I firmly believe in listening to both sides of a discussion, or argument, whichever way it plays out, but I feel that Liz Kelner needs to back to school and do a little more research. Her My Turn column on Aug. 3 [“Reflecting on Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Never again”], in part, couldn’t be further from the truth in regards to our government’s dropping the atomic bombs on Japan.
My great uncle William Kostanski, who just passed last year at age 101+, was there that fateful day at Pearl Harbor as a member of the U.S. Army at Schofield Barracks. He witnessed firsthand the onslaught that the Imperial Japanese Navy unleashed, unprovoked, on our country. He saw first-hand the death and destruction of his fellow servicemen, civilians, and air and and naval fleet. For the next four years our military and our allies continually fought off the Japanese, German and Italian militaries in the name of peace! My father Walter (USN Armed Guard), uncles Henry Kostanski (USN) and Michael Geraghty (USN) and millions of other men and women fought the same battle.
The Japanese were not going to concede defeat. The Japanese Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, led by Prime Minister Admiral Kantaro Suzuki had no intention of surrendering. Ask any World War II veterans (if you can locate them) or their family members, and they will tell the same story as Gen. Douglas McArthur stated: ”A land invasion of Japan will cost a million lives.”
It was a proven fact, in previous island-hopping campaigns, that the Japanese military were going to fight to the last man! They were not going to surrender. These battles alone cost the lives of tens of thousands of men. Their mainland was their last line of defense. Ask any veteran how U.S. prisoners of war were treated. Ask them about the Bataan Death March. Ask them about the inhumane treatment received at the hands of the Japanese. The atrocities that our servicemen and our allies suffered at the hands of the Japanese military were unspeakable!
Please understand that I have the utmost sympathy, compassion and feelings for the civilians who endured the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The government of Japan at the time, led by Emperor Michinomiya Hirohito, Prime Minister Suzuki, and former Prime Minister/General Hideki ToJo failed their own people and failed to take them into consideration by trying to obtain world dominance.
So please, Liz, get the facts straight, and have a little respect for our country, the USA. The free USA. The country that allows you freedom of speech. The country where English is the main language, not Japanese, German or Italian. We have these liberties because of our veterans’ blood on foreign soil. My hat’s off to our World War II veterans and all the citizens who participated in the war effort: The Greatest Generation!
Richard Kostanski is a resident of South Deerfield.