U.S. suppressed footage of Hiroshima for decades

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics Sat Aug 06, 2005 13:16

4 weeks ago 52 people died at the hands of terrorists in London.

Three men remain alive and have written about Mission Atomic bombs.

Hiroshima is 60 years on.

Today people gather at Merrion Square at 1 p.m.

I attach a poem written by Cistercian Monk Thomas Merton.

I only include the second set of stanzas but if anyone is interested I will look for the rest......

Give peace a chance. Think of the words of John Lennons song - Imagine........



Trying to take the poem from Microsoft Word......

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics Please Sat Aug 06, 2005 13:20

THOMAS MERTON ON PEACE – THE ORIGINAL CHILD

Michelle again: A follow on to the nine stanzas I circulated yesterday:

Per consequence brain injury I have intellectual disabilities hence I did not notice the errors in the first few lines until later on…….

Wednesday 12th March: If you saw the Nine o’clock news – ‘The Mother of all bombs is being tested in Florida’………when you read the Original Child …… all you need to do is compare 1945 The Original Child. The bureaucracy remains unchanged is what I would suggest.

This poem should be on every school/college curriculum to prepare children to enable children to think…….

Stanza 10:
Admiral Leahy renewed his declaration that the bomb would not explode.

Stanza 11:
On the 4th of July, when the United States in displays of fireworks celebrates its independence from British rule, the British and Americans agreed together that the bomb ought to be used against Japan.

Stanza 12:
On July 7th the Emperor of Japan pleaded with the Soviet Government to act as a mediator for peace between Japan and the Allies. Molotov said the question would be “studied”. In order to facilitate this “Study” Soviet troops in Siberia prepared to attack the Japanese. The Allies had, in any case, been urging Russia to join the war against Japan. However, now that the atomic bomb was nearly ready, some thought it would be better if the Russians took a rest.

Stanza 13:
The time was coming for the new bomb to be tested, in the new Mexico desert. A name was chosen to designate this secret operation. It was called “TRINITY”

Stanza 14:
At 5.30 a.m. on July 16th, 1945, a plutonium bomb was successfully exploded in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico. It was suspended from a nine hundred-foot steel tower which evaporated. There was a fireball a mile wide. The great flash could be seen for a radius of 250 miles. A blind woman miles away said she perceived light. There was a cloud of smoke 40,000 feet, high. It was shaped like a toadstool.

Stanza 15:
Many who saw the experiment expressed their satisfaction in religious terms. A semi-official report even quoted a religious book – the New Testament – “Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief”. There was an atmosphere of devotion. It was a great act of faith. They believed the explosion was exceptionally powerful.

Stanza 16:
Admiral Leahy, still a “doubting Thomas”, said that the bomb would not explode when dropped from a plane over a city. Others may have had faith, but he had his own variety of “HOPE”.

Stanza 17:
On July 21st a full written report of the explosion reached President Truman at Potsdam. The report was documented by pictures. President Truman read the report and looked at the pictures before starting out for the conference. When he left his mood was jaunty and his step was light.

Stanza 18:
That afternoon Mr. Stimson called on Mr. Churchill, and laid before him a sheet of paper bearing a code message about the successful test. This message read “Babies satisfactorily born”. Mr. Churchill was quick to realize that there was more in this than met the eye. Mr. Stimson satisfied his legitimate curiosity.

Stanza 19:
On this same day sixty atomic scientists who knew of the test signed a petition that the bomb should not be used against Japan without a convincing warning and an opportunity to surrender.

At this time the U.S.S. Indianapolis, which had left San Francisco on the 18th, was sailing toward the Island of Tinian, with some U 235 in a lead bucket. The fissionable material was about the size of a softball, but there was enough for one atomic bomb. Instructions were that if the ship sank, the uranium was to be SAVED FIRST BEFORE ANY LIFE. The mechanism of the bomb was on board the U.S.S. Indianapolis, but it was not yet assembled.

Stanza 20:
On July 26th the Potsdam declaration was issued. An ultimatum was given to Japan: “Surrender unconditionally or be destroyed”. Nothing was said about the new bomb. But pamphlets dropped all over Japan threatened “an enormous bombardment”, if the army would not surrender. On July 26th the U.S.S. Indianapolis arrived at Tinian and the bomb was delivered.

