Bells tolled in Japan today, 75 years after the Hiroshima bombing.

On the 6th of August, 1945, the B29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, dropped the Little Boy atom bomb on Hiroshima. 

The city was utterly devastated. For a sense of scale, consider what a 1/10th yield recently did to Beirut. 

But three days later a bigger bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki, but it did less damage due to terrain. 

The second plane Bockscar had been scheduled to bomb Kokura, but weather and flack diverted it to Nagasaki. 

Memories were forever erased for the souls who died or were severely injured (up to 226,000). 

In the inner 1 mile radius, total devastation reigned. It was a devastating blow for Japan and led to their surrender. 

We can rationalize about the lives saved by the impact of the bombs, but that will never justify such terrible weapons.

Those bomb were very inefficient. Today's are much smaller but in the megaton, not kiloton range. 

I won't glorify a bomb. Rather reflect on the reduced crowd that assembled in Peace Park in a vigil aimed at ensuring that the bombings are never forgotten.

And may we never let gung-ho militarists ever unleash such hell on our world or against our fellow man. 

The bombs may have saved lives in the war, but their lasting legacy is the restraint that it has brought to global tensions. 

Today Japan is a peace-loving, gracious, humble but dignified people, who would rather win the world economically. 

(c) Peter Missing @ me2u2all.blogspot.com