Hiroshima plus sixty years...

...or, One of the two most successful air raids in history (Part 1).

Sixty years ago tomorrow, Hiroshima, a target of less than prime military consequence*, was almost totally destroyed. About 145,000 Japanese, most of them civilians, were killed.

Millions of Allied and Japanese lives were saved because an invasion of the home islands was avoided.

If it had been up to me, I'd have given the same order.

*Did You Know? Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the Japanese cities with the most Catholics.

Nagasaki church to display Virgin Mary statue scorched by A-bomb

NAGASAKI -- The Urakami Church here will put on public display the statue of Virgin Mary, on which traces of heat rays caused by the Aug. 9, 1945, atomic bombing are still visible.

The church, which is located about 500 meters from ground zero, was destroyed in the bombing. The 30-centimeter-long head of the statue of Virgin Mary was found in the debris, but its body was never found.
The church has long been displaying a model of the statue, but many people asked the church to show the real head of the statue following wide press coverage.

Church followers remodeled a hall in the church to accommodate the bombed statue.

"The Mary statue shows the tragedy of the atomic bombing," said a 74-year-old man who lost four of his brothers in the bomb. "We hope that the hall will become a place for visitors to pray for the souls of the bomb victims and for peace." (Thanks to Mainichi for the heads up.)