| The war in Germany ended on May 8, 1945. But the war in the Pacific with Japan was still ragging on. The allies were in the final planning stage for a November invasion of the Japanese Island when the first Atomic Bomb wiped out over half of the city of Hiroshima. Three days later Nagasaki became the second city to be destroyed by another Atomic Bomb. When we, at the airport in Spring Valley, California, heard of the bombings we all cried out for more. Bomb those islands and those barbarians off the face of the earth. However, these bombings finally convinced the Japanese military leaders to surrender on August 14, 1945. |
| The End of World War II |
| In that August 6th raid over half of the city of Hiroshima was destroyed and 80,000 people were killed. If we had not used the Atomic Bomb to end the war quickly the B-29 incendiary bombing of Japan would have continued resulting in the total destruction of the people of Japan. Contrast the Hiroshima A-bomb with the March 9-10 B-29, 1945 incendiary bombing of Tokyo. "On the night of March 9-10, he [Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay] launched a massive mission -- 334 B-29s -- to drop incendiary bombs on Tokyo. It was the most destructive raid in history. The official casualty report listed 83,793 dead [Thousands more than the Hiroshima A-bomb] and 40,918 wounded. Sixteen square miles of Tokyo were destroyed that night."2 There has been much "intellectual" debate, for years after, and today, about the justification for the atomic bombs. Intellectual debate yes, military debate no. If the war with Japan were allowed to continue millions of additional lives, both Japanese and Allies would have been lost. Bombing missions like the one on Tokyo were planed to continue until Japan surrendered. Would the, so-called, "intellectuals" be willing to explain to the mothers of those dead why their sons had to die while we possessed the means to end the war immediately. And, how many of those so-called "intellectuals" would be here to criticize if the war had continued and including their ancestors in the casualty lists. The quoted article below illustrates the true facts, and should be required reading, instead of the claptrap spread around by "the intellectuals." |
By Bruce Lee Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal The men read the Magic Summary Japan was to be defended by 30 million men Estimated US casualty Japan's secret negotiation with Russia Potsdam Declaration Japan declared to ignore Potsdam Declaration Japan negotiated with Russia to carve up Asia Two bombs dropped, Japan surrendered Japanese government propaganda The bombs saved millions of Japanese .... |
| "Why Truman Bombed Hiroshima |
| The Magic summaries (and the Ultra intercepts of German communications) were one of the key reasons that the Allies were able to foil the Axis plans of world domination. Only six Americans were authorized to read these intercepts. Of these six men, only one was elected. That was President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and he did not see, nor did he read, everything. The other policy-making recipients of Magic were: Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, the chief of naval operations (the last being Adm. E.J. King) and Gen. George Marshall, the Army chief of staff. The most important of these decision makers was Gen. Marshall. ... Marshall also knew prior to the February 1945 Yalta Conference that Russia would break its nonaggression pact with Japan and attack Manchuria about 90 days after the surrender of Germany (V-E Day). The Magic Summaries documented the shift of Soviet troops by rail from Europe to the Far East for this purpose. Because of a major intelligence failure, Marshall also believed that the Japanese had maintained their troop strength In Manchuria and were capable to resisting a Soviet Attack. But Tokyo had secretly brought back many of its troops from Manchuria to defend the home islands of Japan from an American invasion, leaving Manchuria and Korea easy prey for the Russians. |
| Marshall also knew from the Magic decrypts that the Japanese home islands were to be defended from invasion and occupation by 2.3 million troops, another four million Army and Navy employees and a newly created armed militia numbering 25 million. These defenders were sworn to fight to the death, which so many Japanese troops had done in battles throughout the Pacific. To effectively invade and occupy Japan, American strategists foresaw two invasions, scheduled for November 1945 and March 1946. The first invasion, on the island of Kyushu would employ some 770,000 American troops. The follow-up invasion on the plains of Tokyo, leading to the forced occupation of Japan, called for two million American troops. This brings us to the heart of the Enola Gay argument made by revisionist historians who claim (1) that President Truman either invented after the fact high invasion casualty estimates to provide moral and political justification for the use of atomic weapons; or (2) that Truman was never told about potentially high invasion casualties; or (3) that archival documentation for pre-invasion casualty estimates does not exist; or (4) that the pre-invasion estimates were minuscule. But according to documents I have uncovered, a conference to discuss pre-invasion casualties was held at the White House on June 18, 1945, between President Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From the Pacific, Gen. Douglas MacArthur submitted rather optimistic casualty estimates. This caused Adm. William D. Leahy, Truman's military advisor, to take charge of the session. Based on the experience at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Leahy predicted that in an invasion of Japan, 30% to 35% of U.S. soldiers would be killed or wounded during the first 30 days. Truman obviously understood what Leahy said. The president remarked that the invasion would create another Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other. The Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed. |
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