the last man' from defending Japanese troops. It would have been a bloodbath on both sides. Dropping the bomb killed a lot of civilians but it saved a lot of American GI lives by preventing the necessity for an invasion of the home islands. And the russians already knew we had the bomb. They had spies in the bomb development program.


you said it fella ...

nothing new with these armchair quarterback "historian" quackers - you bring up the US military carnage experienced as they progressed closer to the Japanese home islands - and they go silent - because they face reality with confirmed casualty numbers and can't play their "oh, the poor innocent defeated Japanese" - or they bring up the total bull "the Japanese wanted to surrender" .... damn eazy to be such a f__khead 70+ years later and not making a life & death decision for a war weary country ....

going to be damn interesting how the two sides of history pens Prez Trump's final solution to North Korea - I'm sure another armchair "expert" 70 years in the future will be crapping all over his decision also - but they won't be facing a nuke tipped missile wielded by a paranoid manic - Will they?


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## badchad250 (Jul 24, 2017)

dwight55 said:


> Just a note, . . . not a warning, . . . just a note that perhaps will bring some semblance of urgency to what we do.
> 
> At 7:16 PM, EST, . . . it was exactly 72 years since the Enola Gay sauntered across Hiroshima, Japan and forever flew into the pages of the history books.
> 
> ...


My grandpa knows a man thats from my hometown that was on the enola gay....an old timer i believe his name is paul something cant remember he may of passed away havent seen em in 4-5 years

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## badchad250 (Jul 24, 2017)

Boss Dog said:


> Let's see, at that time yesterday I was vacuuming and waiting for wayward and never-on-time daughter #1 to show up. I was also oblivious to the historical significance of that day.
> 
> squach, you would have rather invaded Japan conventionally? That would have been incredibly bloody indeed, for both sides.
> 
> I already have the ultimate prep; Thank You Jesus.


Your mind is the ultimate prep..

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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

Boss Dog said:


> squatch, you would have rather invaded Japan conventionally? That would have been incredibly bloody indeed, for both sides.


I am by no means an expert on the subject but from what I've seen and read the Japanese, at that, point were just about ready to surrender. The Russians had come into the fight against the Japanese by then and were decimating their troops. There are also quotes from Gen. MacArthur saying there was no need for the bomb.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Due to time zones and the International Date Line, the Enola Gay released its bomb at 8:16 AM Tokyo time on August 6th.

Those who subscribe to alt-history and think that this was unnecessary do not know all the facts.
For those who think this was inhumane and somehow unprecedented, read this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo
Or study what the British and American bombers did to Dresden and Cologne, Germany.

Warfare is not neat and tidy. It is the ultimate in barbarity.
"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Just ask the infantry and ask the dead." Ernest Hemingway

President Truman did the right thing.


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## 23897 (Apr 18, 2017)

Sas you may have read the Japanese revisionist history version.

Have a read here. Beware it too is biased.

https://www.stripes.com/news/specia...out-the-atomic-bombings-1.360300#.WYdtMUHTWEc

Sent from my iPhone using Technology whilst it still exists.


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

Sasquatch said:


> We can thank a Liberal, Truman, for dropping the bomb when he didn't really need to just to show the Ruskies we had one.


Sas

Thou knowest what you speak. Japan was not on the verge of surrender. MacArthur and the rest of the Army were convinced that the USofA would need to invade the home islands in order to bring about an unconditional surrender to Japan. Unlike Germany, the Japanese were fanatics and truely believed in their God Emperor. Casualty estimates ranged between 500,000 and a million deaths to US soldiers alone not counting the millions of Japanese who would have died.

Truman used the bomb to end the war in the shortest time and with the least loss of life.

Sorry if the facts don't support a great narrative

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Sasquatch said:


> I am by no means an expert on the subject but from what I've seen and read the Japanese, at that, point were just about ready to surrender. The Russians had come into the fight against the Japanese by then and were decimating their troops. There are also quotes from Gen. MacArthur saying there was no need for the bomb.


The study of WWII is my hobby. Most histories are told from the winner's point of view.
"The Rising Sun, The Decline And Fall Of The Japanese Empire, 1936-1945" by John Toland (Random House, 1970) tells WWII from the Japanese side.
My copy, a 1978 paperback edition, has been read so many times, all 992 pages, that I have it held together with tape.

