Were these POW's saved by "The Bomb"?

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Memorial For U.S. POWs (Former Chugoku Military Police HQ)

Installed in 1999, by the efforts and personal funds of Hiroshima resident, and A-bomb survivor, Shigeaki Mori. At least 11 American POWs were killed in the atomic bomb blast, while being held at the Kempei-Tai HQ, near the hypocenter. These POWs were from the crews of four American aircraft that went down in the area. Today, the former HQ, today an office building. Cartwright, the pilot of one of B-24 "Lonesome Lady" who was shot down near Hiroshima wrote the words of the memorial. He describes himself as one of the few Americans who lost personal friends (his crew) in the atomic blast: "The Atomic bomb devastated the city and its people with a force beyond any known before. US Air Force and US Navy airmen interned as POWs at the Chugoku Military Police Headquarters, which was located at this site, near the epicenter, were among the victims of this holocaust. This plaque is placed in the memory of these brave and honorable men. May this humble memorial be a perpetual reminder of the savagery of war."


Lester Tenney, a World War II veteran who lives in La Jolla (San Diego County), couldn't agree more. He was a prisoner of war in Fukuoka, about 100 miles from Hiroshima, when the atomic bomb was dropped. He's convinced the Allied decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki three days later saved his life. "The atomic bombs saved my life and the lives of at least 140,000 POWs who were in Japan at the time," said Tenney.

At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of considerable industrial and military significance. Even some military camps were located nearby, such as the headquarters of the Fifth Division and Field Marshal Shunroku Hata's 2nd General Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan. Hiroshima was a minor supply and logistics base for the Japanese military. The city was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for troops. It was one of several Japanese cities left deliberately untouched by American bombing, allowing an ideal environment to measure the damage caused by the atomic bomb. Another account stresses that after General Spaatz reported that Hiroshima was the only targeted city without POW-camps, Washington decided to assign it highest priority. (debatable)