Yes ive read all those titles you mention and quite a few others concerning that period.
l would mention a couple of fairly recent ones you may or may not have read...
Nicholson Baker-Human Smoke
A History of Bombing-Sven Linquvist
During our sailing days,my wife and i saw many decaying and restored boats used in the operation to rescue soldiers and quite a few have been restored faithfully.On the open sea they seem frail but its a touching sight to see one and compare its humbleness to the hubris of the generals on both sides who commited 'legal' murder ....
All my family have military connections and the surviving elderly ones have a horror of war that only participants can have.
Let the light shine!
I keyed on the statement of you post..."America,with its nuclear capability, demonstrated who was going to be in charge when it vapourised and incinerated all those japanese women and children". My Uncle was one of many waiting for the go ahead of the invasion of Japan. After three delays while in full assault readiness the fourth time the Captain whistle blew it was announced that because of some new type of weapon the war department had used the Japanese agreed to terms of unconditional surrender and the invasion was off... with about a twenty second time of no response from the marines, they erupted into shouts of joy. My uncle, who had been badly wounded on the beach at Tarawa was one of twenty marines, a marine Captain, Colonel, several individuals, presumably scientists with Geiger counters from the war dept. and a couple reporters landed, as an assault team, and marched to the bomb site.. my uncle was standing next to the Life photographer who took the famous picture of the shadow cast on a concrete block by a persons body between the blast and the block. One of the terms first ordered upon surrender was that no one was to be seen... not even lifting a curtain... for seventy two hours. My uncle said it was eerie to be landing on the beach basically alone and marching through the country side and he said, just as the Emperor had ordered... there wasn't a sign of life anywhere, nothing moving, like one of those movies where everybody disappears leaving things as they were. Anyhow... those areas bombed were military industrial areas and leaflets had been dropped by the Air Corp telling people to evacuate the area as it was to be destroyed from the air. We were there as part of the occupation, me as dependent... we had a Japanese maid.. a woman of about thirty, thirty five...she told us before the war they had a radio fixed to one station and all was about Japanese conquest, successes, and that the sun never sets on the Japanese Empire, as depicted on their flag. She told us one evening.. with tears in her eyes and near breaking voice.. that as the tide of war had obviously changed, the government described Americans as barbarians who drink the blood of their God, that the American government did not send it's army enough food, expecting them to live off the land as they conquered.. she said... choking.. they were told the Americans will kill all the men, rape and kill the women, and eat the children... and, she continued, practically imploring to be understood... she continued.. and we believed it.. we believed it. We were instructed to arm ourselves as we could and die in place rather than surrender to the American barbarians, for no surrender was possible. Then, after the surrender.. the Americans came.. even though we had been assured by the Emperor, we were so afraid... but they gave us medicine, food, water, electricity, told our men to go about their fishing, work.. they set up schools...let local leaders organize and run civil activities.. she is practically crying as she choked to get this out.. like it was very important for her to get it out, so people would know. Her name was Tomiko.
Those bombs prevented an invasion that had already been worked out which would have destroyed that wonderful land and those beautiful people... not to mention the Japanese military forces very active in China.... thank goodness that didn't have to happen. Yes, we, America, was going to be in charge. The history of the human race is one of war, with technology, instead of deliverer, an enabler... how many millions during the last century...how many to come. Yes, legal murder.. but honestly.. what does one do... and it isn't the generals topping the food chain of warfare, it's bankers... wars.. they are financed and interest is paid into future generations, compounded by additional wars. It's how the world works.
As an aside... my father was military, career... in before the war...out, then back in for the duration... was at Normandy on D Day, part of the advance through Europe.
Thank you for answering John,
Take care.
