The Nagasaki Bomb’s Mushroom Cloud In the popular imagination of the war, Nagasaki is almost forgotten while Hiroshima stands center stage. That may well be because at the time of the attack, the Americans did not know what they had destroyed. It is a supreme irony that Nagasaki was (and is) the most pro-Western, anti-Imperial city in Japan, the center of Christianity in that country since its introduction by the Dutch and Spanish in the 16th century and because of that fact the center of resistance to the Tokugawa Shogunate when Japan was closed to the outside world for 200 years commencing in the 17th century. The city was where Giacomo Puccini wrote the opera “Madame Butterfly” while he lived there in a beautiful cottage on a hill overlooking Nagasaki Bay (which I visited).
What you say about the contrast between the response of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is so true, and evident in the atomic blast museums of each city. Hiroshima stresses the victimhood of the residents and paints the US as using the bomb solely to gain advantage over the USSR to preclude its entry into the war. Nagasaki stresses the sadness of it all and concludes with an exhibit on the progress of efforts to control nuclear arms and a plea for disarmament. Very different experiences.
Excellent story, Tom..... I have always found it interesting that with all the protests and throwing paint at the "Enola Gay", "Bockscar" has been displayed at the National Museum of the US Air Force for some decades with almost no notice at all. And may the citizens of Nagasaki prevail in their quest to bring peace to this little blue marble - we have nowhere else to go.....
Wish the pictures & descriptions of these horrific bombs would break thru the idiocy of anyone who even has a thought of using one. I dont think I would have the forgiveness in me that the Nagasaki citizens do. Its different from so much of the crap going on today here.
It was the TV movie "The Day After" that broke through a lot of otherwise jingoistic minds during the Reagan years. The British film "Threads" came out around the same time, and was so horrific it made "The Day After" look like an ABC Afterschool Special. The latter is the most unsettling motion picture I have ever seen.
There was a later movie on HBO that was unstinting in showing the aftereffects of both bombs. I think we need to be shown this and movies like it, over and over, so that we all commit to never using them again.
Threads is a masterpiece. The Day After was good but too American- network TV, PBS' Testament is terrific too. Heartbreaking. We can't let people forget
Our contribution to the Holocaust
Republicans would rather you not think about these atrocities
I agree -opting out of seeing these aftereffects simply because it would make someone "feel bad"? Seems this kind of mindset is what is becoming normal! Lets not look - then the bad things go away, right??
The Nagasaki bombing mission was a total mess from beginning to end. From swapping planes the day before the drop to the emergency landing on Okinawa, it was a perfect example of Murphy’s Law in action. After Kokura and Nagasaki, the last alternate target City was Niigata, where my maternal grandfather came from and where my grandmother had family, too. Lastly, the nose art on BocksCar was put on sometime after the mission. Of the Silverplate bombers of the 509th CG, only Enola Gay and BocksCar survive as all the rest of the planes were either scrapped or lost due to accidents.
This is a richly detailed account of that little known second bomb. Thanks for humanizing the Japanese of Nagasaki, who were, as you say, Christianized. Once again, all of you great details characterize the duty/mission focus of our military in that war. You put on the job with the crew, and our imaginations can fill in the emotional parts. A great read.
Having recently seen the film Oppenheimer and now reading the book it was based on American Prometheus I got into a discussion with my husband about Nagasaki bombing. He thought it happened because the Japanese didn’t surrender after Hiroshima. Thank you for your detailed account of the bombing of Nagasaki but I’m still confused by the chronology— did we have to bomb them or was it overkill?
There was no "have to" for either bomb. Merely announcing at Potsdam the policy we would adopt in August - that the Emperor would not be removed - would have ended the war without the bombs, since preservation of the Emperor was the main argument of the "dead enders." The peace party could have prevailed as soon as they heard that.
"Unconditional surrender" might have played well for FDR with domestic politics, but it extended the war at least a year. With all three Axis powers.
because of the way I grew up, I've always found it hard to lump the three axis powers together when the issue of "unconditional surrender" comes up. which is to say that I can't imagine what anything short of unconditional surrender could possible mean in the case of Germany. I've never been able feel that way about Japan. Paul Fussell titled a book of his essays "Thank God for the Atom Bomb," but he was operating on the assumption that dropping the bombs saved enough American lives to be justifiable. based on what you're saying, that argument can now be considered a "useful fiction" (ie--bullshit).
