Casualties from Hiroshima and Nagasaki totaled some 100,000 dead and over 200,000 injured. When critics point to the large loss of life and the prolonged suffering caused by the earlieruse of the atomic bombs, they tend to overlook the horrific death and destruction caused by earlier fire bombings of Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
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He was ill prepared to have to make one of the most difficult decisions of WW II – whether to use the bomb to try and end the war. During his short time as Vice President, Truman had seen very little of President Roosevelt and had never been briefed on the Manhattan Project, the Top Secret program to develop the atomic bomb. Vice President Harry S Truman became the 33 rd President of the United States on Apr 12, 1945, after the death of President Roosevelt. To better understand that decision, it is best to go back to that time in 1945. The decision to use the atomic bomb was both a tactical and a moral decision. It’s not likely that the entire population of 100 million would have followed the Emperor’s decree, but it is likely that many millions would have died if there had been an invasion. The remaining aircraft and pilots would continue the “kamikaze ” attacks that had been so effective during the Okinawan campaign. They were told to use any tool or sharp object, and to strike for the abdomen. ” Every man, woman and child would be mobilized.
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Japan’s leaders called this “gyokusai” – the shattering of jade. Beginning in June 1945, the military leaders of Japan started a propaganda campaign called “The Glorious Death of One Hundred Million.” The message to the Japanese populace was that “it is glorious to die for the Holy Emperor of Japan, and every single Japanese man, woman and child should die for the Emperor when the Allies arrive”. That plan, Operation Ketsugo, called for committing the entire population of Japan against the US invaders. Prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs, Japan had been planning its defense against an American invasion. That being said, there is a big difference between an enemy that has been defeated and one that chooses to surrender. They further point out that Japan had already been defeated. Critics of the use of nuclear weapons point to the horrific deaths and injuries to civilians. Even when it was obvious that the use of the atomic bomb was the direct cause of Japan’s surrender, their use became controversial at the time and has remained so these many years later. Their surrender was caused by the dropping of two nuclear bombs by the United States on Aug 6 and Aug 9, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. Thankfully, Japan surrendered, unconditionally on Aug 15, 1945, some 77 days before the invasion was set to take place. Operation Downfall, the codename for the invasion of Japan, was scheduled to begin on Nov 1, 1945. That’s because the invasion never happened.
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If you know your WWII history, you might question the above title and date.