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Subject: The Japanese Surrender
 
Hey Bart,

It is an overstatement to say that Japan was trying to surrender before we dropped the atomic bombs
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The Japanese civilian leadership convinced Emperor Hirohito that Japan
should surrender, so he recorded a transcription disk (i.e., a phonograph record) telling the Japanese
people that Japan would accept the Potsdam Agreement calling for unconditional surrender. 
He recorded two copies of his speech to be sure that one would survive to be broadcast.

Many Japanese military leaders were opposed to surrender.  On the evening of August 14, 1945,
as many as a thousand Japanese officers raided the Imperial Palace to place the Emperor under arrest
and to find and destroy the recording   The Emperor's personal staff smuggled the recording out of
the palace in a laundry basket of ladies underwear.  Another attempt to prevent the broadcast was
thwarted and Hirohito's message of surrender was broadcast to the nation the next day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyokuon-h%C5%8Ds%C5%8D#Broadcast

This attempted coup is known as the Kyujo Incident.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyujo_incident

Based on this attempted coup, it is clear that many in the Japanese military were opposed
to surrender and wanted to fight on.

It is also clear that the Allies were justified in expecting large casualties if they invaded Japan. 
Just before dropping the atomic bombs, the Allies fought The Battle of Okinawa that resulted in
over 50,000 Allied casualties and over 100,000 Japanese casualties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa. 
Based on this experience, the Allies were justified in believing that many more lives would have been lost in an invasion of Japan.

Harry Truman fought in the trenches of World War I and had first-hand experience in close combat. 
He believed that using the atomic bombs on Japan would save Allied lives.  If he had deferred using
the bomb and allowed the invasion to go forward, Truman would have gone down as one of the biggest
cowards in history.  Truman was no coward and he summarily put an end to a war that the Allies did not start. 
In my view, Harry Truman did the right thing.

On a personal note, my Dad was a Naval Aviator and was training for the Japanese invasion when
the Allies dropped the atomic bombs.  He was really happy that Truman gave him a way to come home.

Best regards,
 HWD

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