Not necessarily. If they had put Operation Olympic into operation, there would have been terrible loss of life. When I interviewed Colonel William E. Barber about Chosin, we also talked about his time in WW2. He was a company commander (by attrition) in the Sixth Marine Division at Iwo Jima. They were to hit one of the Kyushu beaches. In September after the surrender, the officers of the division went to visit that beach. All the defenses were still there, and several of the officers who would have been their opponents. He told me that after they took their tour of the beach and talked to their opposites, it was the unanimous opinion that they would have never gotten off the beach against those defenses, and that it would have been impossible to extract them from the beach. My father, who hated the bomb, also believed it saved him - he got orders back to radar picket destroyers on my birthday, after having been sunk by the kamikazes at Okinawa and survived.
So it's a very complicated question. If the Russians had invaded Japan, I'm sure Nimitz would have been told it didn't matter if he supported the event or not, just do it. There would have been no way we'd have let the Russians have the whole country, not after 4 years of the Pacific War.
Thank you but so I guess it underscores what the film made Truman appear to be — a sort of totally pragmatic leader who had no patience for Oppenheimer’s misgivings.
The Japanese had not responded officially to U.S. demands for surrender, even after Hiroshima, but it was the news of the Soviet smashing of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria added to the dropping of the second A bomb that finally forced the Emperor to stop the fighting. But even then, nationalistic hotheaded Army officers tried a palace coup, but failed.
I still wonder if we had held off on Nagasaki a bit while news of the “Soviet smashing of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria” got to the Emperor whether Nagasaki would have happened. Never again may be wishful thinking, but it has to be the goal.
Hard to say, but the thought that a Soviet Army might mount an amphibious operation and invade Japan weighed heavily on the Japanese military leaders’ minds. The Soviets had completely collapsed the entire front in Manchuria and captured thousands more prisoners in one swoop than the U.S. had done in over three years, a complete military disaster for the Imperial forces. Even today, the Russians still occupy the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, a sore point in diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia…The thought of the Russians being part of the invasion forces influenced American war plans, too.
I had heard from my husband John about General Sweeney and the plane coming into Okinawa on fumes. John grew up with the very large, very Catholic Sweeney family in Milton, MA., where Gen. Sweeney lived out his life. That he was the paterfamilias of this big Catholic family made it ever more tragically ironic that he dropped the bomb on a largely Christian city destroying the cathedral and other Catholic churches. The superhuman forgiveness of the people of Nagazaki and their determination to work for peace, I hope, came from their Christianity. As you say, if so, one of the few extant examples of real Christian forgiveness.
Thank you, TC. The writing and the pictures were sadly riveting.
a really exciting account, Tom. I had no idea the mission was so, uhh...insane.
ultimately, the whole thing is horrifying, then sickening. I find it impossible not to start thinking about what people are talking about when they discuss things like using "tactical" nukes. how do these "tactical" nukes measure up when they're compared with the two 1945 bombs? I don't know at all and the whole thing is so upsetting that I don't want to do the required research. I realize this is lazy.
one TINY correction: Puccini (I remembered that he hated to travel and only did so when he had to for "business"(( meaning financial)) reasons) didn't visit Japan. the person who went there to soak up "atmosphere" was Illica, his extremely embattled (Puccini was always a pain in the ass for his collaborators) librettist. the story itself had already been a successful novel and hit play by David Belasco.
if my memory has failed me in this matter, I'll let you know after my new copy of Julian Budden's biography arrives next week.
That's interesting. When the tour took us to the house out along Nagasaki Bay (really beautiful with the islands), the tour guide said it was "Puccini's home" in Nagasaki, I even sat at the piano there. So I'm going to be very interested in what you say when you check your source.
Hi everyone! This time, I gave Tom a like for this account of the Nagasaki bombing - because the people in that city were willing to put their Christianity first, and "forgive them, for they know not what they do". Tom's storytelling is vivid and his political comments so spot on, that I make TAFM a "must read" of my day. I am also humbled by the people who respond with more historical facts, making me learn more at this age. Yes, history is a bitch and, sometimes a nasty one, but if we don't read it and learn from it, then we suffer the consequences. Thanks to Tom and all of you here!
The first and only time I saw the ‘Enola Gay’ was disassembled and stored at the Garber facility in 1988 or ‘89. To be honest, I still think that would have been a perfectly fine way to keep her.
