July 15th, 2005, 11:12 am
Well said TraderJoe! Dropping the bombs was definitely the correct decision. Japan knew we tested the first Atomic bomb in Alamagordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945 a good 3 weeks before Hiroshima was hit. We waited 3 days before Nagasaki was hit and Japan surrendered the next day. They could of surrendered the day after Hiroshima but they didn't. Maybe they thought we only had a limited number of bombs and was willing to sacrifice their people's lives. By using the bombs we saved tens of thousands of American GIs. War is hell but Truman needed to make the right decision for the American people not for the Japanese people.I lived in Okinawa, Japan in 95. I heard several stories about how the Japanese soldiers and civilians committed suicide by jumping off a cliff rather then being captured. ~250,000 people lost their lives during the Battle of Okinawa, the majority being Japanese. The allies could not justify continuing this type of battles when they could end the war using the Atomic bombs.