Japan's 'deadliest night' remembered

I was not so much "swept under the rug" as opposed to eclipsed by the other battles of that time, both before and after the Tokyo fire raids. Spring 1945 was the climax of so many epic campaigns and battles in Europe and the Pacific. The raids are quite well documented in the histories of the air war against Japan. And while more deadly and devastating than either atomic bombing, the dramatic impact of  "one bomb from one plan and a city is destroyed", is more well remembered nowadays.

This bombing was not buried or kept "hush hush.  It is well mentioned in many books about the war against Japan. "Mission to Tokyo" is one of  the most detailed books. The were many raids. The fire bombing on  March 8, 1945 leveled 16 square miles of the city and destroyed an estimated 267,000 buildings. The raid also destroyed 18 percent of the industrial area of the city. It was carried out by 340 bombers with incendiaries flying as low as 4,500 feet. Other books which detail the raids include "Japan's War" by Edwin P. Hoyt and "Eagle Against the Sun" by Ronald H. Spector

They actually thought about attaching incindearys to bats .Tokyo was made mostly of wood

I just finished reading Flags of Our Fathers.  If memory serves, the bombing of Tokyo occurred during the fight for Iwo Jima and may have been overshadowed by the flag raising.  

Operation Meetinghouse was on March 8-9. The flag raising on Iwo was February 23.

That bombing raid certainly was probably one of the most horrible moments in human history.

Please understand I would be insane to find fault in what was a surreal episode in history, but we all collectively never want to have to see that again.

On a lighter note, some years ago my family was on vacation in a small town up in Northern California called Boonville. I mean small, too.

Being sociable folk, we went to the trivia night at the local hotel, bar and restaurant.

Somewhat surprising, but when you live in a place like Boonville you spend a LOT of time online, so the competition was really good.

Lot of locals.

We made it to the final question tied with two other groups.

"How many soldiers raised the flag on Mount Suribachi?"

"Six" was the general answer.

"None" I say. "They were Marines".

Well all hell breaks loose and they truly don't know what to do.

"Take it to the bar" I suggest.

"Goddam right, Semper Fi" a few of the local scholars opine.

Steak dinners on the house, and a bunch of new friends.

I read a Reuters or AP article on this same subject the day before this post was originally made. My impression from that article was that it was in Japan for the "hush hush/swept away" perception was from the survivors. They feel their suffering was equal if not worse than the atomic bombings, yet at the same time not acknowledged in their own history as such.

As has been shown here, in the west, these raids are no secret at all. They are just as well documented and written about as their equivalents in Europe such as the fire raids on Hamburg in 1943 or Dresden in 1945. Japan's reflections on their own WWII history is quite interesting when viewed from any other country and still a source of much animosity and contention in Asia today.

Back in 1984 I went from Japan to Hong Kong. I was held up for 4 hours at the customs dock because of my previous visa in Japan.