Okinawa's civilian tragedy exceeded that of Hiroshima in most ways, including the number of noncombatants killed. Some 150,000 died, even more horribly than those seared and slaughtered under the mushroom cloud. They had weeks to witness their children's mutilation by "the typhoon of bombs and steel," as they called the colossal deluge of American firepower, or by Japanese troops when their morale collapsed after months of sacrificially courageous defense. And if innocence can be quantified, the Okinawans had more of it than the Hiroshima victims. They bore less responsibility — actually none
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