Navy contribution is that without the U.S. Only Emperor Hirohito had the moral authority to convince the Japanese military to surrender, and it was the atomic bombs that convinced him.Īn obvious U.S. Blockading and starving 100 million Japanese was hardly a more “humane” option and not likely to convince the Japanese military diehards to give up. Those who claim otherwise need to study up on Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. and Japanese, military and civilian-than the atomic bombs. An invasion of Japan would have cost far more lives-U.S. The B-29 firebombing raids that began in March 1945 killed more Japanese civilians than the atomic bombs (as many as 100,000 civilians in the first firebombing raid on Tokyo alone on 9–10 March 1945). Finally, this H-gram is not intended to be a discussion of the morality of using atomic weapons, other than to note that from a safe remove, it is easy for armchair generals and historians to judge the decisions made by senior political and military leaders when every option was incredibly bad.
Navy personnel performed some of the most vital roles in the operation. Army, the Army Air Force, or the civilian scientists and engineers. This H-gram is not intended to be a comprehensive history of the Manhattan Project, nor is this H-gram trying to diminish the critical roles of the U.S.