What you say about the contrast between the response of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is so true, and evident in the atomic blast museums of each city. Hiroshima stresses the victimhood of the residents and paints the US as using the bomb solely to gain advantage over the USSR to preclude its entry into the war. Nagasaki stresses the sadness of it all and concludes with an exhibit on the progress of efforts to control nuclear arms and a plea for disarmament. Very different experiences.
Excellent story, Tom..... I have always found it interesting that with all the protests and throwing paint at the "Enola Gay", "Bockscar" has been displayed at the National Museum of the US Air Force for some decades with almost no notice at all. And may the citizens of Nagasaki prevail in their quest to bring peace to this little blue marble - we have nowhere else to go.....
Wish the pictures & descriptions of these horrific bombs would break thru the idiocy of anyone who even has a thought of using one. I dont think I would have the forgiveness in me that the Nagasaki citizens do. Its different from so much of the crap going on today here.
It was the TV movie "The Day After" that broke through a lot of otherwise jingoistic minds during the Reagan years. The British film "Threads" came out around the same time, and was so horrific it made "The Day After" look like an ABC Afterschool Special. The latter is the most unsettling motion picture I have ever seen.
There was a later movie on HBO that was unstinting in showing the aftereffects of both bombs. I think we need to be shown this and movies like it, over and over, so that we all commit to never using them again.
"The Day After" even convinced Reagan.
Threads is a masterpiece. The Day After was good but too American- network TV, PBS' Testament is terrific too. Heartbreaking. We can't let people forget
Our contribution to the Holocaust
Republicans would rather you not think about these atrocities
I agree -opting out of seeing these aftereffects simply because it would make someone "feel bad"? Seems this kind of mindset is what is becoming normal! Lets not look - then the bad things go away, right??
The Nagasaki bombing mission was a total mess from beginning to end. From swapping planes the day before the drop to the emergency landing on Okinawa, it was a perfect example of Murphy’s Law in action. After Kokura and Nagasaki, the last alternate target City was Niigata, where my maternal grandfather came from and where my grandmother had family, too. Lastly, the nose art on BocksCar was put on sometime after the mission. Of the Silverplate bombers of the 509th CG, only Enola Gay and BocksCar survive as all the rest of the planes were either scrapped or lost due to accidents.
This is a richly detailed account of that little known second bomb. Thanks for humanizing the Japanese of Nagasaki, who were, as you say, Christianized. Once again, all of you great details characterize the duty/mission focus of our military in that war. You put on the job with the crew, and our imaginations can fill in the emotional parts. A great read.
Thank you for this, epitomizes both the absolute horror and the fog of war. Once the wheels are set in motion...
You’ve relieved me of a lot of ignorance. Thanks again, TC.
We aim to please.
Ditto
Best single story yet, thanks TC. Nagasaki doesn't get a lot of mention in the history books, now I understand why.
Terrific blog topic, Tom.
Pierce has a great companion piece on his Esquire blog. Both are required reading
This is your amerikkka, embrace it. Learn real history. It ain't pretty. Only true.
Having recently seen the film Oppenheimer and now reading the book it was based on American Prometheus I got into a discussion with my husband about Nagasaki bombing. He thought it happened because the Japanese didn’t surrender after Hiroshima. Thank you for your detailed account of the bombing of Nagasaki but I’m still confused by the chronology— did we have to bomb them or was it overkill?
There was no "have to" for either bomb. Merely announcing at Potsdam the policy we would adopt in August - that the Emperor would not be removed - would have ended the war without the bombs, since preservation of the Emperor was the main argument of the "dead enders." The peace party could have prevailed as soon as they heard that.
"Unconditional surrender" might have played well for FDR with domestic politics, but it extended the war at least a year. With all three Axis powers.
because of the way I grew up, I've always found it hard to lump the three axis powers together when the issue of "unconditional surrender" comes up. which is to say that I can't imagine what anything short of unconditional surrender could possible mean in the case of Germany. I've never been able feel that way about Japan. Paul Fussell titled a book of his essays "Thank God for the Atom Bomb," but he was operating on the assumption that dropping the bombs saved enough American lives to be justifiable. based on what you're saying, that argument can now be considered a "useful fiction" (ie--bullshit).
if I'm being simplistic about this, let me know.
