"We're at war with Japan. We were attacked by Japan. Do you want to kill Japanese, or would you rather have Americans killed? "(Adams 414). This quote by General Curtis LeMay, of the United States Military, was the question that all American's deeply considered before dropping the very first atomic bomb on Japan. In fact, this question was so haunting to some, including actual creators of the bomb, that a letter was sent to President Harry Truman asking him to reconsider his decision about dropping the bomb. Despite the efforts of the people trying to stop the atomic bomb dropping, Truman still gave the order to drop the bomb. Though the bomb was dropped a little over 70 years ago, it is still a controversial and debatable topic today. All in …show more content…
When asking themselves whether this decision was right or wrong, many forget to consider the fighting that was happening between the US and Japan prior to the bombs being dropped. One of Japan's greatest threats to the United States were their Kamikaze pilots. The pilots were, usually, university students who were forced by obligation to serve their country in warfare. The pilot’s jobs were to wrap their aircrafts in bombs that weighted up to 550 pounds and fly into US ships (PBS, "The Kamikaze Threat). The Japanese would regularly, almost daily, send these pilots on missions and by the end of the war Japan's Kamikazes had sunk over 300 U.S. ships and killed about 15,000 U.S. soldiers, naval officers, and