Fr. Tim Mergen, a diocesan priest, has returned to active duty in the Air Force, assigned as a chaplain to an embedded special operations unit at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.
Tag: japan
Should consider Japanese mindset during World War II
To the editor:
Don Skarda did an excellent job of responding to Tony Magliano’s article in the August 19 Catholic Herald concerning the United States’ use of atomic bombs.
I had the honor of having been on active duty in the Navy when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and was anticipating the strong possibility of being involved in the invasion of Japan.
Cannot justify ending war by targeting non-combatants
To the editor:
In response to Don Skarda’s article, “Dropping bombs was seen as necessary” (Catholic Herald, September 16, 2010), I think it is important to point out other elements that ought to be examined in an argument for or against military actions.
Sometimes, with regard to the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, two arguments seem to arise. One is the argument that American lives were saved. The second argument is the one posited by Mr. Skarda in his article. It usually begins with the equivalent of “they started it.”
Teaching condemns indiscriminate acts of war
To the editor:
I write in response to Don Skarda’s letter of September 16 and Ray McCool’s letter of October 7, both in support of the decision to use atomic weapons on Japan in World War II. During this Respect Life month of October, I feel I cannot let these sentiments pass unchallenged as they fly in the face of Catholic teaching.
Both letters make appeals to emotion but refuse to consider the issues of morality involved. I would like to make two points:
United States forced to use atomic bombs in war
To the editor:
Kudos to Don Skarda for his letter of September 16 referring to Tony Magliano’s article in the August 19 Catholic Herald regarding the United States’ use of the atomic bombs.
Finally someone has stood up to Mr. Magliano’s comments about the guilt he tried to place on the U.S.A. for using the bombs on Japan during World War II.
Dropping bombs was seen as necessary to end the war
To the editor:
I am writing in response to the article “Remembering the destruction” written by Tony Magliano in the August 19 issue of the Catholic Herald.
First, I want to preface my remarks by saying I am a proud son of a World War II veteran (my father), who “passed away” two years ago. My father was one of many soldiers (many of whom were still teenagers) stationed in the Philippines waiting for the order to attack Japan.
Their parents (my grandparents) were nervously waiting at home, not knowing whether their children were alive or dead. Many had bought burial plots because they were preparing for the worst.
Calls to abolish all nuclear weapons
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I’ve heard about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945. But seeing a picture of the remains of a statue of Mary that survived one of those bombs made those tragedies a reality for me.
A scorched head of a statue of Mary (pictured with this editorial) remained after the blast that destroyed Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral on August 9, 1945. The statue once graced the main altar of the cathedral. The haunting eyes of the statue remind viewers of what it might have been like for the 75,000 people who died during the blast.