Today is the 80th anniversary of the nuking of Hiroshima…..then a second bomb was dropped on 09 August on Nagasaki…..which according to some ended the Second World War.
But there are some historians that believe the bomb was unnecessary to end the war…..there were many prominent people that did not agree with Truman and his decision….
“In 1945 Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. … The Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent. During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face.’ The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude.” —Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul.” —Herbert Hoover
“[T]he Japanese were prepared to negotiate all the way from February 1945 … up to and before the time the atomic bombs were dropped; … [I]f such leads had been followed up, there would have been no occasion to drop the bombs.” —Herber Hoover
“I told [Gen. Douglas] MacArthur of my memorandum of mid-May 1945 to Truman, that peace could be had with Japan by which our major objectives would be accomplished. MacArthur said that was correct and that we would have avoided all of the losses, the Atomic bomb, and the entry of Russia into Manchuria.” —Herbert Hoover
“MacArthur’s views about the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were starkly different from what the general public supposed. When I asked General MacArthur about the decision to drop the bomb, I was surprised to learn he had not even been consulted. What, I asked, would his advice have been? He replied that he saw no military justification for the dropping of the bomb. The war might have ended weeks earlier, he said, if the United States had agreed, as it later did anyway, to the retention of the institution of the emperor.” —Norman Cousins.
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2021/06/05/who-opposed-nuking-japan/
There were many reasons not to drop the bomb…..then why was the decision made?
Was it to impress the USSR?
Was it to flex our military muscle to the world?
Why was the decision made?
Any thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
From the beginning of 1945, Japan had no anti-aircraft defense, few planes, poor communications. Little if any navy left. The firebombing of cities made of paper and bamboo was very efffective. US bombers completed their missions in almost complete immunity from attack from beginning of 1945 till the end. Knowing this the conclusion re the A-bombs use is fairly obvious.
If the war was w2on then why drop a bomb that killed so many. chuq
Exactly.
So wasting lives needlessly is fine with you. chuq
Because we could. Sadly.
THat is sad……an unused bomb is a useless bomb sort of thing. chuq
An interesting read. Interviews with the guys who flew the plane.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/06/hiroshima-oral-history/
Cool article….thanx chuq
More to the point of the reason for dropping the bomb… we dropped it twice… so now take pause to contemplate how different were the reasons made to drop each one. Morally, we didn’t know what the effects of the first bomb would be. Once it dropped… then we obviously knew. Then we then decided to do it again.. fully knowing. Makes for an interesting psychological exploration. Perhaps we can’t understand the reason why the first one was dropped unless we take both bombs into consideration… as a singular event.
Interesting point…..thanx for the thought exam…..chuq
Once to see what would happen. Again to make SURE it would happen.
Indeed chuq
Whatever the real reason, you will get zero sympathy from me for the Japanese. During their invasion and occupation of China from 1936-1945, they killed around 3 million Chinese people, most of those non-combatants. They also killed and enslaved civilians in other countries like Korea, The Philippines, Singapore, Burma, and Malaya. (And others, including many island nations)
During all this, the civilian population of Japan lauded their soldiers as heroes and conquerors, and their leaders urged their troops to kill more people and conquer more territory.
They used captive women as sex slaves for their soldiers, delighted in the mistreatment and execution of prisoners of war (including my uncle, who was sadistically tortured) and captive civilians, including babies.
If I had been in charge near the end of WW2, I would happily have dropped 10 atom bombs (if they had been available) on Japan and completely eliminated it as a country. I don’t think any allied country should have regrets, or be apologising to Japan. The Japanese should be apologising to every nation they savagely treated, until the last WW2 soldier or civilian no longer exists.
Sorry if that upsets anyone, but that’s how I genuinely feel. Best wishes, Pete.
Yes, the Japanese were responsible for horrible atrocities. But 90% – 95% of the casualties of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were innocent civilians,. mostly women and children and the elderly who had nothing at all to do with the horrors that were perpetrated by the military.
No one should ever forget what Japan did in Asia…..but neither should we whitewash the dropping of nukes that were unnecessary. chuq
Pete.. you make a valid point that to fully understand the reasoning for dropping the bomb we had to have experienced the world as it was then.
Thanks, Doug. I know my opinion on this is unpopular, but people really do need to read more about the sheer unbridled savagery of the Japanese, and their master race philosophy. The civilians are always described as innocent, and many were, but they also revelled in the conquests of their army, and the prosperity it brought to Japan before 1941. If my uncle was still alive, he could tell you about his treatment as a POW for almost 4 years in Burma.
FDR had spent astronomical amounts of money which Congress nor his own VP knew about, building cities and development of the bomb. Once Truman became Pres. and was clued in as to what was going on, he knew Congress would find out eventually. The bombs were simply dropped to justify the expense. Even the letter sent by those scientists, begging that the bomb Not be used was ignored.
There is so much history around those bombs that has been ignored or whitewashed. chuq
you don’t think the government wishes to advertise this kind of stuff, haha
Of course not…..they will put lipstick on it. chuq