Bill, ending the war by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki signficantly increased my chance of writing this letter to you.

Had the war been prolonged and required a home island invasion, there's a good chance my father would have been killed before he met my mother.

The same goes for countless thousands of other American and British people who had family that would have done the fighting on the home islands and likey would have perished doing so.

Mine, too.

All is fair in love and war.

The writer evidently failed to take into consideration the number of lives that would have been lost if the path of conventional warfare had continued. Of course that matters not. All that matters is his opinion of anti-everthing.

What about the millions of innocent civilians killed by the Japanese during their attempt to rule the far east? What about the women and girls forced into sexual slavery for the brave soldiers of the Japanese army? People seem to want to talk about what dropping the bombs did to the innocent civilians. While horrifying, it is the Japanese government that is responsible for the deaths of all it's civilians.

The use of the A-bomb on japan not only saved countless lives by ending that war,but who can say how many wars it has prevented in the time since? That event showed the world not only what the US was capable of,but it showed the world that we were willing to use it. Peace through strength.

For anyone who sympathizes with the Japanese plight at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I suggest you explore the following links:

The rape of Nanjing
Unit 731
Saipan Suicides

But hugh, those things don't work in favor of the agenda of those you name. They will stop at nothing to besmirch this country and create the impression of the "evil empire".

Haven't you seen by now that every time an occassion to honor those who sacrificed to give the world freedom and to maintain that freedom that these "critters" come crawling out of the woodwork and from underneath their rocks?

I think the Atomic Bomb is a cruel thing. I despise war, ANY and ALL war!

While countless lives were possibly spared on the Allied side, look at those lost on the Axis side.

I am not supporting any government for the curely that was propagted. What I am saying is that war accomplishes nothing. If people(s) who have conflict will work for resolution, peace can be had. However, far too often, we humans give up before peace can be reached.

I see that one person stated that "who can say how many wars it has prevented in the time since?" Who knows, however, could the same not have possibly happened without the Atomic Bomb?

Also, no one knew for certain what the long-term ramifications would be after an atomic blast. We have a good idea now and people seem to fear that. It is amazing how people fear war, yet will not go the extra mile to prevent it.

Hooboy that rock just keeps getting heavier every time I come out from under it. Hey Hugh no offence to your dad but your parents not meeting is a pretty good argument against dropping the Abomb. Mr P. the GIs in WWII actually did fight to defend our freedom; however, Vietnam and Iraqnam are wars that should not have taken place - they both are against countries who did us no harm and were a complete waste of our brave young men and women - not to mention all the civilians we killed.

the a-bomb sucks. just goes to show how evil men can be and how knowledge is not always a good thing. i can't imagine the horror. i think if people really thought about the horror of it all (innocent men, women and children dying painful, horrifying deaths), they'd be less cavalier about the whole damn thing.

yes, soldiers lives were saved, but at the expense of innocent civilian lives. i'm not sure which is worse.

I went to the links hugh has above. I'll warn you that they are very graphic. Those who took place in this massacre should have been the ones the bomb fell on. Unfortunately, it was more women and children who paid the ultimate price.

Remember, Oppenheimer and the other scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project realized the error of what they had developed. The sought to get access to President Truman to express their opposition to the use of the weapon they had developed.

Sadly, that did not happen. It shows humanity that hindsight is truly 20/20! They knew that what they had developed would be a danger to humanity and sought to express that fact before it was ever used. I admire those people for acknowledging their unrest with this weapon. If only they had had better foresight!

Bill Payne you missed History 101.

Mr Martin did not mention the Japanese quest to develop a genzai bakudan (atomic bomb) in his otherwise convincing and well reasoned piece but here for your edification is a very brief summary of those events.

Their Army Air Force had a nuclear research facility on Honshu but it was destroyed in the fire bombing raids. The Navy program was relocated to North Korea They had one of the worlds foremost nuclear scientists, Yoshoi Nishina, and were about to obtain enough uranium to build more than several Hiroshima sized bombs in 1945. A German U-Boat was on its way to Japan carying 560 kilograms of partiallly enriched uranium 235 when Germany surrendered in May 1945 and the submarine was intercepted .This event is chronicled in a book by Joseph Scalia " Germany's Last Mission To Japan". Also on board were Japanese military officers, German experts and a V-2 rocket. All this is not in dispute. It not known if other prior shipments of uranium made it through to Japan

A 1985 book by Robert Wilcox (" Japan's Secret War: Japan's Race Against Time....." ) contends that the Japanese had successfully assembled and tested its own nuclear device in August 1945 for use in the war. Included in the book are interviews by Atlanta Constitution reporter, David Snell, of a Japanese officer who witnessed the test.

US Occupation forces found part of the weapons system, 5 cyclotrons, which were dumped into Tokyo bay. Also not in dispute.

If the Japanese had beaten us to the punch they would have used the A-bomb on allied forces and civilians in a heart beat. That is a chilling thought. Nevertheless, Truman made the profoundly correct decision and I trust that if you examine the issue more throughly, Mr. Payne , you might disabuse yourself of the mistaken notion that dropping the bomb on Japan wasn't necessary.

I believe that the one thing we can all agree on is that we hate war. Nobody wants it. We are nevertheless divided on when or if it is necessary.

Unless you've ever been the President of the United States you cannot possibly know the stress and awesome responsibility of protecting hundreds of millions of people- and a way of life.

However, I do know from personal experience that when faced with an "us or them" scenario, human nature is to choose "us". I was once in a life threatening situation with my wife on our honeymoon. My only way out of the situation would likely result in the death of someone intending to harm us. There was not a split-second of debate in my mind. I was choosing the life of myself and my bride over them.

Fortunately, no one died. But it taught me a lesson about life- and death. And I would dare wager that there are many out there who are not even aware what they would do to survive or to protect a loved one.

The A-bomb was just such a situation. Back then, it wasn't "3 soldiers died.." or "14 Marines died today..." it was "145 soldiers died today, 432 for the week" kinda stuff.

I think those that feel that negotiations or reaching out or peace talks or that sort of thing are simply dreaming in most situations. I know when it comes to radical islamic fundamentalist, there's no such thing. It's us or them.

I would rather dream hoping for peace than to take up arms against ANYONE. I have stated in other venues that same sentiment. I stand by it here.

I too have been faced with a life-threatening situation. The "us/them" mentality never entered my mind. I only wanted to reach out to the assailant. I had my opportunity. And what a glorious meeting that was! It is amazing what love will conquer. Then again, love has to be a primal element for it to conquer.

I was not alive during WW II so I cannot say what or how I would have felt. I can only state how I feel now at this point in mid-life. However, I know that my feelings now have changed since my younger adult days. I wonder if that is a resonable evolution of the human?

Still, someone somewhere has to be willing to do the difficult thing. The easy things are full of volunteers. It is the difficult that has few supporters. I would rather be counted among the few and know I did what was right; rather than counted with the many and only "gone along with the gang."

war sucks period.

http://www.opceasefire.org/

i'll be there, will you?

um, no.

The "us/them" mentality never entered my mind. I only wanted to reach out to the assailant. I had my opportunity. And what a glorious meeting that was! It is amazing what love will conquer

Then Darryl you have never had some stupid sob pointing an AK47 in your face. Reach out to that assailant and he would have blown your "loving face" off. The only thing that conquered that "wonderful individual" was blowing his head off first.

Peace and love work well on the streets sometimes Darryl but it does not work with those who only wish you dead and know that there will be no court of law to prosecute them.