They didn't want any discussion about how bombing Hiroshima was the single most important event in the 20th century, one that shaped the next 50 years. They didn't want any suggestion that the bombing might have been morally unacceptable. They didn't want pictures of burned children or of mushroom clouds.
As it happens, when people objected, they were fixed.īut the American Legion and some congressmen wanted more fixing. That quote - and some others like it - could have been fixed. You could see where some people might get emotional about squishy, all-points-of-view-are-equal thinking. We lost a lot of lives because of that attack. For example, in the first draft of the exhibit, there was this line: 'For most Japanese, it was a war to defend their unique culture against western imperialism.'įor most Americans, the war in the Pacific was the direct result of Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The controversy at home began because the folks at the Smithsonian seemed to follow the Japanese lead.
