The Bombing of Nagasaki August 9, 1945: The Untold Story
By Gary G. Kohls
08/09/07 "Lew Rockwell" --- 62 years ago, on August 9th, 1945, the second of the only two atomic bombs (a plutonium bomb) ever used as instruments of aggressive war (against essentially defenseless civilian populations) was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, by an all-Christian bomb crew. The well-trained American soldiers were only "doing their job," and they did it efficiently.
It had been only 3 days since the first bomb, a uranium bomb, had decimated Hiroshima on August 6, with chaos and confusion in Tokyo, where the fascist military government and the Emperor had been searching for months for a way to an honorable end of the war which had exhausted the Japanese to virtually moribund status. (The only obstacle to surrender had been the Truman administration’s insistence on unconditional surrender, which meant that the Emperor Hirohito, whom the Japanese regarded as a deity, would be removed from his figurehead position in Japan – an intolerable demand for the Japanese.)
The Russian army was advancing across Manchuria with the stated aim of entering the war against Japan on August 8, so there was an extra incentive to end the war quickly: the US military command did not want to divide any spoils or share power after Japan sued for peace.
The US bomber command had spared Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Kokura from the conventional bombing that had burned to the ground 60+ other major Japanese cities during the first half of 1945. One of the reasons for targeting relatively undamaged cities with these new weapons of mass destruction was scientific: to see what would happen to intact buildings – and their living inhabitants – when atomic weapons were exploded overhead.
Early in the morning of August 9, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress called Bock’s Car, took off from Tinian Island, with the prayers and blessings of its Lutheran and Catholic chaplains, and headed for Kokura, the primary target. (Its bomb was code-named "Fat Man," after Winston Churchill.)
The only field test of a nuclear weapon, blasphemously named "Trinity," had occurred just three weeks earlier, on July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The molten lavarock that resulted, still found at the site today, is called trinitite.
With instructions to drop the bomb only on visual sighting, Bock’s Car arrived at Kokura, which was clouded over. So after circling three times, looking for a break in the clouds, and using up a tremendous amount of valuable fuel in the process, it headed for its secondary target, Nagasaki.
Nagasaki is famous in the history of Japanese Christianity. Not only was it the site of the largest Christian church in the Orient, St. Mary’s Cathedral, but it also had the largest concentration of baptized Christians in all of Japan. It was the city where the legendary Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier, established a mission church in 1549, a Christian community which survived and prospered for several generations. However, soon after Xavier’s planting of Christianity in Japan, Portuguese and Spanish commercial interests began to be accurately perceived by the Japanese rulers as exploitive, and therefore the religion of the Europeans (Christianity) and their new Japanese converts became the target of brutal persecutions.
Within 60 years of the start of Xavier’s mission church, it was a capital crime to be a Christian. The Japanese Christians who refused to recant of their beliefs suffered ostracism, torture and even crucifixions similar to the Roman persecutions in the first three centuries of Christianity. After the reign of terror was over, it appeared to all observers that Japanese Christianity had been stamped out.
However, 250 years later, in the 1850s, after the coercive gunboat diplomacy of Commodore Perry forced open an offshore island for American trade purposes, it was discovered that there were thousands of baptized Christians in Nagasaki, living their faith in a catacomb existence, completely unknown to the government – which immediately started another purge. But because of international pressure, the persecutions were soon stopped, and Nagasaki Christianity came up from the underground. And by 1917, with no help from the government, the Japanese Christian community built the massive St. Mary’s Cathedral, in the Urakami River district of Nagasaki.
Now it turned out, in the mystery of good and evil, that St. Mary’s Cathedral was one of the landmarks that the Bock’s Car bombardier had been briefed on, and looking through his bomb site over Nagasaki that day, he identified the cathedral and ordered the drop.
At 11:02 am, Nagasaki Christianity was boiled, evaporated and carbonized in a scorching, radioactive fireball. The persecuted, vibrant, faithful, surviving center of Japanese Christianity had become ground zero.
And what the Japanese Imperial government could not do in over 200 years of persecution, American Christians did in 9 seconds. The entire worshipping community of Nagasaki was wiped out.
The above true (and unwelcome) story should stimulate discussion among those who claim to be disciples of Jesus. The Catholic chaplain for the 509th Composite Group (the 1500-man Army Air Force group, whose only job was to successfully deliver the atomic bombs to their targets) was Father George Zabelka. Several decades after the war ended, he saw his grave theological error in religiously legitimating the mass slaughter that is modern land and air war. He finally recognized that the enemies of his nation were not the enemies of God, but rather children of God whom God loved, and whom the followers of Jesus are to also love. Father Zabelka’s conversion to Christian nonviolence led him to devote the remaining decades of his life speaking out against violence in all its forms, especially the violence of militarism. The Lutheran chaplain, William Downey, in his counseling of soldiers who had become troubled by their participation in making murder for the state, later denounced all killing, whether by a single bullet or by a weapon of mass destruction.
