Pretty cool...
World War II was the biggest conflict in world history, and it profoundly shaped the modern world.
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Thank you for posting. Although he did not physically participate in the actual air raid on Tokyo in March 1945, my dad was a participant on that raid and its "success" that killed over 100,000 Japanese civilians in the fire bombing of Tokyo. IIRC, that raid destroyed 20 square miles of the city of Tokyo and killed more people than either of the 2 atomic bomb raids on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For those who may have seen the movie Unbroken, it was featured in the movie when the POW's were transferred from Tokyo to other camps in Japan after the raid. It seems that that bombing raid has been given little attention in the overall summary of WWII, even though it was of such a significant result.
I wish that I had questioned my dad more on his role in the war before he died but I did know that his B-29 bomb wing was a major player in the ultimate destruction of Japan even before the atomic bomb raids. He did tell me that he never felt any regret on those 2 atomic raids, even though Japan was ultimately defeated ahead of them. Any act that would save Allied lives was perfectly justified in his opinion.
Kind of like the dealings with al Qaeda after 9/11, and with the Japanese military culture of WWII, it was going to be a fight to the last man, if permitted, as they felt that surrender would be a great dishonor. That philosophy seems to be so sad, given that the die hards of both "causes" did not care for the innocent lives they would put in harm's way. Germany fell prey to Hitler's same kind of thinking when he refused to surrender when it was obvious of the outcome of that war.
Hopefully in current and future wars, despots like Putin of today will admit that their war is a lost cause and realize when it is time to cut the losses, if for no other reason, than for the sake of humanity.