The Reason for the Bomb

To the original poster: Don't simply accept the "common knowledge" figures regarding American estimates of casualties if there was a home invasion. The vast majority of the estimates which talked about a million US casualties were brought into the political arena AFTER the bomb had already been dropped.

The Joint War Plans Committee estimates were roughly 50,000 dead and up to 175,000 injured; with the entire war over within 2 years; a high price of course.

This is a very complicated subject; be suspicious of the motivations behind figures/rationales. No political decision is ever made with only one object in mind, there are always lots of countervailing interests at hand. With respect to the USSR, remember that the US invasion plan required a secondary soviet attack into northern japan. the US did not want a rehashing of Germany, when the Soviets rushed in and refused to leave; Japan was too important to our future.

I would recommend reading "prompt and utter destruction" by samuel walker; he does a good job of detailing what was going on INSIDE the administration when the decision was being made. GOOD LUCK

My Dad was in the 20th Armored Division, home from Germany in August 1945 on 30-day furlough before shipping out for the Far East. The 20th was scheduled to be in the first wave of the planned March 1946 invasion of Japan, and their target was Tokyo. Army planners expected 100% casualties in the first wave.

After the two A-bombs, the 20th never left the USA, and I was born three years later.

A little off topic, I am impressed that a man your age is actually posting on the net! I also thank you for your service.

I seem to remember that you grew up on the Upper West Side when it was an IRISH neighborhood (not the wealthy yuppie enclave it is today).

If we had launched Operation Olympic as scheduled in November 1945, the death toll on both sides would have been nothing short of horrible, especially given that the Japanese had 300,000 troops waiting for us to land on the landing beaches of southern Kyushu. It would have given new meaning to the word bloodbath.

Fair warning...one of my sons took the position that the bomb saved American lives and his socialist teacher went on an absolute jihad against him. She also recruited two other radical teachers to bother him as well. We had to nail her harassment campaign by recording her rampages in the classroom then warned the other two to back off or we would nail them, also.

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