It was the period just before lunch and the auditorium at Binnington High was buzzing with excitement.

The stage had been set up for the debate.  There was a moderator’s table on one side and a judge’s table on the other.  In the center was a podium and four chairs were behind it – two slightly to each side.

Colonel Randall occupied the moderator’s chair and at the judge’s table were Congressman Home, the Binnington High Principal, Mr. Smolley, and - to everyone’s surprise - Mr. Takahashi, the town grocer.

Seated in the four chairs – looking very nervous – were Ears Malloy and Howie Throckmorton on one side, and Emily Hinton and Karen Switzer on the other.

Somewhere in the crowded auditorium was a newspaper reporter and a college recruiter for an upstate university.

Out in the auditorium, the students had gathered into their normal groups – but, notably, in front rows were Emily’s supporters – and Howie’s tormentors - of the day before.  As Howie looked out he received menacing gestures from members of the football, basketball, automotive and chess teams.

Colonel Randall rapped his gavel for the auditorium to come to order.

He stood at the podium and explained the events that were to take place and the rules and order of a parliamentary debate.

Then he introduced the judges.  When Principal Smolley was introduced, there was polite applause.  When Congressman Home was introduced, someone in the front rows yelled out, “GO Home” to loud laughter.  The congressman was used to this and clasped his hands above his head in a victory gesture.  The loudest applause was for Mr. Takahasi, he was a popular person known to everyone at the school and his teenage daughter, Thelma, was a cheerleader.

“Since all of us would like to hear the debate and still get time to eat lunch,” Colonel Randall said, “Please keep you applause polite and no comments from the Peanut Gallery.”

Everyone laughed.

“We will start with the opening statement for the Affirmative – that the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and on her sister City Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 was the right and proper way to end the conflict known as World War II.  Then we will hear the opening statement for the Negative – that is was not right or proper.”

“The boys, Howie Throckmorton and Ears… er… Earl Malloy will take the Affirmative and the girls, Emily Hinton and Karen Switzer will take the Negative.”

“Boys, the podium is yours”

Howie walked up to the podium to deafening silence.  The school was still mad at him over his neglect of Emily.  He was not sure, but he thought that he saw the flashing of chess pieces on the front row.

“Colonel Randall,” he started - then he coughed and took a drink of water.  He looked down at the football team.  Were they in a three-point stance?  He took another drink of water and started again.

“Colonel Randall, Congressman Home, the rest of the esteemed judges, my opponents and my schoolmates – good morning.’

He paused and shuffled his papers to the continued silence.  Then…

“You’re a moron, Howie, and you don’t deserve a girl like Emily Hinton,” a voice called out.”

The auditorium burst into spontaneous applause.

Colonel Randall rapped his gavel.  “Order… Order I say!”

Out in the auditorium, Coach Buggese had grasped a chess player by the collar and was marching him out of the building.  Chess pieces were falling out of his pocket and onto the carpet behind him.  It looked like the heads of the pieces had been sharpened to a fine fighting point.

The crowd booed.

Howie continued.  “My colleague, Ears, and I believe that the decision to drop the bombs on Japan was the best and quickest way to end World War II.”

There were hisses from the front row.

“We will show that is was sound military strategy and that it enabled us to negotiate peace from a position of strength and that it was the humanitarian thing to do.”

From the crowd a voice yelled, “It’s easier to be kind to your enemy than your girlfriend - right Howie?”

Coach Buggese stalked up and down the aisle looking for the culprit.

Howie cut his opening remarks short and sat down.  There was a smattering of polite applause, except for Congressman Home who clapped loud an enthusiastically.

Karen Switzer got up to make the opening statement for the negative.

“Women don’t start wars,” she started, “Men start wars.  And then they make up rules about them.”

Half of the auditorium applauded.  All the boys just sat still.

She continued, “but they don’t follow their own rules.”

“They never do” came a female voice.

Coach Buggese marched up the aisle again.

“One of the rules that they made is that soldiers have to fight soldiers – they cannot make war on civilians.  Well, who was living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the bombs were dropped – soldiers?  No, they were out in the battlefield where it was safe.  It was mostly women and children in those cities.”

The same half of the auditorium booed for men in general.  The boys continued to sit still.

“We intend to show that there were better means to end the war.  Like telling the Japanese in plain terms what the surrender meant for them and letting them know that they could keep their emperor.  Those are small thing to say, really – but who can ever make a man say what he means.”

“Hear!  Hear!” came cheers from the same half of the crowd.

‘This could get ugly,’ Howie thought as Karen sat down.

Now, the entire auditorium burst into applause – except for Congressman Home who sat there frowning.

