Enola gay, you should have stayed at home yesterday
Aha words can't describe the feeling and the way you lied
These games you play, they're gonna end it more than tears someday
Aha enola gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola gay, is mother proud of little boy today?
Aha this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away
Enola gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
Aha enola gay, it shouldn't fade in our dreams away
[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Enola Gay]
"Life is short, but memory is long."
[UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, presenting flowers at the Eternal Flame in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park]Photographs from the BBC
Powerful words, Nat. Powerful image too.
ReplyDeleteNow I have Enola Gay stuck in my head.
ReplyDeleteI still think the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unwarranted. I know the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. I know the war did a lot of heinous things. But bombing cities full of ordinary people with something that all but wiped out generations, is unforgivable. Dresden too. Wars should be about military targets and governments, not about people. Let's hope it never happens again.
Great post Nat. What a tragedy it was...
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese understand why we did it more than we do...They were still being told they were winning the war. Even while american planes were fire bombing Japanese cities with little or not opposition. That government was willing to sacrifice EVERYONE. Better to die trying to do something, than to surrender, or admit you were wrong. Some of the stuff I'm going to be posting soon involves my interviews people that were in Japan when it happened...
http://patricktillett.blogspot.com/2010/08/kazuko-ikegami-getting-started.html
I just notice how lame this was, the three of you here so far, commented on my first post about it...sorry!
Thanks for always visiting, Betty.
ReplyDeleteVeg - sadly, it's often the ordinary people that come off worse, and we can only hope we won't have to witness such a tragedy ever again. Battles should be fought on the sports field only, not over cities.
Pat - I had heard this was sadly the case. Similarly, Hitler sending young boys to fight, even as the Russians surrounded Berlin. Dreadful. I look forward to learning more from your future posts!