The first debate between candidates for the Republican nomination to run for president will take place Thursday night, Aug. 6. I’m unsure as to whether this was the intent or just by chance, but it is the 70th anniversary of ushering in the nuclear age with the first atomic bomb being used in warfare. Seventy years ago on this date, the United States dropped “Little Boy,” a uranium-235 atomic bomb, on Hiroshima, Japan.

Perhaps it is providential this date was chosen with the field of candidates squaring off in the debate.

Is it a precursor of things to come with the likes of the bombastic, at least deemed so by detractors, Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee in the field of candidates?

Do you think the organizers thought there might be some bombs dropped during the debate? Just a bit of humor liberals — do not begin with the name calling accusing me of insensitivity to the causalities at Hiroshima.

We were at war you know. Perhaps not with innocent civilians, but with the Empire of Japan. The choices were not so clear cut as to continue the war when it could be ended. It may have cost lives of Japanese, but it saved American lives, and they did start this terrible war.

I, for one, believe it to be the right decision and applaud Pres. Truman for making the hard choice. Of course, old Harry was my favorite Democrat of all times.

He was different than those of today, and deserving of support. I was not pleased when he released MacArthur, but old and new soldiers know not to disobey orders. Also, the president used to be ultimately responsible as the sign on Harry’s desk indicated: “The buck stops here.”

Unlike some today who accept no responsibility for anything and are always pointing back to the previous administration as the culprit, Harry took the heat. You have to admire a man like Harry Truman.

On this fateful date in 1945, the United States using a Boeing B-29 Superfortress from Tinian, an island in the Mariana chain, laid waste to Hiroshima, Japan in the early morning hours. Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr., commander of the 509th Composite Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces, piloted the mission in the plane bearing his mother’s namesake, Enola Gay.

Nagasaki was the target for the second A-bomb three days later on Aug. 9, 1945. On Aug. 14, Japan agreed to the terms of a surrender and on Aug. 15, Emperor Hirohito announced it to the Japanese people. The surrender was officially signed on Sept. 2, 1945, ending World War II.

Incidentally, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the Secret City, played a major role in the bomb dropped on Hiroshima by supplying the Uranium-235. Selma has a lady who grew up in Oak Ridge during its heyday. Hopefully more on her later.