The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb

For people who still question why the atomic bomb was used over Japan, this book offers a clear view why US did what they did.Also clarifies most aspects of the II world war.Good reading

Un livre à lire pour ceux qui doutent des horreurs de la gueŕre et qui montrent jusqu'où peut aller l'endoctrinement des hommes poussant des soldats et des civils à se suicider plutôt que de se rendre et ce malgré des conditions de vie qui nous laissent ébahis.Très bon récit

This is very thorough treatise on the Battle of Okinawa’s affect on those involved... Okinawans, Japanese, and Americans. It is told from the perspective of those who endured with a very objective and fair treatment of each of the participants and each piece of the events of the battle. What makes this book so endearing is the clarity it gives to the range of cultural rationales that govern the minds of the individuals who survived to tell about their experiences. What is especially poignant is the fate of the hospitable, peaceful, and accommodating people of Okinawa who are caught between the two armed forces of the Japanese and Americans, neither of which is concerned with those whose homes and country were raged into desolation. Truly an excellent read.

Este es el típico libro de historia que abruma con infinidad de datos y nombres, que al cabo de unas horas das por imposible (al menos yo lo hice).

This book was a difficult read, not because of the style, but content. I served with the 3d Marine Division, 3d Medical Battalion, in Vietnam, 1967, and have seen results of combat and have experienced bombardment. But nothing as described in this work by George Feifer. His descriptions were masterful. Essentially, Mr. Feifer made a convincing case for the use of the atomic bomb in that the invasion of the home islands of Japan would be simply an expansion of the Okinawa experience. Insanity at its worst. His reference to the Russians, certainly as allies, but in reality a threat, could have been expanded. The bomb was to send a message to the Russians to keep their hands off of Japan. Implicit, but unsaid, was the subtle warning that they would have a radioactive bullseye painted on them. Throughout the narrative, Mr. Feifer makes the case that conflict resolution without war is the better goal, an idealistic view, and what rational person would disagree with that. Reality is that the heart of man is desperatly evil, who can know it. The reality of war is painted very well in Mr. Feifer's book, survival is a primal nature and there are no rules. The loss of life was staggering, military and civilian. The whys and wherefores that resulted in such loss are a matter of history. But the overiding fact is that the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese government started the clock ticking. The responsibility for the war in the Pacific rested squarely on the shoulders of Japan, and the blood of every life lost was equally on their head. Pearl Harbor started it, Nagasaki finished it. One other comment. Mr. Feifer at various places in the narrative inserts gratuitous political rhetoric reflecting what appears to be a liberal progressive bias. Such rhetoric has no place in a quality piece of work. Decisions made at higher levels may or may not be "stupid", but only when those decision makers have been personally interviewed before such rhetoric is included in the narrative. That is scholarship. That being said, we did not learn much as similar circumstances were encountered in Korea and Vietnam. All in all, however, this is a work worth reading and meditating thereon.