In Daniel Hallock's important book, Hell, Healing and Resistance, he talks about a 1997 Buddhist retreat led by Thich Nhat Hanh that attempted to deal with the hellish post-war existence of combat-traumatized Vietnam War veterans. Hallock said, "Clearly, Buddhism offers something that cannot be found in institutional Christianity. But then why should veterans embrace a religion that has blessed the wars that ruined their souls? It is no wonder they turn to a gentle Buddhist monk to hear what are, in large part, the truths of Christ."
As a lifelong Christian, that comment stung, but it was the sting of a sad and sobering truth. And as a physician who deals with psychologically traumatized patients every day, I know that it is violence, in all its myriad of forms, that bruises the human psyche and soul, and that that trauma is deadly and contagious, and it spreads through the families and on through the 3rd and 4th generations – until somebody stops continuing the domestic violence that military violence breeds.
One of the most difficult "mental illnesses" to treat is combat-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In its most virulent form, PTSD is virtually incurable. It is also a fact that whereas most Vietnam War recruits came from churches where they actively practiced their faith, if they came home with PTSD, the percentage returning to the faith community approached zero.
This is a serious spiritual problem for any church that (either by the active support of its nation’s "glorious" wars or by its silence on such issues) fails to teach its young people about what the earliest form of Christianity taught about violence: that it was forbidden to those who wished to follow Jesus.
If a Christian community fails to thoroughly inform its confirmands about the gruesome realities of the war zone before they are forced to register for potential conscription into the military, it invites the condemnation that Jesus warned about in Matthew 18:5–6: "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
The purpose of this essay is to stimulate open and honest discussion (at least among the followers of Jesus) about the ethics of killing by and for one's government, not from the perspective of national security ethics, not from the perspective of the military, not from the perspective of (the pre-Christian) eye-for-an-eye retaliation that Jesus rejected, but from the perspective of the Sermon on the Mount, the core ethical teachings of Jesus in Matthew 5, 6 and 7.
Out of that discussion (if any are willing to engage in it) should come answers to those horrible realities that seem to immobilize decent Bible-believing Christians everywhere: Why are some of us Christians so willing to commit (or support and/or pay for others to commit) homicidal violence against other fellow children of a loving, merciful, forgiving God, the God whom Jesus clearly calls us to imitate? And what can we Christians do, starting now, to prevent the next war and the next epidemic of combat-induced posttraumatic stress disorder?
What can we do to prevent the next round of these atrocities, all of which have been perpetrated by professed Christians: the My Lai Massacre, Auschwitz and the other Nazi death camps, Dresden, El Mozote, Rwanda, Jonestown, the black church bombings, the execution of innocent death row inmates, the sanctions against Iraq (that killed 500,000 children during the 1990s), the military annihilation of Fallujah and much of the rest of Iraq and Afghanistan, the torturing of innocents at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay plus the many other international war crimes (albeit un-indicted to date) perpetrated by the current "Christian" administration of the United States. And what is to be done to prevent the next Nagasaki?
A large portion of the responsibility for the prevention of military atrocities like Nagasaki lies within the organized Christian churches and whether or not they soon start teaching and living what the radical nonviolent Jesus taught and lived.
The next Nagasaki can be prevented if the churches finally heed Jesus’ call to nonviolence and refuse their government’s call for the bodies and souls of their sons and daughters.
Gary Kohls, MD [send him mail], an associate of Every Church a Peace Church, is a practicing physician in Duluth, MN.
Most "Christians" I know, have delved into Bhuddhism to some degree. It enables them to finally grasp Christ's teachings.
Participating in war can leave such a gashing wound in one's soul, that death might be preferable. Those encouraging war have no idea what they are doing.
War and Christianity are not compatible...neither is our current social structure.
At our core is one being. You can call that God, Life, or Spirit. By any name, it is one and the same in every sentient being. The illusion of separatness is what makes life so fascinating. All the differences manifested by Life give us the beauty of the planet...the beauty of interaction with others, the beauty of having ways to express love.
The illusion is quite necessary...and shouldn't lead us to destroying ourselves.
Retired Monk "Ideology is a disease"
Posts: 3412 | Location: denver co | Registered: 17 April 2007
Originally posted by polycarp: Most "Christians" I know, have delved into Bhuddhism to some degree. It enables them to finally grasp Christ's teachings.
YES!! That's been my personal experience.
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Participating in war can leave such a gashing wound in one's soul, that death might be preferable. Those encouraging war have no idea what they are doing.
