A Day of infamy

[Insidious Von]

I missed it. Aug 6th 1945, the day that the USA dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

As I'm obsessed with the film Oppenheimer, I should have remembered. The decision to drop the bomb was made after the meat grinder hell hole that became Okinawa. Gary Oldman was outstanding as President Truman.

 

[Insidious Von]

Robert Oppenheimer was naive in thinking that the atomic bomb would end all wars.

 

[Insidious Von]

Hard to believe that a waste product from nickel mining could end life on Earth.

 

[Darts]

Hacksaw Ridge - Wikipedia

 

[Darts]

I always enjoy posts/thread by IV. They are intelligent, rational and civil. He often raises topics that have little or no appeal to the masses but I find them interesting. I have not seen the Oppenheimer movie but it appears that he was not a Russian asset. It now seems the biggest culprit was Ted Hall (also the youngest member of the team).

The two A-bombs took a lot of lives but here are the good they did.

1) It eliminated the need to invade the Japanese home islands and the bloodbath that would have ensued. Okinawa is one example of the bloodbath of fighting to gain land. The re-taking of Manila is another.

2) It eliminated the need to re-take Singapore and Hong Kong by force.

3) 1.3mm Japanese soldiers mostly peacefully surrendered in China. China asked the U.S. what was to be done with these POW's. The U.S. said to return them to Japan --- alive.

‘What people accused Oppenheimer of doing’: the untold story of spy Ted Hall | Documentary films | The Guardian

 

[Not getting younger]

Haven’t seen Oppenheimer but plan to.

There’s are those who might argue that the threat of nuclear war, has prevented much worse. Consider todays modern conventional weaponry, or even the now outdated equipment of the 80/90s and a war on the scales of W1 or W2.

 

[Insidious Von]

I'm obsessed with Oppenheimer, I'm going to watch it for the third time at the theater.

Was Gene Roddenberry a prophet? Once humanity understands how grossly insignificant it is, our hope for long term survival may improve.

 

[Not getting younger]

I'm obsessed with Oppenheimer, I'm going to watch it for the third time at the theater.

Was Gene Roddenberry a prophet? Once humanity understands how grossly insignificant it is, our hope for long term survival may improve.

That good eh. I know you are a connoisseur of the arts. Friends are raving about it, hence a “must see for me”…

Long Term survival? Personally doubt it.
The planet is an ecosystem. All ecosystems have carrying capacity and our population……

Then, there are so many signs, not just globally but at home too with respect to division, polarization.

Im not sure which will get us first. Nature and carrying capacity or ourselves. But I’m almost certain one will in the not too distant future.

 

[Darts]

That good eh. I know you are a connoisseur of the arts. Friends are raving about it, hence a “must see for me”…

Long Term survival? Personally doubt it.
The planet is an ecosystem. All ecosystems have carrying capacity and our population……

Then, there are so many signs, not just globally but at home too with respect to division, polarization.

Im not sure which will get us first. Nature and carrying capacity or ourselves. But I’m almost certain one will in the not too distant future.

I heard the dinos were around for 65mm years. Doubt mankind will last anywhere near 65mm years.

 

[Darts]

The second A-bomb fell on Nagasaki. The U.S. only had two at that time.
Japan marks 78th anniversary of Nagasaki atomic bombing | CTV News

 

[Darts]

I mentioned that the two B-29's carrying the A-bombs were able to fly over the enemy's homeland without encountering resistance.

Actually, Jimmy Doolittle' raid 3 years earlier was also unopposed.

"Under the final plan, 16 B-25B Mitchell medium bombers, each with a crew of five, were launched from the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet, in the Pacific Ocean. There were no fighter escorts."

 

[Valcazar]

One of the more famous stories from that day, the Indianapolis.

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

(Immortalized in this classic scene.)

