Sixty-three years ago today, President Harry Truman gave the order for an atomic bomb to be dropped on the Japanese city, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima.
PRAYER FROM HOLY TRINITY CHURCH IN NAGASAKI:
For those who died in the atomic bombing
O Lord God of all in this world and of all who have passed from it, we now remember and pray for all those who passed from the world through the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, especially the 29 believers of Nagasaki Holy Trinity Church, and we entrust their souls into the deep tenderness of your hands. We ask that we may not let their sacrifice be in vain, but may always be enabled to seek after the peace that you give. We ask this through the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray in remembrance of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and all who died in it, especially those from this church: Goto Giichiro, Goto Teruko, Hayashida Yukie, Hayashida Shizue, Hayashida Baku, Hayashida Masako, Hayashida Akiko, Shin Tamie, Shin Fujiko, Iga Yukitomo, Miyamoto Fuji, Miyamoto Tomoko, Miyamoto Hiroshi, Miyamoto Fumiko, Miyamoto Hiroko, Miyamoto Tomoko, Miyamoto Noritoshi, Date Masumi, Date Hideko, Date Toru, Date Akio, Tagawa Yasuji, Tagawa Tsuru, Tagawa Sadanori, Tagawa Sai, Ishibashi Tomoe, and two whose names are lost.
A prayer for all those who are still suffering from after-effects, especially those victims of the atom bomb from Korea and other Asian countries who do not receive assistance from Japan.
O Lord of deep tenderness, your son Jesus Christ has through the cross removed the dividing barriers of hatred and opened up a way to reconciliation in you, so that all people can live in peace as members of your family. Please take pity on all those in all lands, and especially those from neighbouring Asian countries, who are still suffering from the atomic bombing, and fulfil all their needs. We ask this through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
A prayer for the abolition of nuclear weapons
O God our heavenly father, because of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, we know how terrible these weapons of slaughter are, how they destroy people's lives from the very root, and how they cause suffering to people over a long time. There are now in the world nuclear weapons capable of causing ruin and destruction that would be many times more terrible. Please O Lord, guide the hearts of the people of the world, so that a peace can be realised that comes not from weapons and a balance of military might but from dialogue, and so that all forms of nuclear weapons may vanish from the face of the earth. We ask this through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thanks to Le Bestiare for the reminder.
Image from Wiki.
Thanks, Mimi. I have been remembering these days all my life as days when we as a nation did something we did not even understand in a way to end war. Would Japan ever have capitulated? We don't know. But we all know that somehow there was racism involved that has taken almost 50 years to acknowledge.
ReplyDeleteThe names help. It reminds us that these people were not faceless. They had names. They had families. They have those who have survived and we are inextricably united to them for the rest of our.
Muthah+, it's done, and I pray it never happens again. It's a day worth noting and remembering. I doubt that it's ever moral to kill and maim that many people to end a war. The remembrance should be a wake-up call for all of us to get behind the movement to rid the world of nuclear weapons to assure that it will never happen again.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful commemoration.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the posting.
ReplyDeleteOne minor nit: Truman did not order the second bombing. It was done without his consent.
Sophia, welcome. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Can you to cite a source for your statement that Truman did not consent to the bombing of Nagasaki? I Googled around a bit, but I couldn't find anything quickly. It seems that I heard something to that effect.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the bombing of Nagasaki was worse than Hiroshima, because the US knew of the horrific devastation caused by the first bomb.
I'll look this up later to confirm, but my memory says Truman perhaps didn't issue a specific order for the Nagasaki bombing, but approved the use of both bombs made available to the AAF before the Hiroshima bombing. To imply he withheld consent for the use of the second weapon is ludicrous.
ReplyDeleteIf Grandpère were here, I'll wager he could tell me, or find the answer in one of his books. Thanks in advance for any help you can give, Johnieb.
ReplyDeleteI have reason to believe it was also the day I was conceived. Sort of makes things complicated, doesn't it?
ReplyDeletePaul, that is profoundly meaningful - new life arising on that terrible day. That bit of knowledge must give YOU mixed feelings, but I'm glad you're here.
ReplyDeleteI have, or had, a picture of me being held by my 14 year old cousin when I was exactly two weeks old. She's wearing a white shirtwaist dress, and I'm not wearing much but a diaper and a wrap of some kind. It's August 6th, 1945.
ReplyDeleteThe stuff I have immediately available looks at the reasons Truman thought the bomb was a good idea, mostly to do with Stalin at Potsdam and U S public opinion, in the context of surrender terms for the Japanese and the role of the Chinese (Kuomintang: Nationalists) in the post war settlement, the latter being American self-delusion cultivated by T V Soong, the real power behind Chiang.
Hang on: I just thought of something else. (Back) Sorry; I'd hoped to find a selection of documents, but I'm not sure where it is right now. I probably have something on it in the handouts from my Post WWII Foreign Policy Seminar, but I'm not sure where the box is.
There was a reference to Truman having second thoughts on August 9th about using a third bomb "to burn all those women and children."
And, as an aside, please do not try to make the point with me that Truman was a great, or even a good President; I despise what he did, and not just on the A-Bomb decision. He was right from the beginning; he wasn't up to the job.
Johnieb, you and Paul are about nine months apart in age. I won't even think about asking Paul how he knows when he was conceived.
ReplyDeleteTruman himself said that he didn't lose a night's sleep over dropping the bombs. When GP comes home tomorrow, I'll get him on this. He's a WWII "buff", as they say.