Regarding Arnie Hove's Aug. 5 letter, "An apology from one American": I wish more Americans shared his view about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Having grown up in Hiroshima, I feel compelled at this time of the year to ask ordinary Americans how they view the use of the bombs.
By now, I have come to expect more or less the same reaction: The decision to use the A-bombs was inevitable to bring about a swift end to a war into which the U.S. was dragged in the first place, and it spared more lives on both sides. It is saddening to hear this kind of remark not only because some people don't show even the slightest regret over the use of A-bombs on innocent people but also because many don't seem to be fully informed of the A-bombs' destructive power and the whole picture behind the use of A-bombs in the last days of the war. The peoples of Japan and the U.S. are indeed an ocean apart over the interpretation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Obviously, this glaring discrepancy stems from education. I acknowledge that Japanese history education has its problems, but the United States is even more sinful in its history education. It employs rhetoric to justify the act of dropping the most lethal weapon ever developed on innocent people, leaving students in the dark about the true reasons why the U.S. resorted to use of the bombs and about their horrendous effects on people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. should accept its fair share of blame for whitewashing this history.
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