Celebrating the Bombing of Japan

My father lived because we bombed Japan into submission. My father was in the US Navy in the Pacific during WWII. He participated in the amphibious invasion of Balikpapan, Borneo and was staging for the invasion of Japan when the news came. I believe that the bombs probably saved him. I am very grateful for this bomb but very sorry for the attitudes in Japan that made it inevitable. See this outstanding Afterburner episode. Years later I went to the museum in the Peace Park in Hiroshima. I was asked to sign a petition denouncing nuclear weapons. One of the proudest moments of my life was telling the person who solicited my signature that I was proud that America had dropped the bomb and had saved Japan and my father. I have been to the Peace Park twice. The pictures of the carnage are unimaginably horrific. The first time I went in 1987 there was no exhibit that documented out the events that led up to the bombing. I pointed out this omission to my Japanese colleagues. In no relation whatsoever to my complaints I was pleased on my return in 2000 to see some historical exhibits relating to the political situation in Japan and the atrocities in China and elsewhere that provided a little context for the bomb. This link is also useful reading.