Equivocating Truman?

Last week, Clifton Truman Daniel, the eldest grandson of President Harry Truman, attended memorial services in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His grandfather made the decision to drop atomic weapons on those two cities in August of 1945. Over 200,000 people died as a result.

Daniel has put himself in to an impossible position. He’s on a tightrope of appeasement between condemnation and approval. He cannot approve of the bombings in Japan and he cannot condemn them when he returns to Chicago, where he lives. So he struggles rhetorically to keep his balance and keep everybody happy. 

In Japan, in response to the inevitable question about his grandfather’s decision, he said, “I’m two generations down the line. It’s now my responsibility to do all I can to make sure we never use nuclear weapons again.”

  He can’t be bothered with “the context” of the bombings. It was a long time ago. He wasn’t there. He doesn’t know the circumstances. 

Here is some context. The loss of American life during World War II would equal an 9/11 attack every five days for three and a half years.

Daniel has chosen to take on the issue of nuclear weapons. He is a prisoner of his DNA. He will be asked about his grandfather’s decision forever. His last name is irrelevant. His middle name is his destiny.

Daniel said he went to Japan to hear the stories of the survivors of the bombings.

Daniel said he is working on a book about the bombings. Being a former journalist, I assume he would want to tell this story in its totality.

To that end I would offer an open invitation to Daniel, to come to Oak Ridge, Tennessee and hear the stories of the Manhattan Project workers who helped end the deadliest conflict known to mankind.

These workers, who have been terribly marginalized by history, need to tell their stories. They have been ignored by history because the world community focuses on the bombings and not on the Japanese surrender. The horrors of war have trumped the ending of war. 

These Manhattan Project workers are heroes. They helped end the war. What happened in Oak Ridge is the greatest untold epic story of American history. 

If Daniel could get off the tightrope of appeasement, he could help tell this amazing story.