Stanza 21:
On July 28th, since the Japanese High Command wished to continue the war, the ultimatum was rejected. A censored version of the ultimatum appeared in the Japanese press with the comment that it was “an attempt to drive a wedge between the military and the Japanese people”. But the Emperor continued to hope that the Russians, after “studying” his proposal, would help to negotiate a peace. On July 30th Mr. Stimson revised a draft of the announcement that was to be made after the bomb was dropped on the Japanese target. The statement was much better than the original draft.



Stanza 22:
On August 1st the bomb was assembled in an air conditioned hut on Tinian. Those who handled the bomb referred to it as “Little Boy”. THEIR CARE FOR THE ORIGINAL CHILD WAS DEVOTED AND TENDER.

Stanza 23:
On August 2nd President Truman was the guest of His Majesty King George VI on board the H.M.S. Renown in Plymouth Harbor. The atomic bomb was praised. Admiral Leahy, who was present, declared that the bomb would not work. His Majesty George VI offered a small WAGER TO THE CONTRARY.

STANZA 24
On August 2nd a special message from the Japanese Foreign Minister was sent to the Japanese Minister in Moscow. “It is requested that further efforts be exerted….Since the loss of one day may result in a thousand years of regret, it is requested that you immediately have a talk with Molotov”. But Molotov did not return from Potsdam until the day the bomb fell.

STANZA 25
On the 4th the bombing crew on Tinian watched a movie of “Trinity” (the Alamogordo Test). August 5th was a Sunday but there was little time for formal worship. They said a quick prayer that the war might end “very soon”. On that day, Col. Tibbetts, who was in command of the B-29 that was to drop the bomb, felt that his bomber ought to have a name. He baptized it ENOLA GAY, AFTER HIS MOTHER IN IOWA. Col. Tibbetts was a well balanced man, and not sentimental (so many around these days …. Lets see when the going gets tough). He did not have a nervous break-down after the bombing, LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CREW.

STANZA 26
On Sunday afternoon “Little Boy” was brought out in procession and devoutly tucked away in the womb of Enola Gay. That evening few were able to sleep. THEY WERE AS EXCITED AS LITTLE BOYS ON CHRISTMAS EVE.

STANZA 27:
At 1.37 a.m. August 6th the weather scout plane took off. It was named the Straight Flush, in reference to the mechanical action of a water closet. There was picture of one, to make this evident.

STANZA 28
At the last minute before taking off, Col. Tibbetts changed the secret radio call sign from “Visitor” to “Dimples”. The bombing Mission would be a kind of FLYING SMILE.

STANZA 29:
At 2.45 a.m. Enola Gay got off the ground with difficulty. Over Iwo Jima she met her escort, two more B-29’s, one which was called the Great Artiste. Together they proceeded to Japan.

STANZA 30
At 6.40 they climbed to 31,000 feet, the bombing altitude. The sky was clear. It was a perfect morning.

STANZA 31:
At. 3.09 they reached Hiroshima and started the bomb run. The city was full of sun. The fliers could see the green grass in the gardens. No fighters rose up to meet them. There was no flak. NO-ONE IN THE CITY BOTHERED TO TAKE COVER.

STANZA 32:
The bomb exploded within 100,000 feet of the aiming point. The fireball was 18,000 feet across. The temperature at the centre of the fireball was 100,000,000 degrees. The people who were near the centre became nothing. The whole city was blown to bits and the ruins all caught fire instantly everywhere burning briskly. 70,000 people were killed right away or died within a few hours. Those who did not die at once suffered great pain. Few of them were soldiers.

STANZA 33
The men in the plane perceived that the raid had been successful, but they thought of the people in the city and they were not perfectly happy. Some felt they had done wrong. But in any case they had obeyed orders “IT WAS WAR”

STANZA 34:
Over the radio went the code message that the bomb had been successful: “Visible effects greater than Trinity…Proceeding to Papacy. “PAPACY WAS A CODE NAME FOR TINIAN

STANZA 35:
It took a little while for the rest of Japan to find out what had happened to Hiroshima. Papers were forbidden to publish any news of the new bomb. A four-line item said that Hiroshima had been hit by incendiary bombs and added: “It seems that some damage was caused to the city and its vicinity”.

STANZA 36:
Then the military governor of the Prefecture of Hiroshima issued a proclamation full of martial spirit. To all the people without hands, without feet, with their faces falling off, with their intestines hanging out, with their whole bodies full of radiation, he declared: “We must not rest a single day in our war effort….We must bear in mind that annihilation of the stubborn enemy is our road to revenge”. HE WAS A PROFESSIONAL SOLDIER.

