August 9, 2020 (Sunday)
August 6 and August 9 go together in our memory because of the atomic bombs dropped on each of the cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on those dates in 1945.
Surveys continue on the attitude of Americans toward those bombings, and with each new generation there are more who regret the bombings and more who believe we should apologize to Japan for them. I’m big on apologies in our daily lives today in ordinary relationship problems, but apologies for acts of war would be meaningless unless offered from both sides. Both sides were at war and both sides fought to win. That’s it. Now let’s move on.
The surveys reflect a moving away from the idea that the atomic bombs saved millions of lives. That’s regrettable, because they did. I’m old enough to remember it all as it was reported at the time. As I said above, let’s move on.
The Japanese suffered at our hands, and let us never forget that we suffered at their hands. I knew people in Rockport who grieved until their dying day over loved ones lost in the war. Their pain was real and lasted a lifetime. There are many families in Japan who are suffering in the same way. Losses came to everyone in the war.
August 9, 1945 was the day the atomic bomb, larger than the one at Hiroshima 3 days prior, was unleashed on the city of Nagasaki. My friend who is now with the Lord, Buckner Fanning, was a soldier among those who first entered the city of Nagasaki after the bombing. During the many years that followed, he formed firm and fast friendships with the people of Nagasaki. The love of Christ shone through the scars of war and the two groups of people, one from America and the other from Japan, formed lasting bonds of Christian love under Fanning’s leadership. “Blessed are the peacemakers” .. remember that? It’s what Jesus said.
Lest we forget: the bombs of 1945 that ended the war with Japan bear little resemblance in destructive power of those possessed by the powerful nations of the 21st century. When we talk of a nuclear war, we’re talking about the end of civilization as we know it. To put it mildly, this is a dangerous world.
Let us repent. Let us believe in and trust God. Let us have hope.In the days following the Second World War, the juke box in my parents’ cafe played the song I include below. It is a hymn.
Click on this link: