Readers React: Americans should listen to survivors of Hiroshima and Nagaski — but not apologize

To the editor: In the 1960s I was involved in the training of Japanese employees at a new American plant in Japan. These trainees were teenagers when Nagasaki and Hiroshima were bombed by atomic weapons in 1945. (“As Obama tours Hiroshima, bombing survivors in Little Tokyo hope for ‘more than words,’” May 22)

During the social time we spent together, they described how they were being trained for suicide missions such as holding explosives and running under invading American vehicles. It is clear that the Japanese military intended to sacrifice civilians to fight for every inch of its country.

Of course the atomic bombs were weapons with horrible, long-lasting effect. However, they did force Japan to end the war before a bloody invasion, thereby preventing the deaths of millions. I don’t expect these survivors to thank us for this, but there is no reason for us to waste time apologizing for those attacks.

I do admire and thank these survivors for reminding us of the effects of nuclear war. They make the horrific consequences real for those who know about them only from history books.

Richard Cook, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: Among the Hiroshima victims were an estimated 20,000 Koreans who died, most of whom were forced laborers.

After the war ended, the Korean survivors of the attacks were specifically excluded by the Japanese government from receiving medical benefits because they were “foreigners.” It was only in 2003, after nearly 60 years and numerous court battles, that they were able to get some official benefits.

Japan has been portraying itself successfully as the victim of the war largely because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all the while neglecting the victims of its own unspeakable atrocities. Japan should first apologize to the Korean victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki before even thinking about a U.S. apology.

If that had happened, I would have accepted President Obama’s trip to Hiroshima.

Kee Kim, La Habra

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