Out in the crowd, the newspaper reporter scribbled furiously.

Ears Malloy came to the podium to do the first cross-examination.

He received with mild enthusiasm.  He was deceitful, but at least he had been willing to kiss Emily – besides, he had given most the boys in school the secret to learning how to dance.

“Two of the hardest fought battles in the Pacific were Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  The Japanese commanders had learned how to make the Allied forces pay for every inch of land.  An invasion of Japan would have been many times more cost and,” he smiled, “ it would have been far more costly to women and children than the bomb was.  We could project the casualties in an invasion of Japan based on the casualties in those two battles.  It was logical and it was predictable.”  Ears searched for an example of a logical syllogism.  “If it looks like a dog and barks like a dog – then it is a dog,” he said.

And then he sat down to adequate applause

Then the entire auditorium sprang to its feet and started an ovation – as Emily Hinton got to her feet.

A ground swell of a chant started from the front row and swept to the back, “Em – i - ly, Em – i – ly, Em – I – ly!”  The crowd started to do the wave –from back to front and from front to back the students stooped and stood raising their arms in honor of Emily Hinton.

Congressman Home was startled.  He had thought that the ovation was for Ears and he had been the only one of the judges to stand and wave.  He hurriedly sat back down.

Colonel Randall rapped for order – ultimately achieving it.

“My dear Colonel Randall,” Emily started, “judges and my friends.”

She stopped and smiled at Howie as she said that and then turned back to the students.  She was including him once again included in the term “friends.”

“I was interested in Ears’…er… my opponent’s statement about the cost of an invasion.  I agree - an invasion would have been too costly.  I believe that he said ‘If it looks like a dog and barks like a dog - it is a dog.”

“Well, I agree that a dog is what they needed.”  Emily reached into her lunch sack, which she had brought to the podium with her along with her book.  She reached into the bag and pulled out a hotdog in a bun.

The crowd roared.

“The nation of Japan was hungry.  They wanted the war to end so they could eat.  A blockade of Japan was all that was necessary - but that required patience – but the people fighting the war were men and they would not wait.”

The crowd applauded and roared and whistled.  She had them in the palm of her hand.  She opened the book to read a quote for her next argument

There was a pause that lengthened…

The auditorium waited patiently for her to continue, but she did not.

She stood there like a deer caught in headlights.

Howie leaned over to looked past her and he saw what had happened.  Her book had accidentally flipped open to the picture of the tricycle.

She continued to stand there staring at it with tears in her eyes.

Howie got up and closed the book and led Emily back to her seat.

It was not exactly parliamentary procedure, but nobody minded.

Howie went back to the podium to make his closing statement.

The crown was hushed.

“I want to talk personally for a moment,” said Howie.

The room nodded its agreement.  The football players relaxed from their three-point stance.

“I wanted to join the Debate Club to help me get into a good premed school upstate.  Emily agreed to help.  She was not excited about it, but she was – SHE IS – my best friend.  And, if she will give me another chance, I would like her to be more than just a friend.

The crowd applauded and roared and whistled and stomped.  Coach Buggese did not know where to turn.

“She thinks that you should only argue for what you believe is right,” Howie continued, “that debating should not be a game.  Finally, I agree with her.”

He could hear Emily sniffing behind him.

“So, I want to end this debate by saying that I think that dropping the bombs on Japan was…”

There was a pause.

The crowd learned forward to hear his next words.

He continued.  “I think that dropping the bombs on Japan was right.”

The crowd was astonished.  That was not what they expected to hear.  After all, Emily thought it was wrong.

Congressman Home leaped to his feet and applauded.

Mr. Takahasi had to pull him back down into his seat.

“My father is a good man,” continued Howie.  “I finally realized that - although Emily has always told me so.” He added.

Again Emily sniffed - and nodded.

“He showed me how to look at the war in terms of known risk.  While we were waiting for Japan to surrender, people were starving in Europe, a Japanese army was still fighting in China, and Russia was about to enter the war.  No one knew how long it would take the Japanese Emperor to get the military to surrender.  These were all unknown risks.  They could not be relied on.  They could have been light risks or they could have been heavy ones – no one could or can ever say for sure.  A good insurance agent always deals with the risk that he can measure.  The risk of waiting was not known and can never be determined.  The risk of dropping the bomb was the only one known and measurable and that made it the right decision.”

Congressman Home jumped to his feet and applauded again.

“But, “ added Howie looking right at the congressman while quoting his father, “anyone who is happy about the pain and suffering that it caused is a b_____d!”

When the dust settled and the roar died down, Howie was suspended from Binnington High School.