The bombs killed an estimated 200,000 men, women and children and maimed countless more. In Hiroshima 50,000 of the city’s 76,000 buildings were completely destroyed. In Nagasaki nearly all homes within a mile and a half of the blast were wiped out. In both cities the bombs wrecked hospitals and schools. Urban infrastructure collapsed.
Americans didn’t dwell on the devastation. Here the bombings were hailed as necessary and heroic acts that brought the war to an end. In the days immediately after the nuclear blasts, the polling firm Gallup found that 85 percent of Americans approved of the decision to drop atomic bombs over Japan. Even decades later the narrative of military might — and American sacrifice — continued to reign.
For the 50th anniversary of the war’s end, the Smithsonian buckled to pressure from veterans and their families and scaled back a planned exhibition that would have offered a more nuanced portrait of the conflict, including questioning the morality of the bomb. The Senate even passed a resolution calling the Smithsonian exhibition “revisionist and offensive” and declared it must “avoid impugning the memory of those who gave their lives for freedom
Was it really veterans or some group pretending to represent their interests?
according to this, the groups that protested were not just the air force association and american legion (which both lobby on behalf of veterans), but also individual WWII veterans from around the country.
as the grandchild of a (now deceased) nagasaki survivor, i have heard this rhetoric from not just veterans, but their children and grandchildren as well. in my experience interacting with them (irl, not online), i have never heard a single one criticize the atomic bombs, ever. that’s just my experience, though.
Just to add more, I know a few veterans (not WWII) whose opinion on every international disagreement is to “nuke them all” (meaning anyone against the USA).