coming past sonabatchi at whiplash speeds and once over for each jap killed.fighter groups are in, all hands sweat in those first limping b-29s. that runway is a beautiful sight as they let down with engines out, low on gas, or beat up by flak and fighters. in 3 months nearly 2,000 crippled or gas shy b-29s havened at iwo. you could understand why those four fan boys blessed their marines and even named their planes after them. the lucky ones are fueled and depart for home bases in an hour. but iwo still has its hazards. weather can turn this station into a homeless day. fog and quick overcast often blacks out the airstrip during these crucial periods. that means orders to bail out. or with luck a b-29 might drop in for a coffee book ditching. from here you can see how the cloud cover up there smothers the runway and realize what one pilot went through. sometimes a battle-scarred bomber staggers back to iwo, only to flatten out at the last heartbreaking second. [ sirens ] by some miracle, the whole crew got away from the station to safety before 2,000 gallons

by jap. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> in that last clip we just heard, military film from 1946, it said pretty definitively atomic bombs dropped to end the war quickly, and they did end the war quickly. first of all, was this the right decision to make and were those bombs the reasons for the he said of the war? >> the short answer is yes and yes. they were dropped overwhelmingly the primary reason to end the war as quickly as possible, save lives, both american and japanese. one thing that's critical to get to at the start, to understand the context of this. from my side i have two basic principles we have to follow. one is to count all the dead. second is to treat all the dead sharing common humanity. by that, i very much mean the japanese as well. basically the asian pacific war million noncombatant. of that number, the number of japanese noncombatants, 1 million or 2 million, due to atomic bombs and soviet intervention in 1945. that math tells you immediately th

. ♪ ♪ and the first jap snoopers appear diving into formations.ombers. others drop phosphorous bombs set to explode in front of the oncoming b-29s. our p-51s go out after them and know they're tangling with experts. the b-51's job is to protect the b-29s, but some of those fighters meet the crew and meet the blast of bomber guns. [ shots fired ] >> a tail gun appears with the fight tore come in a little closer. [ shots fired ] >> from the turn at initial point the tight bomber waves move steadily on and get ready for business. flak and fighters fall off, but those clouds are beginning to close in and it looks worse ahead and just east of hajioji, the tokyo area breaks clear. the bombardiers began to drop on 574 and the plane sit tight for the bombing run. here's where we pay ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> two jap air plant crafts and an air drone 2,000 feet below are about to receive 4,000 tons of destruction. first waves of b-29s have already found their objective. ♪ ♪ >> succeeding bomber groups at their devastation to the smoking targets. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> tactic

[shelling] the infantry flamethrowers destroy japs taking refuge in pill boxes. the few natives remaining are rounded up. many are starved and malaria ridden. knocked out enemy coastal guns, prior to the invasion landings, 17 of 28 known 98 millimeter gun positions were destroyed by planes of the 13th air force. capture japanese antiaircraft direction and fire control equipment similar to that employed by the allies. (music) salvaging wrecked trucks at a maintenance area on okinawa. the trucks are stripped and motors sent to the shops for complete reconditioning. the motors are placed on a conveyor where the subassembly is removed. they are checked to determine the extent of repair necessary. a steam jenny is used to give them a thorough cleaning. various parts have been removed and carried to individual engine stands where the mechanics work on them. the valve assemblies are removed and placed on stands where cylinders are marine -- machine honed. where possible, all parts are reconditioned and used again. the reconditioned motors are given a test shake down bef

the first objective was the smashing of the jap war machine. men behind the japanese war machine have been brought to trial for crimes of violence, cruelty, and murder. trials have been carried out thoroughly and methodically. , not in a spirit of punishment, but with the hope that a world court will deal with future international criminals the same way national courts deal with local criminals. the minds that put in operation of the japanese war machinery were being reckoned with. the machines themselves had to be destroyed. to the scrap heap went the guns, the ships, the submarines, the tanks, the planes, and other military equipment. for months, jap furnaces blazed, melting down instruments of war. a nation was beating its swords into the necessities of life. items scarce during the years of war appeared suddenly in startling splendor. ♪ here and there, a toy signaled better days to come. our second general objective is the establishment of a peaceful, responsible government. because of its willingness to take the idea of democracy, japan al

blazed,hs jap furnaces melting down instruments aboard.eating its swords into the necessities of life. the years ofduring war appeared suddenly during startling splendor. here and there a toy signal better days to come. objective isneral the establishment of a peaceful, responsible government. because of its willingness to take the idea of democracy, japan already has a working constitution. by the constitution the emperor is no longer absolute and divine, but as a constitutional monarch, similar to england's king. he is now a figurehead. i his own declaration he is no longer a god, but many still believe he is divine vine and the japanese are the only race on the world directly descendent from the gods. ♪ for the first time, the people are exercising their constitutional right to election electionares. electioneering is becoming as lively with political parties in the states. they are usually friends or relatives of the candidates for office. constitution, women are voting for the first time. formally the country was ruled from the top. a

