Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
Dennis Prager ·
July 23, 2012 at 6:17pm
Fr. Wilson Miscamble is a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and has written a book on a topic that I find to be fascinating and morally compelling. The Most Controversial Decision: Truman, the Atomic Bombs and the Defeat of Japan is a comprehensive analysis of the choices Harry Truman made to end WWII in the manner he did.
I thought this book and topic important enough to commission a Prager University course on the subject.
Many in this country base their low view of the United States largely on the decision to drop the atomic bomb. Professors at leading universities teach entire semester-long courses to that effect. I, however, agree with Fr. Miscamble.
Do you?
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Jan '11
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
Roberto: That this topic is even debated only points out the absolutely abysmal nature of our educational system with regards to US History. For those who desperately need something to smack over the heads of the chronically ignorant on this point Richard Frank's Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire is the definitive work to do so.
5 hours ago
Edited 5 hours ago
Roberto, thank you for the recommendation. I've just ordered it & look forward to reading it.
May '10
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
I'm 61. Have known many WWII vets and WWII era people. I never talked with one, no matter how far to the Left, who didn't think it was the right thing to do.
As far as I'm concerned, the Japanese had it coming (I suspect a lot of Richochetians think it, someone had to say it).
Add to the reading list:
Paul Fussell "Thank God For The Atomic Bomb" http://journeythroughjapan.org/images/indepth/ACF3022.pdf
and
Robert Leckie "Helmet for my Pillow"
http://www.amazon.com/Helmet-My-Pillow-Playaway-Nonfiction/dp/1616577037
Sep '11
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
My late father had shipped back from the European theatre, and was in a train going west across the US to be part of the invasion force when the bomb was dropped. Funnily enough, I did not grow up thinking Hiroshima & Nagasaki represented the depth of man's inhumanity to man. The ignorance of those battles and death tolls today helps to explain some of our lazy cultural pacifism.
May '10
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
BTW, I read some time ago on the Internet (so it must be true, eh?) that we are still awarding Purple Heart medals drawn from the stock of medals produced in anticipation of an allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. Over 400,000.
Anybody who knows better or different, please jump in with a correction or extension.
Mar '11
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
danys
Roberto: That this topic is even debated only points out the absolutely abysmal nature of our educational system with regards to US History. For those who desperately need something to smack over the heads of the chronically ignorant on this point Richard Frank's Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire is the definitive work to do so.
5 hours ago
Edited 5 hours ago
Roberto, thank you for the recommendation. I've just ordered it & look forward to reading it. · 1 hour ago
If I get the chance to recommend a good book to someone then my Ricochet membership pays for itself, let me thank you for taking up the challenge.
Mar '11
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
Nick Stuart: BTW, I read some time ago on the Internet (so it must be true, eh?) that we are still awarding Purple Heart medals drawn from the stock of medals produced in anticipation of an allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. Over 400,000.
Anybody who knows better or different, please jump in with a correction or extension. · 1 hour ago
Grim indeed, the first reason to doubt is the worst: 400,000 seems too low a number.
Jun '10
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
Aaron Miller:
...
Excellent point. It couldn't figure into Truman's decision, obviously, but the use of nuclear bombs on actual cities, instead of barren testing grounds, might have introduced just enough fear all around to keep the Cold War cold.
...
That (bolded section) is very interesting to ponder. Excellent point. Is there any scholarship or books on this, I wonder?
Jun '10
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
In all this hand-wringing of the left and the media in recent months, I picked up an interesting statistic that alone makes the decision easy:
The Japanese were killing 250,000 Chinese each month on average at that time of the war. This killing took every form from starvation to torture, to overworking people to shooting them. The Japanese were the worst of the worst pigs in the last century -- and, yes, I do realize who they had to compete with. They were animals.
Jan '11
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
The short version.
Jun '10
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
That was great. I learned a lot of things I didn't know. And Jon Stewart is a moron.
Feb '11
Re: Harry Truman and the 'Most Controversial Decision'
Dan Carlin produced a thought provoking podcast in his Hardcore History series that addressed the issue of the bomb. (Thanks to whomever it was at Ricochet that first recommended his podcast to me!) He talked about how we got to the place where we had to drop the bomb and talks about the history of aerial warfare. He has an intense speaking style that is enjoyable to listen to.