After the war, us children were encoureaged to watch a German peace movie I was in Holland. It had Dutch subtitels. It dealt with war from a childs perspective. It talked about the bombings, the devastation, the fear and the horrendous pictures we had seen of the atrocities, about the hunger both sides suffered, and how children could deal with these things by meeting other children, especially German children. Children, by nature don't see differences, have no language barrier and just play with each other and understand one another without words. The music remained with me, especially the refrain that said "Wann alle Kinder of Erden reichen einander die Hand" "When all children of the world offer each other their hand". For many years Holland had a program allowing underpriviledged German children to spent the whole summer with a Dutch family, specifically families with children of a similar age. It was very helpful in the healing process and in creating a whole different mindset in the next generation. Today, in the City of Dinxperlo, on the German border, which no longer exists, the Dutch police and German police go on patrol together. One wears a blue uniform (Dutch) and the other Green.
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War and Christianity are not compatible...neither is our current social structure.
True!!!!
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At our core is one being. You can call that God, Life, or Spirit. By any name, it is one and the same in every sentient being. The illusion of separatness is what makes life so fascinating. All the differences manifested by Life give us the beauty of the planet...the beauty of interaction with others, the beauty of having ways to express love.
The illusion is quite necessary...and shouldn't lead us to destroying ourselves.
Is it? Why do you think this illusion is necessary, when it is the source of so much conflict?
Posts: 863 | Location: West Palm Beach, FL | Registered: 21 June 2007
If there was just one manifestation of "Being", whom would it converse with? Would a flower be content to observe only its own beauty?
One manifestation would be very boring. The illusion of separateness is quite necessary....and we shouldn't forget that its merely an illusion. An illusion to be enjoyed, relished, and participated in. A destruction of one manifestation ultimately is a destruction of part of the whole. A destruction of a portion of oneself.
Trauma of participation in war isn't from destroying another...it's from destroying Oneself. They are one and the same beneath the illusion. Deliberate harm is always harm to oneself. It effects one's experience of life.
The victim shares in the same harm as the perpetrator. They are identical at their core. Why do we go to war against a different manifestation ? Because we have forgotten we are the same. We think the differences are obscene in some way rather than just diversity. Pitting one mental image of right/wrong, etc., against another.Rather than accepting the differences, we reject them. We can accept any point of view or way of being without acting upon it. We tend to forget this. So we fight over it.
Retired Monk "Ideology is a disease"
Posts: 3412 | Location: denver co | Registered: 17 April 2007
Originally posted by polycarp: If there was just one manifestation of "Being", whom would it converse with? Would a flower be content to observe only its own beauty?
Well of course that's why we accept/experience opposites on this plane. I don't think that that's living in illusion. We DO get up every morning in our body, but we're not the body. We're spirit. So if we understand why we have these opposites in everything we do, it becomes a game of sorts, how do we experience these opposites? Do we understand that they are a lesson of learning to cope with this temporary world of opposites. For instance in the Absolute there are no opposits, and as you say there is just "being". That does become boring, which is why we're here. How do we get along with these opposites? and how do we way our decision making process.
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One manifestation would be very boring. The illusion of separateness is quite necessary....and we shouldn't forget that its merely an illusion. An illusion to be enjoyed, relished, and participated in. A destruction of one manifestation ultimately is a destruction of part of the whole. A destruction of a portion of oneself.
I don't think an illusion of seperateness is helpfull and results in disagreement and violence. We can quite easily accept other people from a different culture with the understanding that 'ours' as well as 'theirs' is simple programming and that programming is by its very nature flawed and an illusion which, once acknowledged allows for an awareness of spirit eventhough we may express it in different ways. Jeez language is one heck of a poor way to communicate. Am I making sense here?
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Trauma of participation in war isn't from destroying another...it's from destroying Oneself. They are one and the same beneath the illusion. Deliberate harm is always harm to oneself. It effects one's experience of life.
That understanding comes with awareness. When one is in the middle of it, our thoughts often don't go there. Fear is an awful quick way to make one lose track of the self. When we were bombed, my mother was not preoccupied with the "I AM" but with screaming "Gerry get away from that window"
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The victim shares in the same harm as the perpetrator. They are identical at their core.
True!!
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Why do we go to war against a different manifestation ? Because we have forgotten we are the same. We think the differences are obscene in some way rather than just diversity.
Because we become caught up in the world and how it functions and temporarily lose complete sight of who we are and what is real. We need to REmember, because inately we know these things.
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Pitting one mental image of right/wrong, etc., against another.Rather than accepting the differences, we reject them. We can accept any point of view or way of being without acting upon it. We tend to forget this. So we fight over it.
