tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post6721638499080128049..comments2024-03-28T01:33:22.764-04:00Comments on The DiploMad 2.0: Mars and HiroshimaDiploMadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316439950882822419noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-26268535012086587772012-08-29T18:20:32.629-04:002012-08-29T18:20:32.629-04:00I would not have had the uncles and friends of the...I would not have had the uncles and friends of the family who were like uncles had the invasion gone through as planned. They were all still in uniform as of August 9, 1945, and had they been needed they would not have been discharged. Even my Dad probably would have been recalled, his knees would not have been bad enough had they really needed every man jack supporting the invasion. <br />And think of the stupidity of the Japanese High Command! Two atomic bombs, AND the Soviets invade, whom they studiously avoided offending, since the drubbing in 1939 at Khalkin Gol.<br />I wonder, since my SIL gave me a book of counterfactual histories, if she considered that without the A-bomb Japan would have been divided and unable to stage for the Korean War, so the Pusan pocket would have been the end, rather than the beginning of the end. Windy Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01951254236693386401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-90132366567728986812012-08-12T19:50:31.878-04:002012-08-12T19:50:31.878-04:00My father served as a pilot in the Pacific theatre...My father served as a pilot in the Pacific theatre during WWII. One day one of my sons came home from school and told me that dropping the bombs on Japan was a horrible thing for the U.S. to do.<br />My response: It is entirely possible that you would not exist had Pres. Truman NOT dropped the bombs.babshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09262838137108787643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-29872044157695916472012-08-10T19:18:17.929-04:002012-08-10T19:18:17.929-04:00You also have to consider that any protracted inva...You also have to consider that any protracted invasion of Japan would include the Soviets coming in from the North and west via Vladivostock. Upon the conclussion Japan would also have been split like Germany giving the USSR a huge advantage in the Pacific. We would probably not have had the Japanese industrial base to provide support in the Korean War and would have also lost South Korea as a result.KellyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01342332734935313737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-40679174793977702602012-08-09T02:41:41.570-04:002012-08-09T02:41:41.570-04:00I was a teenager at the time of Truman's decis...I was a teenager at the time of Truman's decision and have to differ with <b>pubsecrets'</b> take on the American will to fully engage Japan. Don't think "war-weary" accurately described those of us I knew in the hinterlands. What I saw were folks dedicated to making it work through a long haul. <br /><br />Still, there's no question Harry saved millions of lives, including possibly (eventually) mine, so I admit bias.49erDweethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09386245801517422226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-33427993189741854792012-08-08T03:27:40.177-04:002012-08-08T03:27:40.177-04:00I grew up with sons and daughters of prisoners of ...I grew up with sons and daughters of prisoners of the japanese, these wonderful old blokes would never had made it home but for Truman's decisionAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-3637586419726274592012-08-07T14:38:12.889-04:002012-08-07T14:38:12.889-04:00I haven't read "Downfall" but sounds...I haven't read "Downfall" but sounds like something I should.DiploMadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02316439950882822419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-86563100242094487142012-08-07T11:04:11.274-04:002012-08-07T11:04:11.274-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Corky Boydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16363812378536729410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-32343847507608498162012-08-07T00:37:48.979-04:002012-08-07T00:37:48.979-04:00Your recitation of Japan's situation in 1945 l...Your recitation of Japan's situation in 1945 leads me to believe you've read Richard Frank's "Downfall," an excellent history of the last year of the war. Like you, I think Truman made the right decision. I really don't imagine the political will existed in a war-weary America to pay the price that invasion of the Home Islands would have required.<br /><br />Oh, and I did watch the web-cast of Curiosity's landing last night. Marvelous. It was like being a kid again in the 60s. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-51180339393502745532012-08-06T18:10:46.152-04:002012-08-06T18:10:46.152-04:00Thank you for your timely reflections!Thank you for your timely reflections!JDinOslohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07493998499647209036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-28105377758564279442012-08-06T17:03:06.143-04:002012-08-06T17:03:06.143-04:00Yes, on DDAY but the planning was largely an Ameri...Yes, on DDAY but the planning was largely an American effort and the execution relied on the vast resources, technologies and manpower brought to the effort by the USA.<br /><br />The streamcast was about as emotional a seven minutes of TV that I have ever watched. Never mind the Olympics.DiploMadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02316439950882822419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-35467386814929367472012-08-06T16:40:44.089-04:002012-08-06T16:40:44.089-04:00Just a slight quibble here, the USA did not do the...Just a slight quibble here, the USA did not do the D-Day invasion by herself. While we did provide the vast majority of equipment and soldiers, we likely would not have been anywhere near as successful without our allies.<br /><br />I watched the JPL streamcast of the landing. The engineering involved in those last seven minutes is incredible. There are no "do overs" in space at 12000 mph or even 30 mph. What I saw was a room filled with competent engineers, each doing his (and her, there were about 5 women there) job quietly and professionally. What I did not see were any political "science" or art history or victim-studies majors in the room.TheOldMannoreply@blogger.com