The discussion on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brings back 
memories of an incident that happened to my daughter when she was in
5th grade, Longfellow School, Iowa City, Iowa.


One of Charity's teachers had mentioned, in her history class, that the
use of the bomb had saved the lives of millions of American soldiers. A
week or so earlier Charity had heard a local college student, Karen
Kubby, make a good case that the use of the bomb had not been
necessary. (Karen, was a student at the University of Iowa, a social
activist who went on to be  elected to the Iowa City City Council for
three or four terms. During one of the elections she was elected by the
largest plurality in the city's history. She was also a member of the
Iowa Socialist Party. Over the years an exemplary role
model--particularly for young girls.)


Charity mentioned to the teacher and the class that she had heard Karen
speak and said that many people believed using the bomb was wrong and
unnecessary. She asked the teacher if it might not be a good idea to
invite Karen to talk to the class--to hear both sides of the story.


Initially Charity was told she could invite Karen to speak to the
class. A couple of days later the invitation was withdrawn. Charity was
distressed and decided to gather as much information as she could and
present the information to the class herself.


We talked about how to go about doing this. Since she was a busy kid
with studies, the school orchestra and a cellist in Iowa City Youth
Symphony  I thought a letter to the editor of some of the most widely
circulated newspapers would illicite responses from people with
information and opinions on the subject.


She wrote the letter and sent it off to eight or ten major dailies. 
The response was amazing--almost overwhelming. We divided them into
three groups. There were those who hated her and considered her a
traitor for even questioning the use of the bomb. They subjected her to
some of the most vile language I've ever read in letters. I recall
things like "You fucking little commie bitch," and worse in signed
letter. Unsigned mail was discarded and looking back I'm sorry we
didn't save them. Most of these were so outrageous that that they
generated a little fear and much bewilderment--even some laughter. 
Then there were the letters commenting on such interest by a 5th grader
and commending her. Many of these were from teachers and librarians and
parents who wanted their children to deal with issues in the same way. 
The third group was made up of letters from people who had  personal
experiences with the war as members of the military, or had researched
the subject extensively. A number of these had even published on the
subject. Those who had research the subject came to the conclusion that
using the bamb was wrong. A lengthy, hand-written letter--a very
thoughtful letter I should add--had come from former Presidetn Dwight
Eisenhower's grandson David Eisenhower discussing what his grandfather
had thought about it. Even Elie Wiesel sent her a note


One letter, perhaps the most powerful, was from an officer on a
submarine that had been assigned to patrol off the coast of Japan
during the extensive bombing runs that took place toward the end of the
war--just previous to the bombing of Hiroshima. (All the letters are in
storage so I can't transcribe it, but this is the essence of the
letter.) The officer told how the sub had been sent to watch for downed
pilots. He explained that when they first arrived they patrolled
submerged during the day and patrolled on the surface at night, They
soon determined that there was no need to submerge during the day. They
patrolled about a half mile off the coast of the mainland. There were
no Japanese patrol boats, or war ships of any size to bother them.
There were no planes. No shore-based artillery. They watched people go
about their daily chores. There was very little traffic on the roads.
Our bombers made their endless bombing runs with no opposition that the
submarines could see.


They knew the war was as good as over.


One day they were ordered to return to Pearl Harbor at once. They set
out immediately. A day later they heard that Hiroshima had been
destroyed. They all thought it was a ploy to scare the Japanese into
surrendering. When they learned that the report was not propaganda but
truth they couldn't believe it. The more details they learned the more
unbelievable it became. He said they were stunned to learn that a city
had been destroyed with such an incredible loss of civilian life. They
all believed it was unnecessary


When they learned that a second bomb had been used on Nagasaki he
wrote, "The crew was sickened."


Coming from a military officer who had personal observations of Japan
just before the dropping of the bomb, it was a profoundly moving
letter. It was a letter that caused us to sit there and cry. Even
today, 15 years later, it's difficult to deal with the pain that letter
generated.


Three categories of letters. The largest number came from people who
called her unAmerican and a traitor. The second largest from those
commending her for asking. The smallest number from serious scholars, 
observers from the military and some Japanese-Americans.


A couple of times I asked her if she didn't think it would be a good
idea to put the material together in a book--to share the experience. I
watched her remembering the pain of the hate mail and especially the
pain of the letter from the submarine officer and she told me, "Dad, I
don't even want to think about it, much less re-live the mail and that
period in school again."


Certainly American lives would have been lost if Japan had been
invaded. But millions of American lives?  Not a chance. Not even
close.


If anyone has ever studied a map of Hiroshima there is no denying that
the primary area destroyed was civilian. 


Sad.


j grant

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