..and not a single thread. Very good, we all agree it was necessary.
quote:I remember being really pissed at the Smithsonian over this issue. We lived in the DC area from 1984-88 and the Air and Space Museum was my family's favorite (wife, 14 year old, 5 year old) by far. And we went to all of the Smithsonian museums numerous times while we were there. (It's still my kids favorite, and THEIR kids favorite when they visit DC.)
[url=http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/enola/r1/]1: Squaring Off, 1981 - 4/15/94[[/url]
The Smithsonian proposal to mark this important anniversary as a "crossroads" -- consonant with a new Smithsonian philosophy of museumship by Secretary Robert McCormick Adams and NASM Director Martin Harwit -- is unsuccessfully questioned privately by the Air Force Association, led by John T. Correll.
[url=http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/enola/r2/]2: Resistance Movement, 4/16 - 10/26/94[[/url]
Organized opposition, now public -- including the American Legion, members of Congress, and World War II veterans of all stripes -- to the direction of the Smithsonian exhibit mounts, forcing several more drafts, none of which satisfies the critics.
[url=http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/enola/r3/]3: Exhibit Denied, 10/26/94 - 3/1/95[[/url]
A group of historians vigorously defend the museum, but a dispute over the number of lives saved by dropping the bomb dooms negotiations for an exhibit acceptable to the critics, and new Smithsonian Secretary Michael Heyman admits the museum made a mistake, cancels the exhibit, and plans a new, uncontroversial one.
[url=http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/enola/r4/]4: Exhibit Allowed, 3/1 - 6/30/95[[/url]
In the period before the new exhibit opens, the group of historians calls for national teach-ins in protest, Smithsonian damage control includes a conference on museums in a democratic society at the University of Michigan, and Martin Harwit resigns just before two days of hearings begin in the Senate.
5: Wake of the Controversy, 6/28/95 - 1996 >>>>> 2003
Retrospects and reflections on the controversy following the opening of the new exhibit. The controversy over how the Enola Gay should represent history gradually becomes history itself. Yet the same controversy flares anew briefly in 2003 when the plane is moved to a permanent home in the new National Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.
quote:I don't see it is a political discussion. Historians and military strategist discussions? Yes.
I believe there is a current thread on the politics board that at least delved into the topic.
quote:By Wade or by Daws?
Read "Prisoner of the Japanese"; the bomb was necessary.
quote:I agree that the decision to drop the bomb is not political. It is historic and it was a decision made for military and strategic reasons. But it has become a political topic. Think back to when the Smithsonian first unveiled the Enola Gay. There was a lot of political crap about why it was bad for the bomb to be dropped. It has been ushered into the political discussion arena because of that.quote:I don't see it is a political discussion. Historians and military strategist discussions? Yes.
I believe there is a current thread on the politics board that at least delved into the topic.
I have no time for apologist though.
quote:I did, and totally agree!
Think back to when the Smithsonian first unveiled the Enola Gay. There was a lot of political crap about why it was bad for the bomb to be dropped. It has been ushered into the political discussion arena because of that.
quote:I wonder if the naysayers against using the bomb would have felt the same if they were an 18-19 yr. old aboard an LCI, LCT, or Higgins boat about to land on a Japanese occupied beach.
And on TexAgs I think it's always the same group that likes to say we should not have dropped the bomb. I am in the group that says we were absolutely right to drop it.
quote:Thanks!
For Cardiac - Daws
My wife's grandfather who just turned 97 a few months back was a Navy doctor on Ulithi Atoll through the end of the war and felt the same way.Pacing The Cage said:
My Dad, who will be 93 on 8/30, was a Marine preparing to invade Japan when the bombs were dropped. Had already seen action on Guadalcanal and other "tourist destinations" as he calls them. He has never questioned the need to drop those bombs.