after which he writes it is diary of stalin will be at the jap war by august 15th city japs without a curse. it writes home to his wife bess the next day recess the russians are coming in will end the war a year sooner now think of all the kids who won't be killed while interesting question is why did we drop bombs when we knew they were not militarily necessary and we knew they were marley reprehensible it's united states had a 5 star admirals and generals in 19457 of the 8 are on the record said the atomic bomb to them militarily unnecessary or barley reprehensible or both and that we're talking about eisenhower macarthur lay he lay he for example was truman's personal chief of staff and he was the most incensed about it he wrote he also chair that means it tried to step he said the japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender the use of this barbarous weapon at hiroshima and nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against japan and using it. we adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the dark ages while out of the carthage said if we had told them

fini japs when that occurs. he writes home to his wife bess the next day. the russians are coming in. we'll end the war a year sooner now. think of all the kids who won't be killed. then the question is why did the united states drop the bomb? this is what historians need to debate. was the bomb necessary to end the war? absolutely not. was it the most humane way to do it? absolutely not. not only the suffering of hundreds of thousands of japanese killed and hundreds of thousands more who were going to suffer throughout the rest of their lives but truman knew he was beginning a process that could ultimately end life on the planet. he gets his first real briefing on the bomb april 13th from burns. truman writes in his memoir, burns said this is a weapon great enough to destroy the whole world. on july 25th, truman gets a fuller briefing about the bomb and writes then that stimpson said in four months we'll have a weapon, one of which can destroy an entire city. said the way this is handled can determine the future of human civilization. >> peter kuznick, let

when stalin told truman that he was coming to the war truman writes in his diary stalin will be in the jap war by august 15th 50 japs when that occurs to truman knew that the soviet entry was going to be determinative american intelligence had been saying that repeatedly for months. but then truman suddenly deviated from his plan and even went as far as hindering stalin from signing why. because on july 16th truman received the decisive report from general groves in los alamos results exceed expectations wrote groves and what counts is the battle test. when truman received the 1st news of success of the determination about that of course he wrote in a there it's a real. big news big news that i've blown successful this is an enormous destructive give us the it is so enormous so powerful that the still to 60 feet. wrong melted. and their immune melted and the media after this but we're going to use this again is this against a military target we're civilized nation or we're not going to use it against women children can you imagine that the powerful weapon you're going to drop in the middle

. >> what did you think of that japs,as dropped on the mrs. glenn? >> terrible. all of those people killed. >> three days later, another b-29 dropped an improved bomb on the seaport of nagasaki. a highly congested industrialized city boasting the best natural harbor in western kyushu. and extensive naval facilities. [explosion] this bomb, exploding over the north factory district, took the lives of 42,000 persons. and injured 40,000 more. it destroyed 39% of all of the buildings in nagasaki before the calamity. the japanese described their mutilated city as a graveyard, with not a tombstone standing. these two terrifying blows were struck in japan only after profound consideration of all of the human and military factors. -- factors involved. the atomic bombs were dropped to end the war quickly, and they did end the war quickly. host: richard frank is author of downfall."al here to talk to us further about the 75th anniversary of the drop of the atomic bombs by the u.s. on japan. richard frank, thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: in th

. >> well, what did you think of that bomb we dropped on the japs, mrs. glen? >> isn't it terrible, all thoseo people vedkilled? >> three days later, another b-29 dropped an improved bomb on the major japanese sea port of nagasaki, a highly congested industrialized city boasting the best natural harbor, and extensive naval facilities.42,0 >>> this bomb exploding over the north factory district took the lives of 42,000 persons and injured 40,000 more. it destroyed 39% of all of the buildings standing in nagasaki before the calamity. grave the japanese described their bleak, mutilated city as a graveyard with not a tombstone f standing. these two terrifying blows were of struck at japan only after profound consideration of all the human bombs w and military involved. the atomic bombs were dropped to end the war quickly, and they did end the war quickly. >> richard frank is author of "downfall, the end of the imperial japanese empire. "here to talk to us further about the 75th anniversary of the drop of the atomic bombs on japan. thank you for joining us. >> thank