As late as the evening of the day the 2nd bomb was dropped, on Nagasaki, the two factions in the Japanese government were still arguing about whether to surrender or fight on. At a called conference, the War Minister and the Army argued to fight on, as did the Navy; the Prime Minister and others urged acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation (unconditional surrender). The meeting went on for more than two hours, until the Emperor decided to accept surrender.
Described in Chapter 35, pp 912-917

As far as the Russians finally joining the other Allies, by attacking the Japanese in Manchuria, this did shake the Japanese more than the first atom bomb, but they were still not ready to accept unconditional surrender. (ibid, p 909)
It was the second atom bomb that made the Emperor come to his decision.

(That was a nice excursion into the book for this research. I spent a good 20 minutes. Thank you, Sas. It made me want to read the book yet another time)


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

Sasquatch said:


> We can thank a Liberal, Truman, for dropping the bomb when he didn't really need to just to show the Ruskies we had one.


that ^^^^ that right there is how our society got were it is today!!! that kind of thinking. WE did *need* to drop it boneheads, YES we did!!!!!!!!!! not only to save American lives but Japanese as well! You forget the Japanese would fight until they were extinct they would and were committing self inflicting genocide on themselves make no mistake about it they thought the emperor was a god and did what ever he said period no exceptions to fail meant death by your hand or the enemy. Truman dropped two bombs one to show them(the emperor) we have it the other to show them we can do it again so that the Japanese would think mainly Hirohito would think we can do it all day long( if I think right we only had two at the time) it was his realization that it wasn't worth losing his country and the suffering of his people it is why he surrendered. was it horrible to drop them? yes, but it was the lesser of the two evils and it worked, remember that!!


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

The Japanese soldier was a skilled fighter that seldom surrendered. As our army came nearer to the home islands, Japanese resistance became even more fanatical. Fight to the death, kamakazi planes, and on Okinawa Japs even sacrificed their own civilians against our troops. America had suffered untold thousands of casualties during the war and it looked like the invasion would be some of the bloodiest fighting yet. What sane american wouldn't drop the nuke to prevent furthur loss of life among our troops? If you still think dropping the bomb was unnecessary, think of this. If your son was in the infantry facing a high probability of being killed in such an invasion, wouldn't you drop the bomb? I wouldn't hesitate a second.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

were was I on that day -I wasn't even conceived yet. now last Saturday at that time I was in church giving thanks and celebrating the glory of God. 
WAR sucks for everybody involved. many on here have seen their share but nothing like WW2 no matter what country they are from.


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## SDF880 (Mar 28, 2013)

An interesting side note is Tsutomu Yamaguchi was 3km from the Hiroshima blast but survived. Along with a few other survivors, he made his way to his hometown, Nagasaki, and was again within 3km of the second blast yet survived this one also.


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

I'm more concerned with surviving the aftermath of the next one.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

As far as Harry Truman being a "liberal", by today's standards he would be a Republican.
He was also a veteran of World War One, serving in the field artillery, US Army. And an early joiner of the American Legion.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

On that day in 1945, I was sleeping in my bed next to my mothers.

A few days later, and this is my oldest memory, 

my father came running up the walkway yelling "it's over, it's over!!!". scared the hell out of me.

I was on my mothers lap on the rocking chair in the kitchen when he came home, the radio on the GE "Monitor" fridge was off.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

So if I'm understanding most of you correctly the US writes the definitive narrative to WW2 because we won? To the victor goes the spoils sort of speak. So I guess that would also mean the North gets to write the definitive narrative of the Civil War?


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

Sasquatch said:


> So if I'm understanding most of you correctly the US writes the definitive narrative to WW2 because we won? To the victor goes the spoils sort of speak. So I guess that would also mean the North gets to write the definitive narrative of the Civil War?


Pretty much always has been that way..........

Maybe not be the most politically correct manner, . . . just the way things are done.

As a veteran, and as a Christian, . . . I have very little use for those who do not actively take part, . . . but sit back and either applaud, . . . OR, . . . look the other way, . . . then want to be declared innocent or non-combatants.

I have no empathy or sympathy for any of them. Stand up and do what is right, today, tomorrow, and always, . . . or don't cry when you get your butt kicked.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

dwight55 said:


> Pretty much always has been that way..........
> 
> Maybe not be the most politically correct manner, . . . just the way things are done.
> 
> ...


Yes, sir. I agree, especially when it comes to the Japanese.
Growing up when most neighborhood fathers were WWII veterans, and then later my studies of the Pacific Theater, and the China-Burma-India Theater during WWII leaves me with absolutely NO sympathy for the Japanese of those times. None.

Those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

A friend who won the silver star on Iwo Jima, said, "we didn't kill enough of them bastards".

