Customer Reviews

War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

General Sweeney defends the use of the atomic bombs in World War II without being defensive. As the only individual to actively participate in both missions which ended the war, Sweeney brings a unique perspective to this now controverisal issue. First, he presents his story in a refreshingly plain style, then gives the reasons why it all happened. Sweeney's voice is the calm in a storm of revisionist histories and thus carries the most weight. This is a personal story more than objective history, but it contains something other studies lack: a true sense of context, and that makes it a story worth reading.

First off, let me say that to the three folks who gave this book a one star rating, it appears to me that they did not bother reading the book. In one of the later chapters, Charlie Sweeney tells how he sought out the advice of a Catholic priest for his opinion of "just war". Just War is a bona-fide teaching of the Christian religion. Being in the leather business at the same time as Charlie,although about twenty years his junior, I came to know him as a humble, forthright and sincere person. Around the mid-1980's I was taking a graduate course at Harvard Extension that dealt with the history and the people behind the development of the atomic bomb. For the last class, I arranged to have Charlie come in and give a talk to my fellow students and the professor about his experiences. While Charlie gave his talk I think it was safe to say that you could have heard a pin drop in the room. I think some of my fellow students expected to find a character out of Dr. Strangelove. Maybe some of them were even dis-appointed with Charlie's demeanor. In a very low key and matter of fact way he set the tone and the atmosphere to give us all a chance to have some idea what the background of the time was that made the decision to drop the bombs necessary. Rest in peace, Charlie. You were indeed a member of "the Greatest Generation".

I found that Sweeney book on the development of the B-29 and the dropping of the atomic bomb to being very interesting.

Although I have read much on the atomic bomb, I never realised the particular problems faced by the people who actually dropped it. If you are interested in this subject this book is a must.

Every high school history teacher should make this book required reading! General Sweeney spins a wonderful, non-technical, and honest tale of the real end to war in the Pacific. Those generational second-guessers who think we didn't need atomic weapons to end the war should be ashamed of themselves.

Most people are well aware of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, but some forget that three days later, a second bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki. This book is the story of Major Charles Sweeney, the pilot who commanded the Nagasaki mission.

Major Sweeney had risen through the ranks of the Army Air Corps, becoming proficient in many different aircraft. As fortune would have it, Sweeney met Colonel Paul Tibbets, who was in charge of a top secret operation. Immediately intrigued, Sweeney spoke with Tibbets and asked if he could be assigned to Tibbets' unit. Tibbets agreed, and eventually Sweeney would become Tibbets' right hand man. Stationed at Wendover, Utah, Tibbets put his men through a rigorous training course. His men became experts in the flight and operations of the B-29, as well as techniques designed by Tibbets.

Finally, the group left Wendover for Tinian island. This would be their new base of operations. Training continued, and on August 6, 1945, three B-29s lifted off the runway bound for Hiroshima. Tibbets piloted the bombing plane, the Enola Gay, while Sweeney flew one of the reconnisance aircraft. (Sweeney was the only person to be invloved in both atomic missions). At 8:15 on August 6, 1945, a single bomb fell from the Enola Gay and vaporized the city of Hiroshima. However, the Japanese did not surrender. Three days later, a second mission, commanded by Sweeney, again headed for Japan.

The target city was Kokura. The weather aircraft flying ahead of Sweeney's plane reported clear weather over Kokura, the primary target, and Nagasaki, the secondary target. However, fires from a nearby city which was bombed the night before began to obscure Kokura. By the time Sweeney and his crew arrived, the city was covered by smoke and clouds that had rolled in. Sweeney had strict orders to only bomb visually; no radar drops. Sweeney made three passes over the target; an almost unheard of tactic. Still, the smoke and clouds did not dissipate. Low on fuel because a mechanical malfunction had resulted in 600 gallons of fuel being trapped in the bomb bay, Sweeney headed for the secondary target of Nagasaki. Sweeney was informed that he would only have enough fuel for one pass over Nagasaki. Upon arrival, Nagasaki was also cloud covered. Sweeney had made up his mind to drop by radar, but the clouds parted sufficiently for the bomb to be sight-dropped, although they were not over the primary aiming point. The drop was successful, but now the crew had to worry about their fuel situation. Thanks to some skillful flying by Sweeney, the crew managed to land their plane safely on Okinawa with only seven gallons of fuel to spare.

I enjoyed this book, but the beginning is kind of slow, and I think Sweeney held Tibbets in almost God-like reverance. However, the description of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is very good. For more information on Paul Tibbets, I recommend the book "Duty" by Bob Greene.

