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Article: Hiroshima, mon amour. (42nd anniversary of bombing of Hiroshima)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- September 11, 1987
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1987 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hiroshima, Mon Amour
THE 42ND ANNIVERSARY of the Enola Gay's atomic bombing of Hiroshima has come and gone, with the usual choreography, complete with actor Jack Lemmon and other notables making a pilgrimage to Hiroshima. Lemmon went so far as to declare himself ashamed to be a member of the human race.
This is just sensitivity ballet and moral posturing. Consider President Truman's decision, based on the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to drop the bomb. Only a few weeks before, the United States invasion of Okinawa had resulted in some of the most savage fighting in history. Some of the Japanese defenders had conducted suicide attacks; others had ...