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Posted on 08/06/2025 8:24:29 AM PDT by whyilovetexas111
Eighty years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, this analysis explores Operation Downfall, the massive Allied invasion of Japan that was averted by Tokyo’s surrender. The two-stage plan, Operations Olympic and Coronet, would have involved more than twice the forces of the Normandy landings and was expected to be unimaginably costly.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalsecurityjournal.org ...
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Japanese were ready to fight to the last man, and they meant it.
The bombs probably saved a lot of Japanese lives.
The bombs probably saved a lot of Japanese lives.
No bomb. We'll agree to a ceasefire with Japan. They'll withdraw from some territories but otherwise they would have their empire somewhat intact.
What if the Soviets beat us to Tokyo?
More importantly, they saved countless American lives.
My father turned draft age in the fall of ‘45. If no atomic bombs, I’d rate his chances of having been killed in an invasion of Japan at approx. 50-50. My existence is as likely as not owed to Truman, Oppenheimer et al.
My Dad would have been in that invasion force.
My Dad would have been in that invasion force.
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My Dad was, too. You and I might not be here today if they had gone through with it.
Thank you Harry Truman.
I remember in college, a number of professors were debating the A-Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasakki. One professor stood up and told us he was onboard a ship preparing to invade Japan in Operation Downfall. They had been told to expect more than 75% losses in the invasion. He said God bless the President’s call to drop the bomb.
No way that would have been a rational option at the time...not after Pearl Harbor, Bataan, etc.
My dad too. He was in the Army Air Corps in Europe. When Germany surrendered, he was offered $10,000 to re-enlist for some sort of special assignment — probably having to do with Japan, but he was never given any details. The bomb ended everything before an invasion was needed.
Mine too. Instead, he was in the occupation force as a guard in a POW camp. If we had invaded, Japan would have been destroyed, and my guess would still be recovering.
They manufactured so many Purple Hearts in advance of Downfall that they lasted through Korea, Vietnam, and Gulf War I, until sometime in the early 2000s during the WoT.
The Soviets didn’t have the capability to land that many troops on mainland Japan. The Soviets were mad as hell when they were not allowed to occupy any part of the mainland. But they still have a huge Japanese island to the north.
In contrary to what we are fed by the media, a lot of people survived the A-bombs.
Many quite unscathed.
Interestingly, the A-bombs turned to be a great research tool for the radiation effects on humans.
It turned out, we are quite more resilient to radiation than almost anybody believes.
The studies of long term radiation effects showed “statistically significant 1% increase of cancer occurrence in affected population”
Basically only about 300 more people from all the survivors got cancer than if no bombs were dropped.
Rather minuscular effect!
We still are awarding purple heart medals that were made for the final invasion of Japan....to this very day.
I think there are hundreds of thousands of WW II Purple Heart medals still available.
Imagine north and south Japan...and likely all of Korea. We only landed there after the downfall of Japan. We wouldn’t have gone there first had Japan not surrendered.
The Japanese heavily re-enforced southern Kyushu after Okinawa. In early August of 1945 US intelligence and the Operation Olympic planners were just staring to pick up on how much it had been re-enforced. Unaltered, US forces would have gone into Kyushu at 1-1 odds which would have been a slaughter...
Now the Olympic plans would no doubt have been modified, but it shows how much the Japanese were putting into the defense of the Home Islands.
On a similar note, here's my take on the devastation caused by the A-bombs. Japan didn't surrender until after the 2nd one days later. Evidently, the 1st one wasn't bad enough to make Japan surrender. That tells me it probably wasn't the totally all-consuming nightmare we've been told it was for the past half decade. If it had been, Japan would have announced their surrender on Aug 6 or Aug 7, instead of on Aug 10, the day after the 2nd A-bomb.
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