In the three days between Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), there was plenty of time time for the Japanese to respond.
Indeed, there was a response from Japan after Hiroshima - the Japanese admirals and generals refused unconditional surrender.
The US knew that the sooner the second bomb was dropped, the sooner the war would be over. Every day in the Pacific American military men were dying.
The sinking of the Indianapolis had a terrible effect on US morale. After a Japanese torpedo sank the Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, out of the 1,196 men aboard, about 900 escaped, but few life rafts. Over the next five days, shark attacks killed all but 317. This was just a couple of weeks before the atom bombs were dropped.
If I was going to cry over anybody, I'd spare some tears for the crew of the Indianapolis, and the men who died on the Bataan Death March, and the men who were tortured and murdered in Japanese POW camps.
And I'd shed some tears of joy for all the men who did not die invading Japan, and all the Japanese men, women and children who did not die in a land war in Japan.
You can play "what if?" all you want, but you'll never have the real answer, so don't allow your imagination to convince you that your guess about what would have happened is the truth. |
