You rail against the bomb as genocide, and thus by your argument support the murder committed by the Japanese as justified. It is not merely a question of political correctness – which you have reduced it to – but one of remembering history and learning from it.

You write that the mascot brings feelings of accomplishment – though you misidentify the mascot thereby showing your ignorance of the topic. But to the point – of course it does. All mascots drive a sense of camaraderie among school attendees. However, as tragic and horrible war is, this device helped bring about an end to the war. No re-invention, or re-writing of history can change that fact comrade. There is, and should be, a certain sense of accomplishment for my ‘Bomber parents’ from that fact. They helped do in (essentially) a matter of days – what four years of world-wide suffering and death could not.

As to your phrase “progressive school boards”, it is offensive to me and should be to anyone who had attended any course in history. I believe the term socialist or even communist is more appropriate. Who else but an oppressive government would remove such symbolism regressive to the state? It is those like you who continue to destroy, re-write and forge history such that our children of today know nothing of their past and are thus doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

M.M – you provide no supporting argument. So I dismiss your comments as emotionalism.

Leon and Reb – I suggest you visit Pearl Harbor. There are a few faithful service men still at the bottom of the harbor who might take issue with your position. Perhaps some models of our service men drowning might also affect you. I have had the distinct opportunity to stand on the Arizona memorial and can assure you it is also a very moving experience. It isn’t a question of finding a peaceful solution, it is a question of keeping war from happening – and remembering the horror of war is exactly the best way to do that.

I am proud to be a graduate of Richland High School, and proud to be able to call myself a Richland Bomber. This does not make me a war-monger, in fact I have a thorough understanding from my history and science classes of how devastating those bombs were. It is from that understanding which comes my continued desire for peace. You, and those like you, try to sanitize war and through such sanitization you do war and our future children an injustice.

War is meant to be ugly. It is the horrors of war which inevitably bring about it’s conclusion – and keep the world from once again so easily entering into others.

At least while there are still those of us who were taught properly, without the protection of political correctness, and who know the realities of war.

You should note that since the Japs got their heavily toasted asses handed to them on a glowing platter that they’ve pretty much given up being homicidal maggots, a result well worth 135,000 dead xenophobic gooks.

A similar salutory effect can be expected when we turn Iran into a sheet of glass. Far as I’m concerned we need to circulate a petition to mandate putting the mushroom cloud on the US Seal.

Problem with the internet is that it allows dipwads who don’t have a clue to not only hold some bizarro opinion, but provides them a forum to put it out like it matters.

It doesn’t.

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