Klarinet Archive - Posting 000226.txt from 1995/08

From: John Baetens <JSBtens@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: For Your Information
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 20:50:55 -0400

>I am glad the atomic bomb was developed. I am glad that
>my father, a member of the 11th airborne division, was able
>to enter a subdued Tokyo.

>I am glad that in the intervening fifty years we have not
>witnessed wars that matched the expanding scale of our
>destructive technology.

>I am sad that our country is condemned at home and abroad for >having
developed and deployed a weapon that, while killing many, >saved the lives of
many more.

I apologize for getting off the subject of clarinet, but I could not
let the above pass. I, too, once held the belief that bombing
Pearl Harbor saved many American lives, but no longer believe
so. The bombing was purely politically motivated. The Russians
were on their way to invade Japan and would have soon rendered
them more useless than the bombing did, but we had to drop the
bomb to prevent the Russians from taking control of Japan.
If that happened, we would not have had all those good quality
Yamaha clarinets over the years to keep the French on their toes.
(Hah, I made the connection! Apology retracted)

John Baetens