USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses engaged on mission, WWII, Above and Beyond

Watched this movie, Above and Beyond, on Turner Classic last night.  It opened my eyes, because I never thought about the strain that the pilot had, to determine the weight, the arming of the bomb, the delivery height in the air , all of the things a child would not think of...when we learned that this had happened.  A shock to the world! None of us could believe that Japan would not surrender , even when notified before we dropped the bombs!  It was interesting to hear...Brigadier General Tippet say years later, when confronted with the statement that innocent women and children died

  "No one is innocent when there is war!  Everyone is involved supporting one side or the other."  It was hard to defend when we saw the horror and destruction,but in the movie you can see the choice laid out before General Tippett....the choice we all had to realize was the only choice.   We could have kept on bombing and bombing and invade Japan....or we could  end the war quicker save more lives than we would lose, by doing this.  That was the conclusion we came too as war torn neighbors grieved for their wounded and dead sons and daughters,  years away from home, while this war kept on , for what seemed like forever.