Quote:
Originally posted by TheSaint
Its a stupid question, revisionist history notwithstanding.
My father, still living, was a fighter pilot in the navy and we have discussed this many times.
Fact: We were dying like flies on each island as we made our way to Japan, as many as 25,000 americans dead per island.
Fact: Invasion plans called for one million dead Japanese after we invaded the homeland (mostly civillians) and 100,000 or more additional dead Americans.
Fact: It was not well understood then that low level radiation was dangerous.
Fact: The nuke saved at least a million Japanese lives, and many Americans. Anyone with a brain would appreciate that another 2 years of war would not have been good for the Japanese, who refused to surrender even after the first atom bomb fell.
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Well, it's not a stupid question. I see people continually mentioning the US using nukes on Japan as if everyone else had the chance to use a nuke first and refused out of some moral superiority.
So I figured I would ask.
btw, I agree with your answer.