This amazing story has been hidden, untold in our national dialogue about our shared common experience. Why is it that this epic, massive American saga remains unknown in our history classrooms and our living rooms where our stories our learned, and then retold from generation to generation?
This story remains untold because we are ashamed of how we ended the conflict with Japan. The lifeblood of shame is silence. Regardless of the event, whether public or private, the lifeblood of shame is silence.
Some will assume, quite wrongly, that I want us to be proud about our use of an atomic weapon. I certainly do not want to live in a country where August 6th. and August 9th. are celebrated as national holidays. It would be inconsistent with the foundation of our values.
Shame is also inconsistent with our foundation of values.
We are ashamed of how we ended the war with Japan. Because of this shame, because of this silence, we have thrown the amazing stories of these 75,000 domestic soldiers onto the trash heap of history. Their tales of sacrifice and hard work have been ignored by all of us because we fear that if we celebrate their efforts to end a deadly war, then we open ourselves to criticism that we are also celebrating the mass slaughter of innocent Japanese civilians.
We can honor our domestic soldiers and respect the war dead too. It is not inconsistent to do both at the same time.
We must ignore the fear of criticism and tell the story of these domestic soldiers. It is long overdue. There are only a handful of surviving workers. They need to be honored. They need to be thanked by a grateful nation.
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