There is no way they would have gotten so entertainingly weird if they hadn't been nuked.
As a byproduct of studying WW II history in retirement, I annually rework the above narrative. Below is a partial biography of the sources I used. The recently published book Hell to Pay by D. M. Giangreco is especially valuable. I was able to find confirmation of so many my other sources in his book. About 40% of the book is bibliography, appendices, and notes. The sound bites that generate popular attention are baseless, and if you are interested there is much opportunity for refuting these comfortable fictions.
Hell to pay, D. M. Giangreco
The Atomic Bomb and the End of WW II, The National Security Archive
Japanese Biomedical Experimentation During the WW II Era, Sheldon H. Harris, PhD
Japan’s Imperial Conspiracy, David Bergamni
Target Tokio: The Story of the Sorge Spy Ring, Gordon Prange
Truman might the right call, it shouldn’t even be open to question. Upwards of 1 million US casualties alone to cover the butts of the Japanese aggressors? No thanks. God bless Truman, the last decent Democrat.
Too bad we couldn’t drop them on December 8, 1941.
When Japan surrendered and it was made known that President Truman made the decision to use these new weapons, my dad was a lifelong admirer of Harry Truman.
Sometime during the late 70’s or early 80’s, I was taking my dad to a baseball Cardinals night game for his birthday. He did indeed love the Cardinals, but felt he couldn't afford tickets, primarily as a result of being raised during the depression.
I was parked away from the park and when we were waiting for the light at Market and Tucker in St. Louis, a young kid asked us if we were registered voters and we said yes. At this point, the kid asked if we'd sign a petition, which demanded the Congress and the U.S. government apologize to the Japanese government and people.
It's interesting to note, that prior to this event, you could always tell how mad dad was by the number of veins pulsating in his neck. The most I had seen was two. Well, dear old dad, went from zero to three in about 0.5 seconds, grabbed the clipboard and ripped the petitions to shreds.
The kid was obviously terrified and all I could say was, “Mud Marine in the Pacific. No sense of rumor.”
In retrospect I want to say, “Thanks, Dad, and thanks to every man and woman who served their country in such a gallant manner.”
When Japan surrendered and it was made known that President Truman made the decision to use these new weapons, my dad was a lifelong admirer of Harry Truman.
Sometime during the late 70’s or early 80’s, I was taking my dad to a baseball Cardinals night game for his birthday. He did indeed love the Cardinals, but felt he couldn't afford tickets, primarily as a result of being raised during the depression.
I was parked away from the park and when we were waiting for the light at Market and Tucker in St. Louis, a young kid asked us if we were registered voters and we said yes. At this point, the kid asked if we'd sign a petition, which demanded the Congress and the U.S. government apologize to the Japanese government and people.
It's interesting to note, that prior to this event, you could always tell how mad dad was by the number of veins pulsating in his neck. The most I had seen was two. Well, dear old dad, went from zero to three in about 0.5 seconds, grabbed the clipboard and ripped the petitions to shreds.
The kid was obviously terrified and all I could say was, “Mud Marine in the Pacific. No sense of rumor.”
In retrospect I want to say, “Thanks, Dad, and thanks to every man and woman who served their country in such a gallant manner.”
“Dropping Atomic Bombs on Japan was Unavoidable” I think a better title would be “Dropping Atomic Bombs on Japan was The Best CHOICE”.
Dropping The Bomb was avoidable and let us not try to wish away the fact that we made a deliberate decision to indiscriminately kill the people of Japan. Not having good choices did not mean we were without choices.
I will never question the decision that was made and will defend it to anyone who questions it. I pray that our future leaders will have the same clarity as they did then should we be faced with similar circumstances today.
I would add: “Downfall” by Richard B. Frank, to that list.
The bloodbath would have made the Pacific War, up to that point, pale by comparison. The only sane decision for the Japanese would have been to surrender after the first conventional landings, once the Allies showed their resolve. If the militant faction held sway and fought to the last man, so to speak,......complete carnage. Nothing on the Eastern Front would have equaled it.
My uncle was on Okinawa with the 6th MARDIV. He said that you could “feel” the collective sigh of relief when the announcement of surrender was made. They knew they would live now.
To the leftists, especially the academics, who continue to berate the US over that decision I say: That decision actually saved Japan, as a nation. The civilian casualties, should the assault go full term to conclusion, would have been many times higher than the IJA casualties. To a man and woman, every Japanese National that I ever discussed this subject with, agreed completely. The decision was sound and correct.
It is one of the absurdities of modern Political Leftism. They want to argue that it was some how immoral to use the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs. That we could of “Besieged” the Japanese.
That utter nonsense. The infrastructure of the Japanese islands was breaking down. Japan could not feed it self and rely ed on food imports. Instead of killing Japanese Civilians in the tens of thousands. The Leftist “Siege” would of killing millions from disease, starvation and malnutrition. EVEN then there is NO indication that would of broke the Japanese will. Japanese soldiers hung on various pacific islands for decades after WW 2 ended. Even after the bombs dropped die hard militarists tried to stop the Emperor from surrendering.
