{"id":50679,"date":"2024-12-24T06:46:26","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T14:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=50679"},"modified":"2024-12-24T06:46:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T14:46:26","slug":"christmas-here-and-in-nagasaki-1945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/24\/christmas-here-and-in-nagasaki-1945\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Here \u2013 and in Nagasaki, 1945"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><i>Reprinted with permission from Greg Mitchell\u2019s newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/gregmitchell.substack.com\/\">Between Rock and a Hard Place<\/a>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since this is Timmy\/Zimmy week here, and elsewhere, let\u2019s just start with ecumenical Bob\u2019s wildest Christmas song, \u201cMust Be Santa.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"youtube2-a8qE6WQmNus\" class=\"youtube-wrap\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;a8qE6WQmNus&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}\" data-component-name=\"Youtube2ToDOM\">\n<div class=\"youtube-inner\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/a8qE6WQmNus?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0\" width=\"728\" height=\"409\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Then, in case you missed the return of Darlene Love with \u201cChristmas (Baby Please Come Home),\u201d an annual staple on the old Letterman show but now revived (with my old pal Miami Steve Van Zandt and others) on Fallon.<\/p>\n<div id=\"youtube2-QFa5Mn4wh_0\" class=\"youtube-wrap\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;QFa5Mn4wh_0&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}\" data-component-name=\"Youtube2ToDOM\">\n<div class=\"youtube-inner\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/QFa5Mn4wh_0?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0\" width=\"728\" height=\"409\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cSilent Night\u201d in an Atomic City<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(Re-posted from <a href=\"https:\/\/oppenheimer2023.substack.com\/\" rel=\"\">my Oppenheimer\/nuclear era Substack<\/a>.) As some of you may know \u2013 since I posted about it not along ago \u2013 I have just completed my new film, and it is now going out to festivals. Below you will find the trailer for \u201cThe Atomic Bowl: Football at Ground Zero &amp; The Forgotten Bomb.\u201d This is my fourth documentary in the past four years and the previous three all made it to PBS. It\u2019s narrated by Peter Coyote and produced by Lyn Goldfarb. By coincidence, PBS.org (after a lag) has again made free and easy for streaming my award-winning \u201cAtomic Cover-up,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/show\/atomic-cover-up\/\" rel=\"\">so you can watch that here if wish<\/a>. I\u2019d be happy to read any comments or questions about either film.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>But, following the trailer for the new film below, let me focus briefly on its \u201cChristmas\u201d angle.<\/p>\n<div id=\"vimeo-1033652321\" class=\"vimeo-wrap\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;1033652321&quot;,&quot;videoKey&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true}\" data-component-name=\"VimeoToDOM\">\n<div class=\"vimeo-inner\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1033652321?autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>With the Japanese surrender in September 1945, U.S. Army troops and Marines occupied the country, with tens of thousands pouring into the port city of Nagasaki, where the second atomic bomb blast had killed 75,000 or more (even though it was off target), nearly all of them non-combatants, just weeks earlier. As elsewhere in occupied Europe and the Pacific, the American military staged numerous games of baseball or football, and invited soldiers and locals to attend. It was viewed by top brass as a way for bored troops to, as one put it, \u201cblow off team\u201d but also showcase the thrills and wonders of American sports for the native population.<\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\">\n<div style=\"width: 873px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"sizing-normal\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 1456w\" alt=\"\" width=\"863\" height=\"659\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/ee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:659,&quot;width&quot;:863,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:671901,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false}\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christmas card for members of Marines\u2019 2nd Division in Japan<\/p><\/div>\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee5d6d0f-c6ce-421c-ba35-2ed00f5e6b14_863x659.jpeg 1456w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>As the holiday season approached, planning for sports contests intensified with worries about homesick GIs rising. So Gen. Leroy Hunt, commander of the occupying 2nd Marines Division, ordered that two teams be organized for an all-star football game on New Year\u2019s Day, just as a dozen bowl games would be played back in the States.<\/p>\n<p>So, a New Year\u2019s Day game in Japan, no shocker. But the site of the game? In Nagasaki, of all places. And as you\u2019ll see in the trailer: hosted on a field in front of a middle school where 162 students and thirteen teachers had perished due to our atomic bomb. A true killing field.<\/p>\n<p>Well, I will leave it there for now. But here\u2019s an amazing but true Christmas offering: During that holiday season in 1945, an elite U.S. military team, which had been shooting film in Nagasaki off and on for a few weeks, happened to be in the vicinity of the ruins of the Urakami Cathedral \u2013 the center of the largest Christian community in Asia, over which the plutonium bomb had exploded, dooming at least 10,000 Catholics to death. The director of the project, Lt. Daniel McGovern heard voices and arrived with his small crew to find survivors of the bombing singing \u201cSilent Night,\u201d and managed to capture it, and it\u2019s included in \u201cThe Atomic Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"vimeo-1041623225\" class=\"vimeo-wrap\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;1041623225&quot;,&quot;videoKey&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true}\" data-component-name=\"VimeoToDOM\">\n<div class=\"vimeo-inner\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1041623225?autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This, and other footage shot by McGovern and his team in the weeks before and after, would be hidden by the U.S. for decades, later the focus of my \u201cAtomic Cover-up\u201d book and film.<\/p>\n<div class=\"preamble\">\n<p><strong>Thanks for reading Between Rock and a Hard Place! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe-widget\" data-component-name=\"SubscribeWidget\">\n<div class=\"pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-justify-center--SQPji\">\n<div class=\"frontend-components-free_email_form-module__container--OfBh4\">\n<form class=\"form frontend-components-free_email_form-module__form--LDIzl\" action=\"https:\/\/gregmitchell.substack.com\/api\/v1\/free?nojs=true\" method=\"post\" novalidate=\"\">\n<div class=\"frontend-components-free_email_form-module__sideBySideWrap--yhsgv\">\n<div class=\"frontend-components-free_email_form-module__emailInputWrapper--BXNrb\"><input class=\"pencraft frontend-components-free_email_form-module__emailInput--BLQGf\" name=\"email\" type=\"email\" placeholder=\"Type your email...\" \/><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"button rightButton primary subscribe-btn frontend-components-free_email_form-module__button--WcLG9\" tabindex=\"0\" type=\"submit\"><span class=\"button-text \">Subscribe<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including \u201cHiroshima in America,\u201d and the recent award-winning\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Beginning-End-Hollywood-Learned-Worrying\/dp\/1620975734\">The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood \u2013 and America \u2013 Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb<\/a><i>, and has directed three documentary films since 2021, including two for PBS (plus award-winning \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/gregmitchphoto.com\/atomic-cover-up\/\">Atomic Cover-up<\/a>\u201d). He has written widely about the atomic bomb and atomic bombings, and their aftermath, for over forty years. He writes often at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oppenheimer2023.substack.com\/\">Oppenheimer: From Hiroshima to Hollywood<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reprinted with permission from Greg Mitchell\u2019s newsletter Between Rock and a Hard Place. Since this is Timmy\/Zimmy week here, and elsewhere, let\u2019s just start with ecumenical Bob\u2019s wildest Christmas song, \u201cMust Be Santa.\u201d Then, in case you missed the return of Darlene Love with \u201cChristmas (Baby Please Come Home),\u201d an annual staple on the old [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[812],"class_list":["post-50679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"With Dylan, Darlene and hundreds of atomic survivors in the ruins of a great cathedral."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50679"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50690,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50679\/revisions\/50690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50679"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=50679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}