[Blackeagle]

I have studied the history of the second world war a good deal. And I'd like to mention just a couple other things the Japanese did in that war that shows the type of mind set.

1.) The Bataan death march, during which the Japanese soldiers beat to death and bayoneted numerous surendered and disarmed prisoners of war because they had, DISHONORED THEMSELVES BY SURENDERING ! !

2.) The rape of Nanking, China. Where the Japanese troops literaly did rape every woman they could while murdering unarmed innocents by the tens of thousands.

3.) During the last hours of fighting on Okinawa American troops watched in horror as the woman, often leading or carrying children, leaped off a cliff into the sea, rather than to dishonor their dieing soldier husbands by living in a area overtaken and held by American forces. I've forgotten the name of that town, but this wasn't a handfull of ladies, it was over a hundred. And how many little innocent children did those same ladies "save" ? ? And remember this wasn't a large or important location, just that they prefered death to capture.

4.) At the end of the war in harbors in various areas of the home islands a strange type of torpedo was found. They had a single very cramped little compartment added. So they could be used as a guided torpedo that would not miss. Used at night they would have taken a terrible toll. And the man piloting this torpedo would have died in glory for the Imperor! !

5.) Last I'd like to mention the "Orca". This was a rocket plane of VERY small size that carried a 1.000 lb. warhead in the nose. Range? 8-14 miles depending on the trajectory chosen. A one way ride to glory, to die for the Emporer was to, LIVE FOREVER ! ! This small aircraft did lack a few things. Landing gear, armor or cannon/machine guns. They could however reach unheard of speeds of nearly 580 mph. They would have been a nearly impossible thing to defend aginst.

This is not a complete list by any means, just some highlights that I thought were worth mentioning. Please note items #4&5 above, while not available in large enough numbers to prevent invasion on thier own, they show very clearly to me that the Japanese were not convinced to surrender. They were still seeking the right "divine wind" to save the situation for them as the storm that wreaked the mongols invasion fleet did on the eve of the very day in which the mongols had finally breached the defenses and would, on the following day have begun to land in large numbers.

Those who have done a fine job of trying hard to explain the reasons for the dropping of the bombs have pretty well covered it. Only thing I'll add is what was at "groung zero" for both those weapons. These targets were choosen with extreme care to do the maximum amount of damage to the continuing Japanese war effort. The first weapon detonated near and was aimed at the ball bearing factory that produced ALL the main bearings for Japanese aircraft, as well as for other weapons as well. The second struck the larget torpedo factory in the whole WORLD.

While never proven, I have read that the forth and last bomb, had it been dropped, was to be targetted on the Imperial palace in Tokyo. The idea being that if the first three could not deter continued fighting by the Japanese, perhaps the death of the Imperor himself would. This was of concern to some however that it could harden the resolve of the Japanese to never give up.

I'm glad no more were dropped than were, but have no sorrow over those that were. It was and remains the right choice.