We can't allow a Genocide to be praised.
Northrop Grumman and the US Air Force are developing a bomber named after an inhumane attack on civilians: the B21 Raider.
According to the Air Force, this plane was named “in honor of the historic Doolittle Raiders”.
Who are the Doolittle Raiders?
On April 18th, 1942, sixteen American bombers flew to Japanese cities and committed numerous war crimes.
They bombed residential areas and hospitals, intentionally targeting vulnerable civilians. After running out of bombs, they fired machine guns towards houses. One bomber even shot and killed a crowd of elementary school students in the schoolyard.
When the children heard the sound of engines approaching, they thought it was Japanese planes and ran outside to wave at the pilots. As they smiled and waved at the aircraft, they were ruthlessly shot.
Undeserved heroism and its impact
Despite how unethical this bombing was, the members of the Doolittle Raiders were treated as heroes upon their return to the US. They received the Congressional Medal of Honor, and their cruel acts were justified.
Consequently, their operation influenced the Air Force to conduct further bombing raids on Japanese civilian targets. The series of firebombings has resulted in over four hundred thousand innocent civilian deaths.
Curtis LeMay, an Air Force general who commanded the bombing operations, has left the following quotes: “Killing Japanese didn’t bother me very much at that time”
“If I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal”
Unprecedented naming
As the examples here show, American military planes are often named after harmless concepts like birds and weather conditions.
The ongoing case of B21 Raider is unprecedented, and we cannot let them slide.
Is “renaming” even possible?
Yes, absolutely!
There have been similar cases in the past. For example, the former “Washington Redskins” renamed themselves in 2020 due to its offensive nature towards Native Americans.
If a football team with nearly 90 years of history, six billion dollar market value, and millions of fans can change its name, so can a military plane.
