What did General Curtis LeMay do?
General LeMay organized and trained the 305th Bombardment Group in 1942 and led that organization to combat in the European Theater. He developed formation procedures and bombing techniques that were used by B-17 bomber units throughout the European Theater of Operations.
Who does General LeMay believe is ruining the country?
President Kennedy : Well, maybe you haven’t noticed: You’re in it with me. General Curtis LeMay : Those goddamn Kennedys are gonna destroy this country if we don’t do something about this!
Did Curtis LeMay drop the atomic bomb?
LeMay was the primary planner of bombing raids against the Japanese mainland in 1945. He also oversaw the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Japan, helping to conclude the war. LeMay ordered the incendiary bombing of more than sixty Japanese cities during the first part of 1945.
How many died in LeMay’s strategic bombing?
It was from Tinian that LeMay pioneered his strategy of low-altitude nighttime firebombing raids. The first of these, on March 10, 1945, had more than 300 B-29s drop a variety of incendiary bombs in a massive X pattern over several hours. More than 100,000 people died in the resulting conflagration.
Was the firebombing of Tokyo a war crime?
Over 50% of Tokyo’s industry was spread out among residential and commercial neighborhoods; firebombing cut the whole city’s output in half. Some modern post-war analysts have called the raid a war crime due to the targeting of civilian infrastructure and the ensuing mass loss of civilian life.
How effective was bombing in ww2?
World War II Bombings Were So Powerful They Sent Shockwaves to Space. Many Allied bombings released the equivalent energy of 300 lightning strikes and temporarily weakened the ionosphere, say researchers. A Royal Air Force bomber making an attack on a German synthetic oil plant in 1944 during World War II.
When did SAC go away?
In 1992 SAC was decommissioned and, in its place, the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) was created. USSTRATCOM assumed many of SAC’s previous responsibilities and absorbed U.S. military space operations.
What did General Le may claim it was fair to shoot in the Cuban missile crisis?
LeMay argued that the United States should launch 5,000 missiles on the Soviet Union. He was convinced this would destroy their 350 nuclear missiles and therefore prevent an attack on the United States. John F. Kennedy and Robert McNamara rejected this strategy as immoral.
How long would World war 2 have lasted without the atomic bomb?
two weeks
[On page 334 of his book, The Decision To Use The Atomic Bomb,] Alperovitz also quotes General Curtis LeMay, chief of the Air Forces, “The war would have been over in two weeks without the Russians entering and without the atomic bomb.”
Can nuclear war be morally justified?
1. Initiation of nuclear war at any level cannot be morally justified in any conceivable situation. 2. Limited nuclear exchanges must also be questioned, since they may not be controllable.
Is Hiroshima still radioactive?
Is there still radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki today is on a par with the extremely low levels of background radiation (natural radioactivity) present anywhere on Earth. It has no effect on human bodies.
How many B 29s were lost over Japan?
The B-29s flew ninety-five tactical missions, dropping 8,116 tons of fragmentation and general-purpose bombs. Twenty-three B-29s were lost. More than 350 Japanese aircraft were destroyed or damaged on the airfields and 208 in the air.
Why didnt US bomb Tokyo?
The U.S. likely did not target Tokyo for the atomic bomb strikes as it was the seat of the Emperor and the location of much of the high ranking military officers. These are precisely the people you do not want to kill if you want to negotiate a surrender, as they are the people you would be negotiating with.
How many died from nukes in Japan?
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict.
Which country was most destroyed in WW2?
The Soviet Union is estimated to have suffered the highest number of WWII casualties.
Which city was most destroyed in WW2?
Hiroshima lost more than 60,000 of its 90,000 buildings, all destroyed or severely damaged by one bomb. In comparison, Nagasaki – though blasted by a bigger bomb on 9 August 1945 (21,000 tonnes of TNT to Hiroshima’s 15,000) – lost 19,400 of its 52,000 buildings.
Is SAC still operational?
Does the Air Force still have SAC bases?
In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of the U.S. Air Force, SAC was disestablished as both a Specified Command and as a MAJCOM, and its personnel and equipment redistributed among the Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), United States Air Forces in …
Did JFK stop the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The Cuban Missile Crisis was effectively over. In November, Kennedy called off the blockade, and by the end of the year all the offensive missiles had left Cuba. Soon after, the United States quietly removed its missiles from Turkey.
Why did Russia put nuclear missiles in Cuba?
After the failed U.S. attempt to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs invasion, and while the Kennedy administration planned Operation Mongoose, in July 1962 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a secret agreement with Cuban premier Fidel Castro to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter …
Would Japan surrendered without the atomic bomb?
However, the overwhelming historical evidence from American and Japanese archives indicates that Japan would have surrendered that August, even if atomic bombs had not been used — and documents prove that President Truman and his closest advisors knew it.
Why was it wrong to drop the atomic bomb on Japan?
The dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was justified at the time as being moral – in order to bring about a more rapid victory and prevent the deaths of more Americans. However, it was clearly not moral to use this weapon knowing that it would kill civilians and destroy the urban milieu.
Why was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki not justified?
Others have argued against the use of the bombs, with evidence such as: it was not needed, it was inhumane and it led to the modern atomic age and threat of nuclear war. Still others argue that perhaps the first bomb used against Hiroshima was justified but that the second used against Nagasaki was not.
What is worse than an atomic bomb?
But a hydrogen bomb has the potential to be 1,000 times more powerful than an atomic bomb, according to several nuclear experts. The U.S. witnessed the magnitude of a hydrogen bomb when it tested one within the country in 1954, the New York Times reported.
Are there still birth defects in Hiroshima?
No statistically significant increase in major birth defects or other untoward pregnancy outcomes was seen among children of survivors. Monitoring of nearly all pregnancies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki began in 1948 and continued for six years.