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The 60th anniversary date of
the recapture of Guam by the United
States is close. Its so close (July 21, 2004) many
find it hard to talk about anything but the plans
and activities for the memorial. There is much
excitement to look forward to, the arrival of
veterans of that war is one very meaningful
activity. The annual carnival and parade - a
pageantry associated with the gratefulness of a
free people will be highlights on the 21st of
July. Often the parade is replete with military
marching units, the Navy Band and antiques of WWII
equipment and vehicles. There are often floats
that carry the Liberation Queen and her
court.
The preparation is not exclusive to Guam;
our neighbors to the north in Saipan have been
preparing for their liberation celebration on June
15.
Guam was the staging area for the
close of the war. Few know that
little secret even after all these years.
Especially how and what events took place to end
WWII. What secret reference? History books
have stated for 60 years now that the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.
Hugh
Trevor Roper, a world respected Oxford
historian had to say about
history:
“History is not merely what happened. It's
what happened in the context of what might have
happened!"
Guam's relationship to the end of the
war is what Hawaii is to the start of the war.
How did the Chamorro
people get caught up in the war and what was The Last Mission that
ended WWII if not the dropping of the atomic bomb
in Japan?
The
bombing of the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki did not prompt a quick surrender by
the Japanese. In fact, there was very strong
opposition to the surrendering of Japan by high
ranking Japanese officers in the Imperial Army. So
opposed were they to the idea of defeat that they
were willing to kidnap the Emperor to prevent him
from delivering a surrender message. Time and
declassification of military documents revealed
that significant point all these years
later.
In
his book, The Two Ocean War, Samuel
Eliot Morison states of the drama: "It was a very near
thing. That night a military plot to seize the
Emperor and impound his recording of the Imperial
Rescript (which was to be broadcast the 15th) was
narrowly averted. Attempts were made to
assassinate Suzuki and others. But the Emperor's
message to his people went out in the morning...
If these elements had had their way, the war would
have been resumed with the Allies feeling that the
Japanese were hopelessly treacherous, and with a
savagery that is painful to
contemplate.” Samuel
Eliot Morison was the brilliant
On-the-scene
Historian (highlight &italics ours) appointed by
President Roosevelt.
"The Last Mission": Bombing
of the Nippon Oil Company at Akita, Japan Ended
WWII
The incredible timing of a Tokyo blackout
by the 315th Bomb Wing based at
Northwest Field, Guam threw the coup off track—the
315th went on to destroy Japan’s
largest remaining oil refinery which led to the
close of WWII. Author/Eyewitness Jim
Smith said of the consequence,
“The B-29 war exploded following
Nagasaki August 9. Six days later the
315th Bomb Wing flew the longest and
most challenging B-29 mission from Northwest Field
Guam ending W.W. II--August 15—
”
To the 315th Bomb Wing goes the
credit of the end of WWII!
All aspects of The Last Mission are
revealed in the recent release of the second
publication. Many of Smith’s first publication
accounts are documented in the History Channel’s portrayal of "The
Last Mission" continues to air
on national television. “The
Last Mission” is a living will for Jim Smith to
divulge activities on the 14th and
15th of August 1945 and the drama
experienced by the crew of the “Boomerang”, a
stripped down B29 spy plane, and what they
accomplished in guaranteeing the end to
WWII.
Guam
"I
understand better the significance of the end of
WWII after interviewing 78 Chamorro people in the
last six months who survived the Japanese
occupation in Guam and struggled to survive the
reoccupation of the island by United States
military forces in July 1944," Rlene Steffy
said.
Guam is
the largest island in the Marianas but unlike the
rest of the Marianas, Guam has been an American
jurisdiction since 1898, interrupted briefly by
the Japanese bombing of Sumay on 8 December 1941
and subsequent invasion of Japanese Imperial
Forces two days later. Guam was the only US
Territory ever to be occupied by enemy forces with
an indigenous population. The Chamorro people in
1941 were American Nationals. American and
Japanese leaders believed that the civilian
population remained loyal to the United States and
was not freely cooperating with the Japanese
occupiers. Many survivors qualify the occupation
and actions of that period; their memories betray
their refutation.
Is
it too late to correct history? You only have to
look back for the answer to that question and
forward to the truth. All these many (59) years later we are
still warring and clamoring for peace but
celebrating war and the end of it all.
"The Last Mission" is not about correcting
history; it is about providing the perspective of
the end of WWII in the context of what really
happened to end the war.
Japan
The Japanese suffered
significantly over the A-Bomb dropping. According
to a 1988 survey released by Japan’s Health and
Welfare Ministry, 295,956 deaths have been
attributable to the bombs. Of these, 25,375 people
in Hiroshima and 13,298 in Nagasaki were said to
have died on the day of the bombing; the rest died
within a few days of the bombing primarily because
of radiation-induced illnesses. Relatives of the
deceased have criticized the Japanese government
for waiting too long to carry out the survey and
argue, “it does not really deal with all aspects
of the bombings or the total number of those who
died as a result of them,” says Yoshio Saito, vice
secretary-general of the Japan
Confederation of A- and H-Bomb
Sufferers Organizations.
愛鈴
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listen to shows below.
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3/16/04
Jim Smith
"The Last Mission"
Details
Update |
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3/16/04
Jim Smith
on
"Where We Live Show" W/Jennings
Bunn |
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5/7/03
Jim
Smith &
Darin Maurer on
Rlene"Live" |
The Last Mission
Guam Promotion
Team
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Hiroshima—An Unforgettable Experience
By “Awake!”
correspondent in Japan
tells of a survivor’s account of the war
experience. Here is an excerpt: Tomiji
Hironaka was one of the soldiers sent into
Hiroshima immediately after the bombing to bring
out any survivors from the prison there. Though
he had served in the military for many years,
what he saw at Hiroshima brought home to him the
horror of war. “The road was full of trucks
loaded with the wounded. Those who could still
walk staggered along by the roadside. Many were
almost naked, except where patches of clothes
had been burned into their skin. Piles of
corpses, blistering red, were everywhere. The
riverbanks were crowded with people trying to
soothe the pain of their burns. Among them, I
saw a mother, covered with red burns, holding
her baby, also badly burned, trying pitifully to
nurse it. I remember well the intense feeling I
had then. ‘I hate war! I hate war!’ Yet, I had
shared in killing, and I thought, ‘What kind of
conscience do I have?’ I was keenly aware of my
bloodguilt.” |
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