[Brann]

My father was combat infantry during the war and was in the Pacific preparing to invade Japan when the bombs were dropped.

Aside from the fact that I might never have been born had the invasion taken place, there are many sound military reasons why the bombs were preferable.

First and foremost was the absolute zealotry of Japanese defenders. US military analysts estimated 1 million dead (not 1 million wounded, missing and dead) just to gain a foothold on the home islands. This may have been a gross overestimate, but it was based on the fanatical defense Japanese soldiers displayed in places such as Tarawa and Iwo Jima. Keep in mind, these soldiers believed they were defending a god, their emperor.

As a military leader, the thought of a million dead American soldiers just to establish a decent foothold vs no American dead but a few hundred thousand Japanese (civilian and military alike) being dead was basically a no-brainer.

Please recall, as well, the difficulties the allies faced when they staged forced landings. Anzio was very nearly a major defeat. Bloody Omaha on D-Day also comes to mind. Couple that with the monstrous losses on just Iwo Jima and there were, in fact, some military leaders who wondered if Japan's home islands could be taken at all. (I wish I could cite specific sources but I remember reading about this aspect a few years ago.)

What happened at Nagasaki and Hiroshima was horrible...absolutely stupifying.

But if I try to put myself into the shoes of the decision-makers at the time...with what they knew and what they expected as alternatives...I have to say I think they made the right choice.

True, there's been some information presented since the war that shows the Japanese had nowhere near the trained military left to actually put up the kind of fight we expected. They were arming civilians with axes and pitchforks. Air defenses were way weaker than estimated. All true. And all unknown to the US at the time to my knowledge. So, using the bombs was massive overkill...but we didn't know it.

I've been in combat and I've seen men die. I imagine even hardened veterans were quaking at making this landing. And our leadership HAD to be thinking about 1 million dead.

Given what we knew, or thought we knew, it was the right choice imo.