KBM,
Sorry for the mutilation of Prange's name, it's been a number of years since I read his works. Memory is a terrible thing. I found a book that reviewed many of the events contested by other historians, that was initiated by Prange's work. Someone else finished the book based on Prange's work. It was sort of a rebuttal of other's claims. I don't recall the title and lost it when loaned to a former naval captain that I worked for, he retired and we both forgot about it, but I'm glad he has it since he was fascinated by this piece.
Dick,
I too, worked in the nuc biz many years ago. That's where I met my wife who went on to work at Rocky Flats. We worked in a R&D facility for developing higher output centrifuges. We had close ties to Oak Ridge, Portmouth and a few other places. I also wondered what the "doomsday gloom" was all about when the media spewed about 'dirty bombs'. Having been around hot stuff for 10 yrs, we all had training in dealing with containing and cleanup. Granted, it could create longterm health probs, but the likelyhood is low, given any reasonable action to mitigate exposures, inhalation or ingestion.
Having some relatives in Japan, I can assure you that virtually none of the post war generations in Japan harbor any grudges. On the contrary, they have become a great ally and for as long as I can recall, their young adults have strived to be like Americans with many young coming here for college.
I do believe we have seen the equal to WW2 vets in our Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf war, and current war vets. In my book, they are all due the same standing as men and women of honor.