Pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb on Horoshima and instantly killing 78,000 people, has just died?

Question

in spite of ending the war-would you liked to have been in his shoes?

Leonard Cheshire VC was an observer on one of the two planes that dropped the bomb-it had a profound change on his life
Should be a lesson for us today and what it can do to people and the environment

with atomic weapons I don't believe the end justifies the means

dontknow that one mickeydon

agree pdx this was a crime against humanity

no one knows how many would have died if they had to invade Japan

very catchy music shady-would rather watch that than the 'bomb'

quite right it opened the gates of hell-none have been dropped since and those who glibly talk about 'nuke' this one and 'nuke' that one have no idea!

Answer 1

The end never justifies the means, if the means involve crimes against humanity.
Nearly 80,000 people died immediately from the bombing, not to mention thousands more from radiation poinsoning and cancer (reaching upwards of 200,000.) Many babies were born with severe deformities. The majority of the deaths were civilian.

To kill civilians in order to terrorize a nation into surrender is the very definition of state sponsored terrorism. Look it up.
If you don't agree with terrorism against the US (e.g. 9-11), then you shouldn't agree with hiroshima.

As far as international and military law goes, you cannot justify saving military lives by taking civilian lives. Soldiers are there to fight, and the fighting should stay between the soldiers on either side. When you start to kill civilians to gain military means, it is known as crimes against humanity and terrorism, also known as the gravest crimes a human can commit.

Answer 2

No, because that would mean I would be an old man now. As to the morality of using atomic weapons at that time, I'm surprised they didn't drop more. Of course they probably didn't have any more. What's the difference between killing people with atomic bombs vs. carpet bombing entire cities with incendiary bombs? Not much. However, I do believe the ends justified the means. It ended the war almost immediately vs. having to invade Japan with an expected loss of a million or so American men. Would you like to have landed on a beach in Japan?

Answer 3

a tough job but a necessary one

it prevented the deaths of many thousands and shortened the war

do you think that the Japanese would have had any qualms about using the bombs against US if they had had them?

the effects of the bomb were so devastating that they have not been used again for more than 60 years - restraint has been shown even though there have been numerous world conflicts since........

it appears that it is only on this site that people are eager to nuke peoples that they disagree with - the countries that have the bombs have showed restraint - can be so sure that some of those desperate to get their hands on them would do the same?

Answer 4

I admire him in a way. He did what he thought was right, believing that he was saving more lives than he was taking away by ending the war quickly. I question whether or not it was really true, as Japan had already been bombed to pieces by conventional weapons and were on the verge of collapse anyway, but as far as he knew he was saving lives. I'm definitely glad I was not in his shoes. Most of those 78,000 people were innocent human beings that had no say in going to war.

Answer 5

Yes, Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr, the pilot of the aircraft, Enola Gay, who dropped the bomb, Little Boy, just died today at the age of 92. He is proud of his feat and I think I would too. He explained his side but mine is just the semi-popularity gained throughout his life after he did the deed. Being written down on history will make me proud of it, but I would not want to be in is shoes, if given a chance, I just don't like killing people, never did, never planned to. It's against the will of God!

Answer 6

That would be one of the last pairs of shoes on earth I'd want to be stuck in.
I know the guy didn't know what exactly he was dropping, but just imagine living with the guilt of erasing tens of thousands of innocent lives... I can't even begin to imagine what this guy must have lived with.
If that had been me, I'd have spent the rest of my life involved in humanitarian missions to try and make up for the bloodshed I had been involved in.
I know those bombs ended the war.. but at what a price!
Not for all the glory in the world would I want that much blood on my hands.

Answer 7

all he did was fly the plane he didnt prime the bomb or drop it.
true 78000 people died but hundreds of thousands more would have had the u.s. been forced to invade.there are no civilians in war all are fair game thats why the u.s. has been defeated in every war since ww2 and will lose this war also because the enemy is willing to do what is needed to win while the u.s. in more concerned with being pc.

Answer 8

Thank goodness I was born several years later. Had nothing to do with such ugly decisions. Much less creating this monster the atomic bomb. The nuclear weapons are a curse on humanity.

Answer 9

I would hate to be in his shoes. I don't know if it was killing his consience or if he enjoyed it. There wouldn't be a day that went by that I wouldn't have thought about what I did. He was following orders though. I would just hate to stand in front of God (if he exists) with that on my chest.

I hope that he found peace in death and that he is in heaven. I'm sure even if he said No someone else would of dropped it anyway. He is brave for what he did even though it would be considered wrong.

Answer 10

If it was me, I wouldn't have thought about it twice. He probably didn't know it at the time, or maybe he was aware of it but the dropping of that bomb and the one in Nagasaki saved at least 100K soldiers lives. It was a task that had to be accomplished, sometimes by ordinary people doing extrordinary things.