History is important. Teaching it and remembering it is crucial to maintaining our democracy. Much outrage is being expressed in our nation, state, and community of Middlebury about the Israeli bombing of Gaza. People express shock and rage that Israel is bombing civilians. But we seem to have no recollection of the actions of our own government, our own military in times of war and during our invasions of other nations. In fact no nation, no nation has bombed civilian populations like the United States has. 

President Truman authorized the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. We all know of the tens of thousands killed in this event. Truman did this to force Emperor Hirohito to surrender. Hirohito refused, and the Japanese were preparing an air attack on the Philippines. The war in Europe was over. Hitler was dead. The Russians had repelled and destroyed The German army in the west. Faced with the refusal of Hirohito to surrender Truman then ordered a second atomic bomb to be dropped on Nagasaki. Again, tens of thousands of civilians died. The emperor then surrendered and World War II was over. 

The other two outstanding bombings on civilian populations were by the British when they obliterated the German city of Dresden killing thousands. The second was “Operation Shock and Awe,” when the United States bombed the city of Baghdad in Iraq, under what we now know were false pretenses. 

Japan was bombed to end the war. To halt the last of the Axis powers. To protect American soldiers from planned air assault. The British destroyed Dresden because Hitler had to be stopped. I offer to you that Israel has the right to defend itself. The nation of Israel must destroy Hamas to protect its very existence and its citizens.

Remember our history, your history.

Catherine Braun

Middlebury