 

[MrPrezident]

I had two friends who were lucky enough to live long lives and to die from old age after their many days of fighting on Iwo Jima and surviving as very young Marines. One of them could only blink with one eye. Many people he met probably thought he was flirting with them. One of his eyes was made out of glass and could not blink - he lost the real one on Iwo Jima. I completely understand why Harry Truman used the bomb.

 

[tml]

Don't view Hollywood films about historical events/people as documentaries.

 

[Darts]

I had two friends who were lucky enough to live long lives and to die from old age after their many days of fighting on Iwo Jima and surviving as very young Marines. One of them could only blink with one eye. Many people he met probably thought he was flirting with them. One of his eyes was made out of glass and could not blink - he lost the real one on Iwo Jima. I completely understand why Harry Truman used the bomb.

I'm a bit of an amateur student of WW II. When it came to "island hopping" it has been said that General MacArthur only invaded the islands critical to the war effort. I think Iwo Jima was critical as a base for launching B-29's which could not be launched from carriers. Anyway, there is controversy about the need and costs to take that island.
Iwo Jima | WWII Battle Site, Volcano Island, Japan | Britannica

 

[Robert Mugabe]

One of the more famous stories from that day, the Indianapolis.

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

(Immortalized in this classic scene.)

Just watched a doc on the Atomic bomb drops on Japan. I didn't realize that it was the USS Indianapolis that delivered the bombs to Tinian Island. Four days later it was torpedoed.
USS Indianapolis torpedoed | July 30, 1945 | HISTORY

 

[Insidious Von]

Don't view Hollywood films about historical events/people as documentaries.

If you are referring to Braveheart, I would agree. As much as I consider that film a classic, it still is 80% dramatization. Oppenheimer is the exact opposite, it's at least 80% factual. There were parts of the film I had to research, it's stranger than fiction. The critical point of the film had me stumped, it's meaning is important to understand the second half of the film. Nolan takes creative license by using a plot device that Orson Welles used in Citizen Kane: The Scream. In Welles movie, it's clear what it foretells, in Nolan's movie' it's cryptic. I was shocked to learn that what it foretold actually happened.

Nils Bohr never joined the Manhattan Project, Enrico Fermi did. The later built the first nuclear reactor, without Fermi the Pacific War would have dragged through the Christmas Season.

Fermi used a supersized version of an old technology to build his reactor, The Voltaic Pile.

 

[MrPrezident]

I'm a bit of an amateur student of WW II. When it came to "island hopping" it has been said that General MacArthur only invaded the islands critical to the war effort. I think Iwo Jima was critical as a base for launching B-29's which could not be launched from carriers. Anyway, there is controversy about the need and costs to take that island.
Iwo Jima | WWII Battle Site, Volcano Island, Japan | Britannica

Iwo Jima was important as an emergency landing field for B-29 bombers. Launching fields were a little farther out of range of Japanese aircraft. B-29s were new. Many had engine problems. Some were damaged from missions and on their way back.

 

[tml]

If you are referring to Braveheart, I would agree. As much as I consider that film a classic, it still is 80% dramatization. Oppenheimer is the exact opposite, it's at least 80% factual. There were parts of the film I had to research, it's stranger than fiction. The critical point of the film had me stumped, it's important to understand the second half of the film. Nolan takes creative license by using a plot device that Orson Welles used in Citizen Kane: The Scream. In Welles movie, it's clear what it foretells, in Nolan's movie' it's cryptic. I was shocked to learn that what it foretold actually happened.

Nils Bohr never joined the Manhattan Project, Enrico Fermi did. The later built the first nuclear reactor, without Fermi the Pacific War would have dragged through the Christmas Season.

Fermi used a supersized version of an old technology to build his reactor, The Voltaic Pile.

Did they give Fermi credit for his work in the film?

I think Norman Jewison's movie "The Hurricane" is another example of editorial licence taken too far, from things I read in the past.

 

[Robert Mugabe]

Did they give Fermi credit for his work in the film?

Success is it's own reward.