Not necessarily. If they had put Operation Olympic into operation, there would have been terrible loss of life. When I interviewed Colonel William E. Barber about Chosin, we also talked about his time in WW2. He was a company commander (by attrition) in the Sixth Marine Division at Iwo Jima. They were to hit one of the Kyushu beaches. In September after the surrender, the officers of the division went to visit that beach. All the defenses were still there, and several of the officers who would have been their opponents. He told me that after they took their tour of the beach and talked to their opposites, it was the unanimous opinion that they would have never gotten off the beach against those defenses, and that it would have been impossible to extract them from the beach. My father, who hated the bomb, also believed it saved him - he got orders back to radar picket destroyers on my birthday, after having been sunk by the kamikazes at Okinawa and survived.
So it's a very complicated question. If the Russians had invaded Japan, I'm sure Nimitz would have been told it didn't matter if he supported the event or not, just do it. There would have been no way we'd have let the Russians have the whole country, not after 4 years of the Pacific War.
Thank you but so I guess it underscores what the film made Truman appear to be — a sort of totally pragmatic leader who had no patience for Oppenheimer’s misgivings.
The Japanese had not responded officially to U.S. demands for surrender, even after Hiroshima, but it was the news of the Soviet smashing of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria added to the dropping of the second A bomb that finally forced the Emperor to stop the fighting. But even then, nationalistic hotheaded Army officers tried a palace coup, but failed.
I still wonder if we had held off on Nagasaki a bit while news of the “Soviet smashing of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria” got to the Emperor whether Nagasaki would have happened. Never again may be wishful thinking, but it has to be the goal.
Hard to say, but the thought that a Soviet Army might mount an amphibious operation and invade Japan weighed heavily on the Japanese military leaders’ minds. The Soviets had completely collapsed the entire front in Manchuria and captured thousands more prisoners in one swoop than the U.S. had done in over three years, a complete military disaster for the Imperial forces. Even today, the Russians still occupy the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, a sore point in diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia…The thought of the Russians being part of the invasion forces influenced American war plans, too.
I had heard from my husband John about General Sweeney and the plane coming into Okinawa on fumes. John grew up with the very large, very Catholic Sweeney family in Milton, MA., where Gen. Sweeney lived out his life. That he was the paterfamilias of this big Catholic family made it ever more tragically ironic that he dropped the bomb on a largely Christian city destroying the cathedral and other Catholic churches. The superhuman forgiveness of the people of Nagazaki and their determination to work for peace, I hope, came from their Christianity. As you say, if so, one of the few extant examples of real Christian forgiveness.
Thank you, TC. The writing and the pictures were sadly riveting.
That is truly an ironic twist to the story, that Sweeney was a strong Catholic.
a really exciting account, Tom. I had no idea the mission was so, uhh...insane.
ultimately, the whole thing is horrifying, then sickening. I find it impossible not to start thinking about what people are talking about when they discuss things like using "tactical" nukes. how do these "tactical" nukes measure up when they're compared with the two 1945 bombs? I don't know at all and the whole thing is so upsetting that I don't want to do the required research. I realize this is lazy.
one TINY correction: Puccini (I remembered that he hated to travel and only did so when he had to for "business"(( meaning financial)) reasons) didn't visit Japan. the person who went there to soak up "atmosphere" was Illica, his extremely embattled (Puccini was always a pain in the ass for his collaborators) librettist. the story itself had already been a successful novel and hit play by David Belasco.
if my memory has failed me in this matter, I'll let you know after my new copy of Julian Budden's biography arrives next week.
That's interesting. When the tour took us to the house out along Nagasaki Bay (really beautiful with the islands), the tour guide said it was "Puccini's home" in Nagasaki, I even sat at the piano there. So I'm going to be very interested in what you say when you check your source.
Absolutely! I've had a few friends who work just tour guides and believe me, they're not above making stuff up. just saying.
Wow.
I know, not a very profound comment.
Thank you.
I’m catching up on my reading tonight. And so glad I am. Excellent writing Tom. I have learned so much from these posts.
Thanks Karen.
Hi everyone! This time, I gave Tom a like for this account of the Nagasaki bombing - because the people in that city were willing to put their Christianity first, and "forgive them, for they know not what they do". Tom's storytelling is vivid and his political comments so spot on, that I make TAFM a "must read" of my day. I am also humbled by the people who respond with more historical facts, making me learn more at this age. Yes, history is a bitch and, sometimes a nasty one, but if we don't read it and learn from it, then we suffer the consequences. Thanks to Tom and all of you here!
TAFM is a really amazing community. Not what I expected at all, thank goodness.
The first and only time I saw the ‘Enola Gay’ was disassembled and stored at the Garber facility in 1988 or ‘89. To be honest, I still think that would have been a perfectly fine way to keep her.