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July 3 was one month prior to the nuclear bomb dropping. By that time, B-29 bombing raids with conventional bombs had been operating since 1944. Further, the fa
by da_chicken 1y ago
July 3 was one month prior to the nuclear bomb dropping. By that time, B-29 bombing raids with conventional bombs had been operating since 1944. Further, the fact that they had to order it to be preserved on July 3 implies that it hadn't been saved until that point. So, Hiroshima was saved for a month, but only after it had been an equally viable target for the prior several months to a year.
- pests 1y agoA month, a year, does it matter? No one knew if any of this would actually work. The trinity test wouldn’t be for almost two more weeks on the 15th.
- da_chicken 1y agoIn the context of a bombing campaign for a war, yes, a month and a year are a massive difference. And while they hadn't done the Trinity test, you don't do a test like Trinity until you're pretty damn sure it will work. Apparently, when you're ready to do the test you're also ready to start picking targets. Saving Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be proving grounds for the scale of destruction is horrifying. However, all war is a series of horrifying and unnecessary events. Pointing out that some of them near the end were also horrifying is just not a very compelling criticism. It's not out of character for what happened during the rest of the war.