TOKYO – March 9, 1945

General Curtis LeMay was the architect of “Operation Meetinghouse,” the systematic firebombing of Tokyo.

334 Superfortress B-29 bombers dropped 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs.

Temperatures reached 1800 degrees. Rivers and canals boiled.

The stench of burned human flesh permeated the last of the aircraft over the target.

An estimated 100,000 civilians were killed, more than killed by the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Over one million people were left homeless.

The New York Times reported: The heart of Tokyo is gone.

LeMay reflected if the US had lost the war, he would have been prosecuted for war crimes.