An American
attack on the Japanese capital of
Tokyo in which
napalm firebombs were utilized. The first night of the bombing (March 9th, 1945)
claimed the lives of 80,000, and rendered 1,000,000
homeless. Richard Finn, a professor at the American University's School of International Service and one of the writers of the Japanese
Constitution, calls the bombing the "first action by the Army Air Force to carry out
murder bombings of
civilian targets."
The attack consisted of three
waves. The first wave, consisting of 300
bombers, dropped a total of 54,000 oil-gel sticks on the
wooden houses of the Japanese. The following waves dropped
napalm, creating a
firestorm so intense that it
violently sucked the
oxygen out of the surrounding air.
The
raids were the brainchild of
General Curtis LeMay, who is best remembered for his later threat "to bomb Vietnam back to the
Stone Age." It is a well known fact that LeMay showed no
remorse for the firebombings, and has been quoted as saying that in war, "no matter how you slice it, you're going to
kill an awful lot of civilians."
LeMay was right.
Death toll estimates range from 88,000 to 200,000, the majority of which were
civilians. There is no
indication that they were not the
intended target. The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey later concluded that "probably more persons lost their lives by fire at Tokyo in a six-hour period than at any time in the
history of man."
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Quotes and information taken, in part, from "Burning Memories," an article which appeared in Fast Eastern Economic Review. (http://www.tvtokyo.com/Burning.html) Thanks to JudyT for pointing it out.