Operation Meetinghouse // The Destruction of Tokyo
It's the anniversary of Operation Meetinghouse, which took place March 9/10 73 years ago, the most deadly of the fire-bombings of Tokyo: greater than Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki; considered by some to be the greatest and most deadly military operation in history. In the West, most people don't learn about the fire-bombings other than that they happened. When you look into the details, the fire-bombings were horrifying beyond words.
An estimated 100,000 were killed and 150,000 injured. 40% of that total was children. 40%! Let me do the math for you: that is 40,000 children.
40,000 innocent children roasted alive.
40,000 innocent children screaming for help as their flesh burned.
The fires burned a quarter of the city and left over 1 million homeless. As large as this number is, it is considered too low by some historians who argue that the actual number is much higher given population density of the area bombed (the bombing specifically targeted residential areas), the fierce wind on those nights, and the lack of firefighting capabilities. Historians argue that both the American government and the Japanese government had reasons to make the number as low as possible; some historians put the true number of deaths as high as 200,000.
The bombing was an attempt to break Japanese morale. An update to Sherman's "hard war" idea of attacking civilians in addition to military combatants, hoping to force the populace to turn against their leaders by terrorizing them. The man behind the horror, Curtis LeMay, admitted that had the US lost the war, he would have been prosecuted as a war criminal. He is reported to have told a US captain, 'You lost one wingman, and we destroyed Tokyo.'
LeMay wasn't exaggerating at all when he said that. See photo:
Quoting from this article: http://www.counterpunch.org/2003/03/05/curtis-lemay-s-brand-of-hell/
'One Japanese doctor recalled “countless bodies” floating in the Sumida River. These bodies were “as black as charcoal” and indistinguishable as men or women.'
Tokyo reached 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit (1000 degrees Celsius) in some places. We literally cooked those poor souls. Bomber crews coming in near the tail end of the raid reported smelling the stench of charred human flesh as they passed over the burning capital. Many of those crewmen became physically sick and threw up at the smell.
We often overlook this horrifying event and focus entirely on the atomic bombs but we shouldn't forget. In the West, we all know of Dresden and the horror of the firebombing there. Many consider it a war crime. Not to minimize it, because it was horrible, but Operation Meetinghouse was on an entirely different scale. We should not forget.
Please note: I am not being anti-America or pro-Japan; I am being anti-war. We should know the truth of history, good and bad, if we are to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Rose-colored illusions of the past benefit no one. Yes, Japan did horrible things in China, the Philippines, and other places. We repaid them by doing more horrible things to them. War is hell. This is why we should always strive to avoid it.
Additional reading:
It's really a testament to the cruelty and indifference of man, and not a measure of who was on what side, or why. No decent people should ever be able to do this another group of people and feel its ok, regardless of the circumstances.
Anti-war, I'm with you.
``I am being anti-war.'' Agreed.
It never fails to baffle me the lengths we will go to as a species to rain death and destruction down on our fellow man. If even half the military budget of the two world wars were spent on humanitarian projects we could wipe the 3rd world debt and feed famine struck nations many times over.
I can't stand those people who wade about Fbook and other social media shouting the same worn out opinion about it not being that simple. Those same people rarely have a cogent explanation to the complexities of the issues. For sure it's not that simple, but that doesn't mean we as a species shouldn't dedicate the time and resources, both intellectually and financially to figure out the mechanisms to effect real change. Unfortunately, global economic politics and corporate interests would be threatened in trying to resolve conflict without resort to military action so it is highly unlikely to ever happen. It makes me so sad watching the inevitability of it all sometimes, but I'll never give up in getting involved in the movement against war.
Fantastic article @dbooster, highlighting these moments in history is the only way to keep the lessons of history alive in the social consciousness. You said it better than I ever could:
Beautifully said, thank you.
The problem is that war, like prison, is now a profit-making business. Until we take the profit potential away, those who profit, including their lackeys in Congress, the Senate, the White House and the Pentagon, will continue waging war and wasting lives to enrich themselves and their cronies.
We the People need to find ways to stop them, once and for all, by creating peace in our own lives, as just a start.