Letter: Proud of Richland High School’s Bomber mascot
I say to all who advocate a change in Richland High’s mascot — first know history, respect history!
Oh, how easy — what folly to try and rewrite history — to look at events from this side of history and from today’s viewpoint, second-guessing decisions made then and to decide, “we are better than that, we’re above that — we would have made a different, a more ‘humane’ decision about whether to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.”
Remember, Japan was the aggressor, they attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, and continued attacking us for almost four years. Remember the cruelty of the Bataan death march? Think how many hundreds of thousands of Americans were killed in this war. With no signs of the Japanese stopping their aggression, President Truman and the great generals decided it was necessary in order to end this war and save American lives.
As one who lived this history, I am grateful. I honor the sacrifice of those lives lost, grateful that America won the war. And, yes, I’m proud. Proud of those who worked at Hanford doing their best for the war effort. Bombers all!
Ilene Winegardner, Richland
This story was originally published June 12, 2017 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Letter: Proud of Richland High School’s Bomber mascot."