This day in history.

[Spencer Thiel]

***
1945 - 'Fat Man', a plutonium bomb carried by the U.S.A. B-29 bomber,
       "Bock's Car", was scheduled to be dropped on the Japanese city 
of Kokura. It
       was three days after the U.S. had dropped an atomic bomb on 
Hiroshima. The
       weather made visibility poor, so the aircraft passed Kokura and chose its
       secondary target, Nagasaki. Fat Man destroyed over half of Nagasaki and
       killed more than 70,000 people. This was the end of World War II. Japan
       surrendered unconditionally the following day.
***

To think that we live in an age where the fate of 70k people can be 
decided by the weather conditions makes me melancholy.  This brings 
to mind one of the most striking images of GR, where Slothrop sees 
the newspaper blowing by that says "MB DRO ROSHI"

It is also a tad upsetting that I haven't seen a bit of mention of 
this event either in the newspapers, or on the radio.  It seems that 
the impeachment of Nixon is news 23 years later, but the apocalyptic 
destruction of a large city isn't.  Sad times indeed.


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st.
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