In 1944, my father in law was a 19 year old Marine radioman on Iwo Jima. In 1945, my father was on a small Navy ship just off Okinawa. Both would have been sent on an invasion of the Japanese home islands. And it’s doubtful that either of them would have made it home. Not to mention the millions of Japanese who would have died fighting from cave to cave, extrapolating from Okinawa.
Thank you, Harry Truman.
Back in 1966, while I was stationed at Walker AFB, at the Roswell Public Library I picked up a book on the life of Truman.
I noticed that on the last page, someone had written in large letters TRUMAN-MURDERER!
Underneath was a long note penned by someone else about how the person who wrote the above note did not know what he was talking about as the BOMB saved so many American GI’s lives.
What was the name of that ship?
Here’s another account of what your father and father-in-law would likely have seen, without the efforts of Gen. Groves et. al.:
http://www.webwizpro.com/1945InvasionofJapan.html
Would have made Verdun, the Somme and “The Russian Front”, combined, look like a mild dispute in a convent.