STANZA 37:
On August 8th Molotov finally summoned the Japanese Ambassador. At last neutral Russia would given an answer to the Emperor’s inquiry. Molotov said coldly that the Soviet Union was declaring WAR ON JAPAN.

STANZA 38:
On August 9th another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, though Hiroshima was still burning. On August 11th the Emperor overruled his high command and accepted the peace terms dictated at Potsdam. Yet for three days discussion continued, until on August 14th the surrender was made public and final.

STANZA 39:
Even then the Soviet troops thought they ought to fight in Manchuria “just a little longer”. They felt that even though they could not, at this time, be of help in Japan, it would be worthwhile if they displayed their goodwill in Manchuria, or even in Korea.

STANZA 40:
As the Original Child that was born, President Truman summed up the philosophy of the situation in a few words. “WE FOUND THE BOMB, he said, AND WE USED IT”

STANZA 40:
Since that summer many other bombs have been “FOUND”. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?
AT THE TIME OF WRITING (1960’S), AFTER A SEASON OF BRISK SPECULATION, MEN SEEM TO BE FATIGUED BY THE WHOLE QUESTION.

Thomas Merton – Cistercian Monk

Prodigious writer of books relating to Peace


Now we have moved from fatigue to either apathetic or smug – my comment.


Labels abound in mental health:
Psychotic – a description
‘Looking at the situation from the outside – you are the observer not the participant except in the functional necessities’

This poem evokes for me memories
- the need to constantly ask questions. The good fortune to be surrounded by men who answered them in a truthful way, as if I was adult. This when I sustained my brain injury came to my advantage apparently.
- Dad worked in Manchester and Coventry as a hospital doctor. His interest being humanity, war, reality
- Michael was the publican in Francis Street, Paddy and Noel the missionary uncles I rarely saw but heard about them. They went to Japan and the Philippines in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
- Jerry a missionary priest in rural Korea who warned me life would be hard because of the empathetic personality he saw.
- JJ a criminal lawyer in London whom I lived with at several stages in my life, starting at 5. He answered all questions ‘straight’. JJ had the Black Dog too.




Sent out by: Michelle Clarke
Mature student in Trinity College Dublin (in no way connected to the Trinity within this poem – thankfully).


I re-state that this poem ought to be on every school/college curriculum.

The Vietnam Wall will remain forever in my soul…..War is not the solution…..people are people

Today is 60 years on from Hiroshima

by Reality Check Sat Aug 06, 2005 13:38

Thank God for the Atomic Bomb.

It saved the lives of at least two million people in fighting and starvation had the Americans been forced to continue the island-hopping invasion on to the Japanese mainland.

Courtesy of Wikipedia: 'Koichi Kido, one of Emperor Hirohito's closest advisors, stated: "We of the peace party were assisted by the atomic bomb in our endeavor to end the war." Hisatsune Sakomizu, the chief Cabinet secretary in 1945 called the bombing "a golden opportunity given by heaven for Japan to end the war." According to these historians and others, the pro-peace civilian leadership was able to use the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to convince the military that no amount of courage, skill and fearless combat could help Japan against the power of atomic weapons. Akio Morita, founder of Sony and Japanese Naval officer during the war, also concludes that it was the atomic bomb and not conventional bombings from B-29s that convinced the Japanese military to agree to peace.'

by A10 Sat Aug 06, 2005 14:37

That both Japan and Nazi Germany had been cooperating on building their own atom bombs,and that the Nazis in the last days managed to smuggle out of Europe via U Boat a few kilos of refined uranium and two of their top scientists to Japan.Where they were planing a small dirty bomb attack on the West coast of the USA in Sept 1945,via a sub launched aircraft or missile from one of Japans long range I class subs.Fortuneatly the US managed to get theirs in first,thusly ending any Axis last minute Doomsday attacks.Wonder would we make a big deal if we were celebrating the 60th year of the attack on LA???Doubt it highly!!

by iosaf Sat Aug 06, 2005 14:53

in the saharan Reggane region of Algeria which borders Mali. they were accused of an act of genocide for not clearing the area, and 150 algerian prisoners were to be found 1km from the test site on one occassion.
(a Little nuclear link).
http://www.aven.org
http://www.elwatan.com/2005-08-06/2005-08-06-24190