I mean there are ways to end a war without total destruction.
And the logic of killing civilians to save soldiers is just .. no comment.
Since their was totally a way to invade Japan and not harm any civilians. Since Japan totally didn't kill millions of innocent Chinese , Vietnamese, and Philippinos. It's not a bad guy good guy comic When exactly was the last no civilian casualties war ?
We firebombed Dresden too, but you don't see Germany getting a peace day.
And remember Truman's first duty is to save the lives of the drafted men on the front lines.
Great idea! Now, how do we persuade the other side to sign that agreement?
This was a decision to hasten the end of the war, but did we ever actually leave? We still have bases in Japan. This was about hastening an end with a guarantee that the US would have full control of Japan.
Please don't misunderstand me though, Japan needed to be defeated thoroughly, it had acted and performed gross injustices against many people in the world. But these bombs were not necessary.
We could have used those 1 million Purple Hearts we produced for the invasion of Japan for anyone who stubbed a toe during all the festivities.
I talked with my grandfather often about his service as a submariner in the pacific, brutal, but oddly he never hated the Japanese. He saved that for the French.