Letter From the Editor
By Josh Beaudoin
Hello Everyone,
I just finished reading the book “The End is Always Near” by Dan Carlin which talks about various times in history when humanity seemed to be on the brink of destruction. One story that stood out to me was the firebombing of Tokyo during WWII.
Hundreds of American planes dropped incendiary bombs (bombs meant to start fires rather than blow things up), burning tens of thousands of people alive. People lit up like torches sizzled as they jumped into the Sumida River, trampling the weak in their panic. One observer described how “you couldn’t even tell if the objects floating by were arms and legs or pieces of burnt wood.” [1]
During these and similar bombing raids, the soldiers in the planes had to wear oxygen masks to avoid vomiting from the stench of burning human flesh. [2]
It is a solemn reminder of the kind of evil people are capable of. No one planned for the war to devolve into the killing of hundreds of thousands of women and children. No one expected the U.S. would obliterate more then 200,000 people by dropping two nuclear bombs on bustling cities, and yet it happened. [3]
History is full of slippery slopes. What started out as the strategic bombing of factories and military installations led to the annihilation of millions of people in cities around the world by the end of the war.
With our modern technology, we have the capability to wipe out every living thing on the face of the earth, and if we’re not careful, we will meet the same fate.
Actually, if history offers any lesson, we will certainly meet the same fate.
Josh Beaudoin
Editor-in-Chief
References
1. The End is Always Near
2-3. Ibid.
