What were the atrocities by the US in WWII?

Answer 1

Many people consider that actions such as: -
The indiscriminate "terror" bombing of non-military targets (such as German and Japanese cities);
The use of atomic weapons against Japan;
The internment (and in many cases ruin) of civilians of Japanese ancestry in the USA;
amount to "atrocities". But, actions of this type are arguable both ways: one man's "atrocity" is another man's "necessary if regretable" action.

If, however, actions of that type were the only atrocities committed by the US in WW2, it is a surprisingly modest list compared with those of its enemies --- and indeed at least some of its allies, the Soviet Union in particular.

But history is written by the winners. There were no TV crews in WW2 to record atrocities of the My Lai type. And very tight censorship controled what and how much the newspaper and radio correspondents could report. It would be very surprising indeed if American troops, in the heat of battle and after taking casualties, never killed any enemy noncombatants; never destroyed homes suspected of harboring snipers; and never killed enemy soldiers who were attempting to surrender. Localized atrocities of that type are an inevitable accompaniment to battle. But, there is no record of American troops doing such things; maybe because we wrote the history.

I think, however, that it is safe to assert that there were no incidents involving the deliberate cold-blooded mass murder of civilians or POWs --- other than as collateral damage in bombing or via artillery fire. If there had been, someone would have talked: someone always talks, even if only via a deathbed confession; and no-one has talked. On the contrary, a fairer image of the US soldier at war would be the troops in the Marianas and in Okinawa, desperately trying to save the lives of Japanese civilians bent on commiting suicide.

But neither can there be any doubt that some US soldiers were quite capable of sadistic acts. Americans are not angels. A long time ago, in the early 1950's, I was talking with a German. Not an ex-soldier; an engineer. He had been on the design team for the Tiger tank series. He had been captured and interned by Americans. And he had been tortured by Americans to make him reveal design secrets of the Tiger. He bared his arm to prove it to me: it was scarred by four or five cigarette burns.

So, yes, Americans were no angels. But no, their behavior was nowhere near as bad as most of the other nations in that conflict.

Answer 2

Some would consider the following as American atrocities in WWII:
(1) dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
(2) bombing Dresden, which was known more for its cultural than industrial or military significance,
and (3) not intervening in the Holocaust. The State Dept. was aware that concentration camps existed, but did nothing to eliminate them. Railroads leading into the camps, at least, could have been bombed. Furthermore, a thousand Jews onboard the St. Louis who were fleeing Nazi persecution were prevented from disembarking in the United States and were sent back to Germany. This happened in 1939, after Kristallnacht, so the U.S. cannot claim ignorance.

Answer 3

There were many bombings of civilian targets as opposed to military ones (both sides). This is when most of the atrocities occurred.
On U.S soil you have the Japanese-American situation.
The Allies (not U.S only) won the war and many Germans were charged for atrocities. Some historians think that if Germany and Japan had won the war the Allies would have been found guilty of many atrocities.
Victory in war covers many misdeeds -

Answer 4

some would say our imprisonment of Orientals that lived in the US after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We literally rounded up many orientals and put them in camps and kept them confined. I am not certain how long it went on and what not. They didn't even bother to teach us about it in History class, but When a person wants to learn stuff the stuff they find out can sometimes be surprising. The bombing of nagasaki and hiroshima were pretty brutal too. When you hear stories about people's shadows being burnt onto a wall it really kinda tells a story about how bad those blasts truly were. At least we did have the courtesy to drop flyers ahead of the bomb and warn people of what was going to happen. They still chose to stay. If we hadn't have bombed those two cities, the toll of human life may have been even worse through the years and years of fighting that we were sure to go through.

Answer 5

The internment of Japanese Americans. The US government forcibly interned Japanese Americans in "prisoner camps." Their assets and property were seized by the US government. There were no charges, no trials and no due process of law. Anyone of Japanese descent were jailed. Civil liberties and human rights were abolished. The US government simply decided that Japanese Americans were all enemies of the State. Very similar to how President Bush is detaining suspected "enemy combatants" with no proof or formal charges.

Some say that the Japanese Americans had to be interned (a.k.a. imprisoned) because Japan was our enemy. The fun thing is that Germany was our enemy too but the government never intern any German Americans. I wonder why? Bigotry is as alive today as it was back in 1944.

Answer 6

I would say the A-bombs over Japan. I am opposed to nuclear weopons as a matter of principle. Dresden was mostly the RAF and some USAAF, unfortunately.

Answer 7

Allowing the Soviets to hold control of Eastern Europe postwar.

Answer 8

Making the Japaneese civilians suffer. Not bombing nazi camps when knowing about their existence as early as 1942.

Answer 9

Interning the mostly harmless population of Japanese-Americans.

Answer 10

well soem would say the bomings of japan and the fire bombings of dresden in example