My father in law, survivor of Guadalcanal and Okinawa said, "we didn't kill enough of them",

and he killed six of the bastards with a K-bar at the battle of the Tenaru in night fighting after running out of 

ammo for his BAR. 

One uncle who was on an "S" boat stationed in the Philippines on Dec. 7, strafed at Cavite without knowing of war,

said, "we didn't kill enough of them".

Another uncle with the army on New Guinea, said the same, "we didn't kill enough of the bastards. 

Truman said, There never would have been a Hiroshima if there never was a Pearl Harbor.

For what they did to our POW's and others, they were right, not enough.

These shit brained apologist and bleeding heart turds, 

have no f*n clue to how brutal butchers they were to civilians and POW's.

Every one of the japs were trained to fight us when we would have landed, women and children.

Most of them would have been cut down in their banzai attacks, an honorable death to them.

The only non combatants were those wearing diapers or training pants.



.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Sasquatch said:


> So if I'm understanding most of you correctly the US writes the definitive narrative to WW2 because we won? To the victor goes the spoils sort of speak. So I guess that would also mean the North gets to write the definitive narrative of the Civil War?


Short answer is yes.

Are you questioning our view of WW2 with the japs???

Do you mean to say that we doctored all the film of the war tribunals?

Are you saying that we fabricated all the evidence presented at those trials?

Are you saying the Rangoon Burma railway was a fabrication, the rape of Nanking?

Are you saying butchering our men like lab rats in munition test in China were fabricated?

They did not hang enough of the bastards.

IMHO, every officer should have been executed, at a minimum all those at staff level and up including the navy.

As far as the north - south thing goes, I don't give a damn about it for the most part.


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Read up on what caused the Japs to go to war.

There's no doubt that the Japs were cruel and barbaric, but there is a reason they decided war was the best option.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

SOCOM42 said:


> Short answer is yes.
> 
> Are you questioning our view of WW2 with the japs???
> 
> ...


The original question waa whether we needed to drop the bomb or not. So all your other questions to me are moot.

As for the Civil War I was pointing out some here believe, and possibly rightly so, the real history of the Civil War was changed by the side that won. I was playing devil's advocate in asking if that couldnt have been the same for WW2.

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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

Sas. Your are certainly entitled to your opinion. But with respect, I don't think you have ever sat down a talked with a solder who fought in the Pacific theater. The atrocities outlined above may be moot to your question but they certainly demonstrate how ferocious the Japanese would have fought to defend the homeland. My father told me that Truman said that he justified his decision to bomb with the following reasoning. "If it saves one american life, it's worth it,". I don't know if that is true or not but it is certainly reasoning that I can understand and agree with. The Japs may have felt they were justified in starting the war, but THEY DID START IT. Truman finished it.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Sasquatch said:


> The original question was whether we needed to drop the bomb or not. So all your other questions to me are moot.
> 
> As for the Civil War I was pointing out some here believe, and possibly rightly so, the real history of the Civil War was changed by the side that won. I was playing devil's advocate in asking if that couldn't have been the same for WW2.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


Almost all the incidents I pointed out, were in part used to justify the use of the bomb, the war itself was enough justification.

The Jap high command had planned on the extermination of all of its population once we had landed on the main islands.

So, back to the question, answer, yes they can, to the victor goes the spoils.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Denton said:


> Read up on what caused the Japs to go to war.
> 
> There's no doubt that the Japs were cruel and barbaric, but there is a reason they decided war was the best option.


Yeah, the greater co-prosperity sphere, horseshit.

Their reason was like Germany's, lebenstraum.

Overpopulation and the lack of natural resources were the primary motivation.

We stopped shipping them ferrous stock and oil plus other products because of their expansion into China.

They only had about 30 days worth of oil in reserve.

Their plan was to sink our navy to prevent our interference with their move south to take the oil fields.

Those plans to take Indonesia, Singapore,

Burma and other areas were know to us years before the attack on us was executed.

Oil, rubber and rice were the primary booty.

The London naval treaty of 1936(successor to the 1922 Washington treaty)) was walked out on by the japs,

which they had violated many times in secret, showing the intent was there, in 1937 they invaded China

under a fabricated incident at the Marco Polo bridge.

The invasion force had already set sail for the Dutch East Indies before the Pearl Harbor attack began.

That oil (light crude) was of such quality from the Dutch that it did not need refinement to burn in the Jap ships,

that was their first post Pearl Harbor objective.

Did I pass?


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