General Sweeney has made it easy to look at things as they were, not how we think they should have been. All the revisionists in the world cannot change the facts, the U.S. used everything in its power to end the war and save AMERICAN lives. If you believe anything else, you are nothing but a fool! The Japanese were as cruel and brutal as the Nazis. Just because they deny the atrocities they committed cannot change the truth. It is as absurd as someone trying to deny that the Holocaust never occurred. Instead of portraying the Japanese as victims, historical revisionists should talk to the few survivors of the Bataan Death March, Japanese POW camps or any Chinese who made it through the rape of Nanking. Shouldn't historians base their conclusions on real facts and not on fantasy-based theories?

The wartime world that Charles W. Sweeney evokes so eloquently in "War's End" is one that is almost incomprehensible to anyone under fifty. How can anybody grasp concepts such as "total war," "total mobilizaton," the sky filled with thousands of bombers and American deaths numbering 900 a day? But even harder to understand ­ in a modern society where sacrifice can mean giving your subway seat to an old lady ­ is how young men in their twenties can routinely put their lives on the line for such abstractions as "country," "duty"...and simply doing the right thing. This is one of the messages that Sweeney brings home so forcefully in his book ­ people united in a monumental effort to defeat a fanatical enemy. We should all thank the General...for what he did during the war and for the way he has been able to debunk the revisionists and preserve this grand story for later generations. As someone born under Japanese occupation in the Philippines, I have to add my personal "Thank you." We're very, very grateful.

Sweeney begins this riveting chronicle by reminiscing about his childhood days, when school officials would drag in "some poor old guys" to talk about what they had done during the Spanish-American War. "Now I'm the old guy doing the telling," Sweeney says--and what a story he has to tell. As a 25-year old Army Air Corps captain, Sweeney was the only pilot to fly on both U.S. atomic missions against Japan, over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here, he does a fine job of capturing the spirited atmosphere of life on a wartime flight line. Writing with a wit that is sometimes lacking in military memoirs, he presents the dramatic events surrounding the development of the awesomely powered B-29 bomber, which would eventually deliver the weapons. His portrayal of legendary general Curtis LeMay, who would later become Air Force chief of staff, is masterful. The bombing missions themselves are relayed with tension and drama, including the startling revelation that the men delivering the first bomb did not know if they would be able to fly clear of the explosion. Emphasizing that he hopes that such destructive weapons are never again deployed, Sweeney argues forcefully that the decision to use the weapons against Japan was the correct one. This memoir should be required reading for all students of World War II. (Copyright 1997 by Publishers Weekly)

My my my. The hot and cold reviews that this book attracts are a reflection of why Sweeney claims to have written the book, I think. For those who "support" the manner by which the U.S. ended the war that Japan started, Sweeney wanted to provide the record from one of the key players as the pilot of "Bock's Car," the plane that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. For those who oppose this bombing, he wanted to provide his perspective and argument. My review of the book is from the perspective of someone who wanted to just understand the facts of the bombing missions, and who is interested in reading the firsthand account of such a moment in modern history. I doubt that anyone's position on the bombings will be changed one bit by this book; it does, however, provide that eyewitness perspective of the missions, and it gives the reader some understanding of what it took for these controversial measures to have even been executed. I found the book fascinating from that angle. If you are interested in the big pro or con moral questions, I am not sure that this book is going to feed your desires.

I just wish I could have added another star to the rating! It's very easy for people who never lived through the Second World War to criticize and second guess the decision to use the atomic bomb.

But for those who lived through it, and worse yet, fought through it, it was another matter entirely. The mushroom clouds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki tend to overshadow other aspects of the war in the Pacific; the brutality inflicted by Imperial Japan on other Asian nations, and Japan's absolute refusal to even consider a peaceful solution.

The atomic bombings also have a tendency to draw attention away from the fact that WW II was a "Total War", an inescapable consequence of industrialization, in which the populations of entire nations are involved, whether or not they want to be.

When discussing the horrors of the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, we tend to forget the horrors of conventional bombings such as London, Berlin, and Dresden. Towards the end of the war conventional bombing campaigns were so intense that entire cities were being virtually leveled. The only major difference in the Dresden and Hiroshima bombings is the number of bombs dropped; thousands vs. one. The consequence on the ground isn't any worse or any better.

In point of fact, the situation on the ground during a conventional bombing can actually be worse; given that many more people die of secondary causes; fires, building cave-ins, suffocation, etc. The only thing that made the atomic bombings worse is the relative ease with which higher numbers of people can be eliminated.

This book brings back to mind these points which should always be remembered when discussing the atomic bombings. But perhaps the most important point to remember is the projected casualty figures for an actual land-born invasion of the Japanese homeland. It is quite probable that the death toll for American servicemen and Japanese civilians would have made that of the atomic bombings pale by comparison.

Maj. Gen. Sweeny did an excellent job of simply "telling it like it was", and giving us the facts. He doesn't glorify the use of nuclear weapons, but neither does he glorify war at all. It is simply an ugly side-effect of human nature. I wish every soap-box and arm-chair critic of the atomic missions would take a break from orating just long enough to read this book.