Then their is the question. What response would the Japanese been to an invasion and occupation. The Left screams about the Iraqis “Insurgency” what do you suppose a Japanese Insurgency would of done? Also, who knows if the Japanese would of survived as a people? The Civilian and Military casualties on Siapan and Okinawa were horrific. Give the intensifying tempo of suicide attacks,the fire power brought down on the Japanese Home Island prior to and during an Invasion would of killed tens of thousands if not millions of civilians as well as military forces
My father was scheduled to be a landing craft driver in the invasion of Japan. There is better than a fair chance that he would have been killed.
I got to meet and thank General Chuck Sweeney who flew "Bock's Car" which dropped the second atomic bomb.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
lets forget about the deaths that were avoided when there was no direct assault of ground troops on the Jap main island by America and the allies...think of the people; POWS, innocent civilians, Korean comfort woman, who were saved from death by the dropping of these bombs- people who were being worked to death in slave labor at POW camps around east Asia (McDonnell and others), people being worked to death in places such as the Siam-Burma railway never mind the innocent people who were being tortured and killed by the Japs for amusement...
the 100’s of 1000’s of people basically condemned to death by the Japs is what people forget and that alone was worth the value of dropping the bombs...
The bomb saved lives (period) That war would have gone on for another 10 years at least. There were Japanese still fighting in Guam years later still trying to jump off a cliff with hand grenades kill people at the base.
These people don’t realize that the emperor of Japan was God on earth. These people would do anything for their God.
Think Jim Jones with 100+M followers.
Dropping the relatively small nuclear weapons was the right choice.
It saved our boys...it saved their boys as well..and many civilians on their side.
I have a terrible premonition that very soon Israel will be forced to use nuclear weapons. It will begin with small neutron weapons but may escalate from there.
The whole world will condemn them, but they have the same right and obligation to protect their people as we did in 1945.
Wars cannot end unless you utterly defeat the enemy, it is cruel to both parties to continue on endlessly.
There is no way they would have gotten so entertainingly weird if they hadn't been nuked.
Watch the films from Saipan - entire families of Japanese civilians throwing themselves off of cliffs because of the propaganda their government fed them about U.S. forces. An invasion of Japan would have been a bloodbath for the Japanese.
Dropping Atomic Bombs on Japan was Unavoidable
***Of course it was avoidable. All we needed to do was to accept ~1M American casualties.
Here’s a simple question: How many Americans died in the 2 2 dropped atom bomb missions? The ratio to dead enemy to dead Americans was way more than 100X better than any other mission in Japan. That’s because NO Americans lost their lives in the raid. Previous raids cost dozens of American lives.
In retrospect it was the merciful thing to do. Far fewer Japanese died in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings than would have died in an American invasion. It’s that simple.
My Pop. combat engineer, 4th I.D, was scheduled, with his division to get shipped to the Pacific for the invasion of Japan. Why? The “practice” they’d had on Urtah Beach on June 6th. Talk about one happy camper.
As for remembering Hiroshima, my uncle was killed on Guam. He would have never been there if the Japs hadn’t started the Pacific war. So every year, I commemorate the bombing. I have a pint of fried rice.
Some historians belief that Truman had another consideration in addition to saving as many lives as he could. Russia was about to enter the war against Japan and Truman wanted the war over before the Russians could get involved. As it is they occupied several Japanese Islands and have never returned them. Whatever the reasons involved Truman did the right thing.
If it wasn’t for the atomic bombs, I would not been born.
(1) Japan sought to develop an atomic bomb but failed due to inadequate resources and time. The effort though revealed Japan's lack of moral qualms about using atomic warfare against the US and others had they succeeded.
(2) The Japanese intended to kill all their prisoners of war as soon as the US invaded. As it was, US military prisoners held by the Japanese were treated brutally and suffered a 40 per cent death rate, which compares to a 1 per cent death rate suffered by US military prisoners held by the Nazis.
(3) The Japanese leadership, through intelligence sources and their atomic weapons research, knew that the US was ready and poised to use atomic bombs on the Japanese homeland. Surrender was discussed but not seen as necessary because US atomic bombs were judged as not militarily decisive due to the damage already inflicted by US air raids, the movement of key war industry plants to impervious deep mountain tunnels, and the low US production rate for atomic bombs.
(4) Immediately after the war, in order to deflect guilt for starting the war and for extraordinary brutality in waging it, Japan's leaders instructed their domestic allies and embassies abroad to propagandize against nuclear warfare as uniquely horrific. Perversely, this worked to develop sympathy for Japan despite its moral culpability. America's news media still annually discuss the atomic bombing of Japan as morally questionable, while the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March, biological warfare against the Chinese, and many other Japanese atrocities are infrequently mentioned even in that context.
When news of the atomic bombings came and then the Japanese surrender, he said that he and all the other sailors, soldiers, and Marines felt their death sentences had been commuted. President Truman's decision save millions of American and Japanese lives. There can be NO argument on this fact.