jap is a dead he died at 56 years old because of it. had we not dropped these bombs, we would still be at work. my father died in 1976. the last year of his life, he talked to me constantly about the war so i knew a lot about it. this was protecting their god. this was not protecting their president, their country, this was protecting their god. if we had not dropped those bombs, we would still be in war today. severeer died with posttraumatic stress disorder, having a nervous breakdown and died at the age of 56 because of all of this. host: we will get a response. guest: thank you. just said it yourself, you separate the japanese of today -- you also have to separate japanese civilians in 1945 from the japanese military. wideinly, there was a range of emotion over the war among the japanese. there were those who were fighting for the last man, committing suicide, going down, and those who were brow beaten into that, who just went to live there lives and have peace and wanted the war to be over. i did a program with a survivor of the bo

a tiny coral building on the island the japs conquered in 1941 is the site of formal meetings. it is filled with officials. before leaving wake, the president adds to the distinguished service medal of general macarthur. they announced their conference brought an agreement on future peace and security in the pacific. the cause of the united nations is pleaded forward on the historic island of wake. the good news in western germany is that western military leaders are building strong defenses. here, special wargames. military observers watch operation rainbow, the largest live wargames since world war i. over 100,000 troops participate, including french and british units. the objective of the maneuvers is to force back a theoretical enemy who invaded from the east. should the reds strike here in europe, the atlantic forces will be on guard. in the german capital, economic progress is marked as the berlin industrial fair is opened by former eca chief paul hoffman. it shows the first products of a developing free enterprise system stimulated by the marshall plan. in france, a city

it's believed that the japs intended the rocket for use on suicide boats.ese tests ordnance experts study the rocket's general flight characteristics. an okinawa native guides an american patrol through the island's rugged interior on a rare mission. walking closest by the old man is his son, a gi named frank higashi. he's assigned as an interpreter with one of the army divisions. in 1912, the father left okinawa and resided for a time in los angeles where frank was born. the family returned to the island while frank was still a boy, but eight years ago, he left alone for the states and lived in california until inducted in the army. while frank was landing on okinawa as a u.s. soldier, the family was fleeing in terror. by chance, the son heard news of his father, who now leads him into the hills for a family reunion. the meeting takes place somewhere between nago and nagitaki. frank poses with a survivor members of his family. his mother died while he was in the states. but several relatives, including an 80-year-old grandmother, are on hand to greet the a

gentlemen as serious as that is why today i had a long and detailed conversation with the russian president jap to say i was a little surprised it was totally devoted to what is happening and we agreed with him if we request it only as a seri help will be provided to help secure the safety of. the lives. the kremlin for its part said the 2 men expressed certainty that the situation in bella reuss would soon be resolved. journalist 100 buck over has been reporting for us from belarus she told us that discontent had been growing for a long time and that protests are widespread well if people now really want to go and yes chris test test. have been happening where the past weeks but also all this rallies pretty action rallies in that sometimes you can also have where weeks before the elections race and even for months because there were some protests going on before so these discontents and has been under rights recently it's not like it started just on sunday when when the election results were announced so so people don't one country my eyes they want to go they want to change the man at the top

was a dead jap and he was attempting to kill the good jap. my father guy at 56 years old because of it and they have to realize that had they not dropped these bombs, we would still be in war. because we weren't fighting. my father died in '76, so the last year of his life he talked to me constantly about the war. so i knew a lot about it. but they were -- this was protecting their god. this wasn't protecting their president, protecting thur country, this was protecting their gods. and if we had not dropped those bombs, we would still be in war today. unfortunately. but my father died with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, having a nervous breakdown and died at the age of 56 because of all of this. >> okay, carol, we'll get a response. clifton truman daniel, any thoughts. >> yes, thank you, carol. and i know you just said it yourself, you do separate the japanese of today from -- and i think you also have to separate japanese civilians from the japanese military of 1945. certainly there was a wide range of emotion over the war among the

japs appear diving head on to the formations. other jet fighters drop bombs, set to explode on the oncoming b-29s. our p-51s go after them. their job is to protect the b-29s, for some of those fighters, they will meet the blast of bomber guns. from the turn at initial point they get ready for business. fighters falloff. but those clouds are beginning to close in and it looks worse ahead. the tokyo area breaks clear. the bombardier's begin to draw a beat on 574. the planes sit tight for the bombing run. here's where we pay off. z:ñ8 their devastation to the smoking targets. the bombers turn and go downwind across the acres of tokyo. close-up camera shows the skies of the spectacular fire strikes last march. 51 square miles of treatment. across the bay -- this is fighter country. with the big bombers homeward bound, our p-51job's go down for rounds. the fighters then go to work cutting vital blasts and hit communications, radio installations, power lines. swooping down on enemy transportation. then on the shipping target, harbor an

