By Steve Levy
As another August 6th and 8th pass, we reflect upon the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945 and must endure the sanctimonious Monday morning quarterbacks who question the efficacy of President Truman’s decision to use the bomb to end the war.
Folks can debate the pros and cons all day long if they wish, but there’s one overriding factor that places me emphatically in the column of supporting President Truman’s decision: Without it, perhaps I may never have been born. Nor would hundreds of thousands of other Americans.
That’s because there was a pretty good chance that our fathers would have been killed rushing the shores of Japan, had the Japanese not surrendered due to the impact of the bomb.
While Japan’s Air Force was disintegrated and its industrial complex was severely weakened, there was no hint that Japan was even considering surrendering. They were ready to take on hand-to-hand combat, if necessary. Unless their emperor gave them the order to surrender, it never would’ve happened. And not only would it have possibly cost the life of my father, who had just volunteered at the time, but also 100,000 other Americans and the killing of perhaps a million Japanese.
The dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima might’ve had a more chilling and visceral effect, but it was the conventional bombings on Tokyo that actually caused more deaths.
Those raids would’ve continued unabated. It was the shock and awe of the dropping of the atomic bombs that woke up the emperor to finally say, “Enough.”
His order to the Japanese to lay down their arms saved over one million lives.
It was Truman‘s decision to utilize the bombs that saved those lives, possibly including my dad’s. So when people ask me who my favorite president of all time was, it’s an easy answer: President Harry S Truman.
Perhaps the most memorable scene of the movie Oppenheimer was Truman‘s reaction when he saw the sniffling, guilt-ridden, second-guessing Oppenheimer complaining to Truman that he, the scientist, will be remembered as the man who developed the bomb.Truman angrily retorted, before kicking him out of his office, something along the lines of: Few will remember that you developed the bomb. Everyone will remember that I gave the order to drop it.
Some may reflect back saying that Truman deserves disdain for a decision they consider immoral. I may be self-interested, but in my book, Truman’s decision was not only strategically correct, but morally as well, given how many lives he ultimately saved.