Show 67 - Supernova in the East VI

“In his book, How Wars End, author Gideon Rose says that every month in 1945, between 100,000 and 250,000 noncombatants in Asia were dying, again, every month due to the actions of Japanese forces.”

“I'm reminded of a song by the rock band The MC5 from the late 1960s, early 1970s. They wrote a song which I think is about the Vietnam War, and it's entitled The Human Being Lawnmower.”

“Neil Ferguson, in his book The War of the World, quotes an aide to U.S. General Omar Bradley, who is fighting the Third Reich in Europe.”

“Winston Churchill sometimes seem to vary in his views that you find on whether or not he was for it or open to some sort of conditional peace in his book series, The Second World War.”

“In the Japanese War Journal of Imperial Headquarters, quoted in Richard B. Frank's book, Downfall, they were very open, and this is official, that the war was over in terms of who was going to win.”

“S.C.M. Payne, in his book, The Wars for Asia, 1911-1945, had said that Japan's government had been called a government by acquiescence or a system of irresponsibility.”

“Saburo Iyanaga, in his book, The Pacific War, talked about how careful, those were his translated words, peace advocates in the government had to be.”

“Hara Takeshi writing in the Battle for China proclaims the ichigo campaign to have been a disaster for both the japanese and the nationalist chinese.”

“Winston Churchill in his book a series of books the history of the Second World War written not that long after the Second World War.”

“Brigadier Peter Young who wrote a book in the 1970s called a dictionary of battles claims that it was taking a hundred thousand british and indian soldiers to keep the lid on the war.”

“The book describes the Japanese incursion into Indian territory during World War II and the preparations of the Allies to counter it.”

“The book is referenced in relation to the nature of fighting in jungle and mountain terrains, contrasting it with other battlefields.”

“The book discusses the nature of the fighting during the Japanese invasion of India, highlighting the chaotic and fragmented nature of the battles.”

“In his book, Japan's Last Bid for Victory, author Robert Lyman tries to give a sense of how hard it was to dig the Japanese out of these defensive positions.”

“I love the whole sort of reality series mood that is cast when this conference kicks off because author Jonathan W. Jordan describes it in his book American Warlords.”

“In his book Eagle Against the Sun, Ronald H. Spector has a good sort of overview of the start of this thing.”

“John Toland in his 1970 book The Rising Sun chronicles one of these early famous attacks and it's famous because the kamikaze came in and did some damage.”

“According to anthropologist Amiko Onuki Tierney who wrote the fabulous book Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms and Nationalisms, the number of hard-bitten military men that said yeah I'll volunteer for that suicide mission was none.”

“In the book Rampage, John M. Scott tells the story of a family who are rounded up by the Japanese right as their troops are starting to torch the city of Manila.”

“In his book, War, military historian Gwynne Dyer had said that if the British bomber command could reliably create these firestorms, you know, whenever they wanted to, the war would be over in six months.”

“Historian Conrad C. Crane in his book Bombs, Cities, and Civilians writes about operation meeting house the march 9th 10th raid on japan.”

“He wrote a book, The Night Tokyo Burned, many years ago, where he took some eyewitness accounts and put them in a book.”

“In Warren Kozak's biography Lemay, he describes a letter that Lemay described in his memoirs as sticking in his head.”

“In Matthew A. Rizal's book The Things Our Fathers Saw, one of the crew members said this quote we had to kill in order to end the war.”

“Herbert P. Bix writes in Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan.”

“Patrick K. O'Donnell interviews Marine veterans in his book, discussing the psychological impact of killing civilians during the Battle of Okinawa.”

“The excerpt discusses soldiers' remembrances of the war, specifically mentioning a quote from John Garcia about the horrors faced during the fighting in Okinawa.”

“The excerpt references a horrific account involving civilians in a cave during the war, highlighting the extreme measures they took to avoid capture.”

“The excerpt mentions Yahara's book where he questions Japan's leadership and the decision-making during the war, particularly regarding the treatment of soldiers and civilians.”

“The excerpt discusses how the authors use personal letters to convey the emotional toll of the war on American soldiers and their families during the battle for Okinawa.”

“Historian Michael Bess in his book Choices Under Fire reminds us not to forget the equivalent of being on the ground rather than making this too intellectual of a discussion.”

“Ian W. Toll in his book Twilight of the Gods gives one of the better overall descriptions of this when on August 6, 1945 the first atomic bombing attack in human history occurs.”

“In the book Hibakusha: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which is just remembrances by people, one of these survivors Shiga Hiratsuka talks about the bomb exploding.”

“One of the people who's key to this whole thing, one of the people who's involved in the standoff is a general named Anami. He says, Francis Pike mentions it in his book Hirohito's War.”

“In his book embracing defeat historian John Dower looks at the post-war situation in Japan and one of the elements he focuses on is how some Japanese viewed it that way.”