bomb we dropped on the japs? >> terrible. all of those people killed. >> relays later, another b-29 dropped an improved bomb on the seaport of nagasaki. a highly congested city boasting the best natural harbor in western kyushu. [explosion] this bomb, exploding over the district, took the lives of 42,000 persons. 39% of all of the buildings in nagasaki before the calamity. the japanese described their mutilated city as a graveyard, with not a tombstone standing. these terrifying blows were struck in japan only after profound consideration of all of the human and military factors. dropped tobombs were end the war quickly, and they did in the war quickly. richard frank's offer -- author of "downfall." here to talk to us further about the 75th anniversary of the drop of the atomic bombs by the u.s. on japan. richard frank, thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: in that last clip, the military film from 1946, it said that the atomic bombs were dropped to end the war quickly, and they did in the war quickl

. >> what did you think of that bomb we dropped on the japs? >> terrible. killed. >> relays later, another b-29 dropped an improved bomb on the seaport of nagasaki. a highly congested city boasting the best natural harbor in western kyushu. [explosion] this bomb, exploding over the district, took the lives of 42,000 persons. 39% of all of the buildings in nagasaki before the caty

. >> he adds the new prime minister will also have an opopportunity to redesigngn jap relationship with., particularlyly in regardd to tr with china. >>>> i think japan shouldd play important roles to combine t tw countries, and to persuade both countrtries to stay in the free trade areas. in this sense, it couldld promo free trade. expansion off tpp, that's goin to be verery important. that could be important for the future of japan and also the future of the world. >>> a man credited with revitalizing mitsubishi motors and steering the company into the electric vehicle era has died of heart failure. osamu s served as the company's president, chairman, and ceo. hehe joinened mitsubishi motors 2004, when the auto maker was struggling after a scandal. he was appointed president the follwsing year. he held top posts 15 years. he expanded business in areas like thailand and indonesia. he also promoted the development of plug-in hybrid models. he helped secure investment from nissan motor, rebuild the business, and regain consumer trust after a scandal involving fuel mileage falsification.

that thetant rights president, admiral leahy, and earns -- burns agreed that the japs were looking for peace. we got those cables, not only truman, but also far install, mccoy, others agreed with that assessment. the japanese know they are defeated. they knew that they were defeated since the battle of 1944. in and the three-time former prime thester sent a memo to emperor -- i regret to inform you, but defeat is inevitable. the japanese knew that and the americans knew that. the second way to enforce the surrender was to wait for the soviet invasion. harbor, day after pearl they had been urging the russians to commit to the pacific war. but the russians were fighting the nazis. facing 10 german divisions. they have a handful. but atta, stalin -- celtic, stalin agrees to enter the pacific war. what did american intelligence say. the joint intelligence committee reported on april 11, if at any time the ussr should enter the war, all japanese will realize .hat absolute the is inevitable i could give you more cases, july 6, a lot of these reports from the pot stem meeting make the same po

he describes the intercept of the telegram as the telegram of jap emperor. american intelligence reported repeatedly that the entry of the soviet union into the war would convince all japanese that complete defeat is inevitable. is, why truman, who was not bloodthirsty, not hitler's, he did not take pleasure in killing people, why would truman use the atomic bombs knowing the japanese were defeated and trying to surrender? knowing they were not militarily necessary? we assume a big part of his motivation was that he was sending a message to the soviets. if the soviets interfered with american plans in europe or asia, this is the state they were going to get. -- the soviets interpreted that way. suddenly the day of judgment was tomorrow. and has been ever since. that is the reality we have been confronted with. that is what makes the atomic bombing so important. not just that hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children were killed unnecessarily, but the fact that the human species has lived with this sword of damocles hanging over our heads. that pos

he describes the telegram as the telegram from the jap em porter asking for peace. we knew that. they all knew the japanese were finished. . american intelligence reported repeatedly that the entry of the soviet union into the war will convince all japanese that it complete defeat is inevitable. so the question is truman was not a hitler. they did not take pleasure in killing people. why would truman use the bombing knows that they were trying to surrender and they were not militarily necessary. what we assume was that a big part of his motivation was that he was sending a message to the soviets. if the soviets interfered with american plans in europe or asia, this is the fate they were going to get. and the astounding thing that the soviets interpreted that way. as was said, sudden issenly the day of judgment was tomorrow. and has been ever since. and that's the reality we have been confronted with. that's what makes the bombing so important. thot just that hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children were killed unnecessarily. but the fact that the human species has tha

