Re Tony Magliano’s column (CR, Aug. 5), granted, the Japanese war machine was stressed … so why was Japan still up for a fight? For the most part the Japanese army on the home islands and in China was still very much intact. As Americans it was hard for us to comprehend why this enemy preferred to fight to the last man. A Japanese field service code issued in 1941 specifically stated that” a soldier is not to live in shame as a prisoner, but die and leave no ignominious crime behind you.” Japan’s culture wouldn’t let it quit. The bomb that exploded over Hiroshima killing 100,000 people put an end to this nightmare, so civilization could move forward in the light of a new beginning.
Remember the lives that were lost, but also the lives that were saved, the children and grandchildren that were born and lived to become citizens of both nations.