Enola Gay

[joeluke]

Wouldn't the Japanese be offended at hearing that song during the opening ceremony?

[jomifl]

Mark, so having heard the brief intro, recognised it, remembered it's name if they know it they would be too exhausted to be insulted. I didn't notice it but I am too young to remember the war ;-)

[joeluke]

The lyrics to the song reflect on the decision to use the bomb and ask the listener to consider whether the bombings were necessary ("It shouldn't ever have to end this way")

The phrase:

"Is mother proud of Little Boy today?"
is an allusion to both the nickname of the uranium bomb, as well as the fact that pilot Paul Tibbets named the aircraft after his mother.

The phrase:

"It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been"
refers to the precise time of detonation over Hiroshima at 8:15am JST.

[Hopkirk]

Someone will tell them.

[4getmenot]

it didnt have any lyrics!

[Mick-Talbot]

The song does not ask anyone a question.


Enola Gay you should have stayed at home yesterday

Not .......Enola Gay should you have stayed at home yesterday?

[Mick-Talbot]

Enola gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way



Statement or question?

[jomifl]

How could the Japanese be offended, they thought they were a military superpower and they were, fortunately the Americans got lucky at the battle of Midway .

[PipinDorset]

Japanese naval strategies and planning were based on the (hoped for) complete destruction of Nimitz' Pacific carrier fleet at Pearl on December 7th, 1941. Upon realising that Nimitz' fleet was already at sea, Admiral Yamamoto as good as confessed he believed the war lost "Gentlemen, I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve".

Secondly, both the Allied and Axis powers were working towards atomic weaponry and, as Clay Blair's work et al, makes clear the Japanese and Germans were trading raw materials and knowledge consistently ergo it would be my belief that the Japanese would have been aware of at least the possibility of atomic weapons becoming a possibility at some point.

Also, I think should be borne in mind two more factors. First that the Allies' intel estimated a death toll between 5 and 10 million people for an invasion of the Japanese home islands. Secondly, the loss of life at both nuclear sites was on a par with the scientific approach of fire storm bombing of German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden.

As a last adjoinder, my best friend's Grandfather was tortured by the Japanese on the Burma railway. The country did not sign the various conventions of war such as Geneva and The Hague. I would argue they had to be prepared to reap the whirlwind.

Overall, I thought the opening ceremony itself was wonderful and did Great Britain proud. Our multi cultural heritage was clear for all to see and, this morning, I feel proud to be British but not to any other nation's cost.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

[B00]

I think the world should be far more offended by the German in the stands who appeared to give the Nazi salute!