A shipmate sent along a remarkable link to a set of pictures I had never seen before. They are images of the weapons used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and delivered by B-29 long-range bombers operating from Tinian Atoll in 1945. At one time classified “Top Secret,” they now open a window on horror as a workday routine. Of a new power unleashed on a world whose time may sadly be coming around again. In that context, the following are submitted for your consideration as Iran nears a nuclear threshold, and an already capable Israel confronts an enemy pledged to its destruction.

Through a family association, the memoir of CDR Edward S. Gilfillen was published long after his early death from cancer. He had been the XO of a Japanese battleship- the one that started the Pacific War- on it’s last cruise to be used as part of the Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. He was one of many who perished in the consequences of the development of the atomic system that has enforced peace for over 70 years. It is a remarkable account, filled with a certain mirth at the idea of the Emperor’s ship used as a throw-away in Scientific development, and without the later full understanding of the consequences of their use. It is available at www.vicsocotra.com.

There were many casualties of the initial use of the most expensive weapon ever developed, and they included the men who were tasked with making them work. And bringing peace, however briefly, to a chaotic world.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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