Yep, we lose track of who and what we are. There really are no differences, just appearances of differences and they're not real either. I ones had to explain to a 'christian' about the Hindus "who have all these Gods (evil)" So I explained that the Hindu Gods are not different Gods, but different manifestations of the one and only God. Just as I am known in different ways to different people, I am a daughter to my parents, a sister, a neighbor girl, a student, a girlfriend, an employee, a lover, a wife, a mother, a daughter in law, etc. Each of the people I meet in these different capacities sees me in a totally different light and discribes me quite differently, yet I am one and the same person. The Hindus say that God comes in different forms and goes by different names yet he is one and the same. It makes perfect sense to me, but christians have a great deal of trouble with that.
We agree on most things
Posts: 863 | Location: West Palm Beach, FL | Registered: 21 June 2007
Gary, that was a fine post. Please forgive the lengthy reply, but I have a problem with “. . . the truths of Christ.”
While I fully beleive that the atomic attacks on Japan were an atrocity against humankind (not to lessen the atrocities of Japan against the same), I do have a problem with certain aspects of the basic teaching attributed to Jesus.
While much of what was written to have been said by Jesus at the “Sermon on the Mount” was fine philosophy and constituted an ethical road to peace, I believe some of it to be epistemologically pernicious and counter productive.
Just as various words and meanings, defined both in popular culture and in the dictionary, undermine an enlightened view of the world, the same is apparent in the Sermon on the Mount.
For example, it would indeed be a wonderful thing to teach, “And whosoever welcomes a little child, and is kind unto him, will be blessed in heaven.” But, instead, Jesus qualifies kindness by stating that it must be done “in my name.” Further, for one to cause “little ones who believe in me,” to sin, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and be “drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Why is it not better to be kind to all children, no matter what religion they happen to have been taught to believe? Are children of other faiths less innocent and thus not deserving? Do children have a say in what they are taught to believe? Most of us believe that which, as children, we were taught to believe.
Another example is Matthew 5:11. Jesus blesses those who are reviled, persecuted, and have “all manner of evil,” said against them, "in my name."
Why would it not be better to simply be truthful and kind, and “keep your head when all about you are loosing theirs and blaming it on you?” Why must good works and kindness be rewarded if, and only if, such acts are done for and by those who believe in the divinity of Jesus? Such qualifications are pernicious and divisive.
The above is the same sort of learned belief that causes us to be suspicious of “other” people, especially if they don’t happen to speak our language, and especially if we are light-skinned and they are dark in skin color.
I can’t speak for any language but English, although I would think this is endemic to all languages of light-skinned people, that a great deal of fear light-skinned people have of dark-skinned people is simply the fear of darkness itself.
According to popular and dictionary definitions, apart from physical definitions of the word “dark,” we have “concealed; mysterious; secret; not easily explained or understood,” and “not enlightened with knowledge; without learning and science; rude; ignorant; as, a dark age,” and “evil; wicked; sinister; as, dark designs.”
These are the things we are taught to believe, and thusly we build religious and social mental citadels with high walls to protect us against the “others,” the ones who believe and/or look differently. That, also, made it much easier to drop the bombs.
If Christianity (and any other religion) were to further the worthy goal of peace and understanding, they would let their “light so shine before men, that [others] may see [their] good works,” and show themselves to be peaceful, kind, truthful, and honorable people.
Posts: 2 | Location: Virginia | Registered: 18 August 2007
Hmm. This thread hasn't been touched in more than three months, but I'd like to revive it. Particularly given that this last offered post really should have spurred some thoughtful dialogue in my opinion.
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Originally posted by Terra Nova: Praxis: REFLECTIVE ACTION practice as exercise or practice of reflective art, science or skill, as opposed to theory alone.
Maybe to question ought to be what is the most important words in the Christian Scriptures integrated by praxis?
"Have no fear"
"Be still and know that I AM."
"Treat your neighbor as yourself."
"What are the most important words in the Christian Bible integrated by praxis" (as exemplified by the figure of Christ Jesus)?
I'd propose that it may in fact be:
Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. - Matt 18:3
Provided, of course, that one's interpretation of the statement is - like mine - primarily CONCEPTual instead of IMAGE-inary in nature.
I will hope, and pray for the progress of all good folks, this coming year. We all have accepted with a grain of salt, the wide-spread corruption of political leaders, and yet, here we are: griping, analysing, explaining and wondering! Marvelous, to consider!
I think the 'illusion' itself is evolving!
This has been a very sophisticated and great discussion/board, and my plan is to seek-out those uncorrupted words of Jesus, and vote to elect federal, state and local leaders who can accept other races/ethnicities on their own (great) merits, in terms of love, and sharing. There's going to be a better WAY!!
Posts: 582 | Location: New York City | Registered: 13 February 2007
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I cannot think of a better answer. 
This has been a very sophisticated and great discussion/board, and my plan is to seek-out those uncorrupted words of Jesus, and vote to elect federal, state and local leaders who can accept other races/ethnicities on their own (great) merits, in terms of love, and sharing. 
