Some of the family may have heard Jay tell this story, but there are those who will not remember it, and I think it bears repeating, and including it in this material.
While Jay was in the South Pacific aboard the LSM330 he had been given a leave to visit the Island of Tinian. It was at the same time the Enol Gay was there waiting for the weather to make the flight to drop the Atomic Bomb on Japan. It was a time when the Navy was gearing up for the landing on Japan. Jay was part of that Navy build up.
It was only because of the Mission of the Enola Gay and the crew that risk their lives to drop that bomb that thousands of lives were saved in the Armed Forces of the United States. Jay was always greatful for what those Airmen did.
Anyway while they were on the Island, they heard the B-29 was there and none of the men had
ever seen one before. They went over to the airfield, and were given permission to look at the plane. It was quite an experience for all the fellas. No one knew, at that time, just what was about to happen.
Another interesting fact about this is the Aircraft Carrier that was assigned the task of taking the Bomb to Tinian was observed by the Japanese Navy but they did not engage her in combat at
this sighting. The Bomb was delivered safely, and then on their return trip, they were engaged by the Japanese Navy and sunk. If the first encounter had brought about the results of the final encounter, the first Bomb would never have been dropped, and who knows what the effects might have been for everyone. Our family especially.
To make the story even more colorful, that Aircraft Carrier was the same one that was being given new crew members when Jay was standing in line after finishing Boot Camp in San Diego.
The last man placed on that ship was the one just before Jay Ford Rosenberg. It would seem that Jay was ment to have survived the War and have his family.
One never knows what trick life plays that places us in the right place and for the right reason. I
have heard Jay tell this story many times, and each time he was so greatful for the things that he knew had brought him through safely.
After months of training and waiting in the Waters off the Philippine Islands he realized that the
time was soon coming when he would be in the midst of the conflict. When the news came over the radio that the Atom Bomb had been dropped and that the Japanese had suffered such horrific damages and loss of life, he was relieved to know things had taken a trun for the better in the War. It wasn't until the Second Bomb was dropped that things came quickly to an end.
History may tell one side of the story, but for the Rosenberg Family we are well aware of the effect the Bombing was on the lives of all those men who had prepared for an invasion. There was not one of those men who did not realize the decision to drop that Bomb was most difficult, but of the utmost importance to save American lives and stop the War as quickly as possible.
No matter how History tells the story, and tell it they will, the truth will always remain that it
was a necessary evil to bring about the best conclusion to a War that was too long and too costly.
It was not an easy task for the men who trained, those who delivered, and those who had to drop such a horrible weapon on innocent people. It is never the leaders who have to pay the price of
War, they are only humiliated if they lose. It is the innocent civilians who have to pay the price.
The United States did all it could following the War to go in and help rebuild and give aid and comfort to those who survived. Was it enough? Well as their are two sides to any story, or
toss of the coin, we should remember the thousands of men who lost their lives on that early Sunday Morning December 7th 1941. Not to mention the other thousands who laid down their lives for God and, all over the South Pacific.
Uncle Ronald Smith was with the 1st Marine Division and was one of 6 men who survived out of 600 that fought with his Unit in the South Pacific. Uncle Ralph Smith was with the 111th Airborne Divison that jumped in the Philippines to liberate those terrible Japanese Prison Camps. In fact he told us how he and the men he went in with were waiting for their ship to pick them up on the beach, and watched the Newsreel and Movie Cameras making the history of McArthur wading ashore and freeing the Philippine people with his: "I shall return". They had to shoot it twice, because it didn't take too well the first time. All the while, there sat these men who really "returned" setting quietly by watching the show being put on by the "brass". Made for a great story, but not necessarily the way it really was.
Written this 1st day of September 2009
by: Eileen Rosenberg
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