WWII Memories with the Help of NBC

Ending a war usually lifts our spirits, because we know that we have ended the killings and violence.  It is when we know we have accomplished something by saying that this calamity will never happen again.  We celebrate the end of a war, because we have no regrets about ending it. However, to this day the memory of the end of the war does not quite match that of the past.  Today we are thankful that we ended the war, yet there is still a small sickening feeling to look back at what we had done.  I found the video very shocking and informative.  Even before seeing the video, killing thousands of innocent people seemed like the wrong option to end a war.  I accepted it, though, because like many people, I thought this was our only option to end the war.  After viewing the video, however, the new found insight to the situation really shocked me and altered my perspective.  It showed that there were clearly other ways to cease the fighting - a simple act of telling Japan they could keep their emperor could have been the necessary step towards reconciliation.  From my point of view, the systematic killing of any group of people is unjust - especially when they are innocent.  The US is a symbol of everything our founding fathers strived to achieve.  We must lead by example, choosing the better option, rather than one that one that stains our acclaimed honor with the thousands of lives we took that day. 

When only taking into account what NBC stated, not releasing the bomb seems like the just option.  However, history is about viewing the story from all angles in order to have a deeper understanding of why the event took place.  Given the information that Japan was prepared to surrender earlier, we seem to question the actions; but, seeing it without this information gives us a much different facet to the situation.  In any given situation, it is humanly impossible to correctly predict the exact thoughts, plans, future tactics, and agenda of a separate entity.  This is partly because we cannot read minds, and partly because it is constantly changing.  By dropping the bomb to end the war, we lost thousands, but saved millions.  In the end, its the greater good that matters most.  We are able to celebrate the end of the war knowing that we have strived to do what is right.  Even in the hardest of times, when right and wrong have blurred into grey, we have risen to a situation with clear values and good intentions for a better future.