allies such as germany where they're now withdrawing you know more than 10000 troops in what seems the jap at uncle americal over you know more personal vengeful reasons. cited so you know getting the job done shore. but. maybe not the most soaring speech that we've seen from mike pence ok. we'll have to leave it there for now thank you. right now let's take a look at some other stories making news around the world. a new zealand court has ordered the ma mosque shooter brenton tyrant to spend the rest of his life in prison the white supremacist pleaded guilty to killing 51 people during the 2019 shooting attack tarrant is the 1st person in new zealand to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. police in bellerose have detained dozens of protesters rallying in central minsk it's part of a widening government crackdown on demonstrations in the aftermath of the country's disputed presidential election the august 9th poll so president alexander lukashenko win a 6th term in office protesters say the result was rigged. e.u. trade commissioner phil hogan is resigning amid allegati

russian sovereign wealth fund investing in the country's research outlined more details about the new jap. welcome the russians people as a wall the very body are tools of virus a very tired of the restrictions of very tired old the refused to come on. those are fags one of the contras is approved in which we believe this very state very active rate was that if. all your people now have better hope to resume a normal life as a vaccination. well i am confident enough that they were injected myself my wife it was your 4 year old parents and i think it's very important that we understand the science finds a vaccine so russia great story. has developed very successful in all overseen and more sexy and then basically kind of virus just proved to be very similar to mars so we could great science and will likely that there is a job has been done really applied very closely it was a fight they're not hiring it's beneficial for russian because you. everything will be almost i've seen the day in those a 100 percent all the lights years elop very strong immune response or significant side effects of

orders for russia's coronavirus vaccine the day after the country claimed to be the world's 1st with a jap however much of the global scientific community has doubts about this pose at break. i hope of the russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective i seriously doubt that they've done that it is not about being 1st it is about having a try tested and say vaccine which will be given that's the important part to hundreds of millions maybe even billions of people the problem is that we know very little because the russian authorities are not being very transparent and so i am very skeptical about what's happening in russia. our foreign colleagues who probably want a kind of competitive advantage over the russian vaccine or offering judgments that are to our minds completely groundless in fact many countries have taken accelerated decisions in their vaccine studies but the russian vaccine has already seen distinct clinical trials and evidence. for more than 1000000000 doses of the russian vaccine have been requested around the world one brazilian state has

don't get it i mean i don't see how anyone's going to really be able to act in it and be a proactive jap i think are just going to be swept away by this one thing it's why i wrote the book because nobody's saying it coming they couldn't put $2.00 and $2.00 together and in the same exact qualities that there's hearings today about the monopolies. and and and in the hearings in the policymakers have no idea that they've created the monopolies faster. by by printing money they're concentrating wealth faster instead of the well if you had a functioning capitalists system without my good with hard money what would happen is as things priced to 0 great entrepreneurs would come in and keep on working right to try to find where there's a marginal return and prices would keep falling and that would mean that the abundance from technology would be broadly shared our time is the most valuable thing that in our lives and what we've done to buy advice by. staying on the system is we've taken a giant parts of the property lation that are working countless hours to keep up with count it with a surprisi

were taken to serve in wartime brothels by the imperial japanese army at locations around asia now jap japan has a very different take on it it says that these were the brothels existed but they were properly organized the women were paid they went to their own volition that is very much disputed by south korea and the number of countries throughout asia so this is very much an event to commemorate them to keep them in the public memory and also with the there are fewer and fewer as years go on of these people remembering the 50 of the so-called comfort women are buried at this national cemetery but there are still in south korea 17 who are still alive at least one of them was here at this event and the concern is now for south korea that their stories are not forgotten they were forgotten for an awful long time after the end of the 2nd world war it was only in the 1990 s. that many of them overcame the stigma to come out and tell their stories for the 1st time the focus now is that the present and future generations will continue to remember their stories and continue to have commemor

intercept as ae emperor from the jap asking for peace.l knew the japanese were finished and american intelligence reported repeatedly that the entry of the soviet union into the war will convince all japanese that defeat is inevitable and will lead to the end of the war. so the question is, the confusing thing is why truman who was not lead thursday, who is not a hit, he did not take pleasure in killing people, why would truman use the atomic bomb knowing the japanese were defeated and trying to surrender, knowing they were not militarily necessary? what we assume as historians is that a big part of his motivation was that he was sending a message to the soviets and if the soviets interfered with american plans in europe or asia, this is the fate they were going to get. the astounding thing is that the soviets interpreted that way. as a physicist said, suddenly, the day of judgment was tomorrow and has been ever since. >> see more of the exhibit this sunday at 6:00 p.m. eastern, 3 p.m. pacific here on american history tv. "reel america, o