Wednesday, March 9, 2011

This day in history - 3/9/1945

"In the single deadliest air raid of World War II, 330 American B-29s rain incendiary bombs on Tokyo, touching off a firestorm that kills upwards of 100,000 people, burns a quarter of the city to the ground, and leaves a million homeless.
 
Tokyo was the first of five incendiary raids launched in quick succession against the largest Japanese cities. Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe were also targeted — with Nagoya getting hit twice within a week. By the end of the war, more than 60 Japanese cities had been laid waste by firebombing."
 
It is sometimes shocking to face the horrors we simple bipedal primates are capable of inflicting on one another. And all this was before the atom bombs. I don't think I'd be capable of ordering a bombing raid that I knew would kill tens of thousands of children over a couple of hours. But I guess that's what generals are for. If there is a hell, I can assure you it's full of generals.

1 comment:

wildmary said...

I've thought about that. Who could handle being responsible for that kind on inhumanity?