Aug 6 1945

[natedogg]

My grandfather fought in several battles in the pacific theatre. Luckily his division jumped over Tarawa but he was there for many Marshall Island battles and he was there from Day 1 for the Battle of Okinawa. Somehow he survived.

He never talked about it much but sometimes if he had enough drinks you could get some stories from him.

He once told me that after the bombs he was stationed in Hiroshima, he was part of the first wave of occupying soldiers there. I asked him about his impressions of the city.

He told me he got there expecting the worst and that he wasn't very impressed. He was shocked. What was all the fuss? There were still buildings standing, people walking around, the surrounding landscape was recognizable.

He said, "when we left Okinawa there wasn't a single tree or building left standing. We started on one end of the island and we burned and bombed everything in our path until we got to the other side. It took us three weeks to do it but the devastation was FAR worse than anything the bomb could ever do".

I've never forgotten that sobering observation from my grandfather.

natedogg