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The list of targets excluded Tokyo and Kyoto because of their political and historic importance. Meanwhile, thousands of Chinese, American, and Japanese soldiers continued to die each day the war continued.Ĭonsequently, Truman approved the long-standing plans for the US Army Air Force to drop atomic bombs on a list of preselected Japanese cities. It was vital that Japan be convinced to surrender as fast as possible because the United States had just two atomic bombs available in July 1945 and additional weapons would not be ready to deploy for several more weeks. This group unanimously declared that there was no guarantee that demonstrating the bombs to the Japanese in a deserted area would convince Japanese leaders to surrender. In the spring of 1945, the American government convened a committee of scientists and military officers to determine how best to use the bombs. Consequently, neither Truman nor any of his advisors ever debated if the atomic bombs should be used, only how and where they should be used. In light of intelligence reports about Japan’s commitment to continue fighting, Truman and his military advisors were determined to use every weapon at their disposal in order to bring the war to an immediate end. Truman in the summer of 1945 when he authorized the use of the world’s first atomic bomb. This was the situation that confronted American President Harry S. Japan’s leaders hoped to prevail, not by defeating American forces, but by inflicting massive casualties and thereby breaking the resolve of the American public. American casualties on Okinawa weighed heavily on the minds of American planners who looked ahead to the invasion of Japan. At least 110,000 Japanese soldiers and more than 100,000 Okinawan civilians, a third of the island’s prewar population, also perished in the campaign. By comparison, US forces suffered 49,000 casualties, including 12,000 men killed in action, when facing less than 120,000 Japanese soldiers during the battle for the island of Okinawa from April to June of 1945. These frightening figures portended a costlier battle for the United States than any previously fought during the war. Additional reports correctly surmised that the Japanese military intended to execute all American prisoners in Japan in the event of an Allied landing. Instead, American intelligence intercepts revealed that by August 2, Japan had already deployed more than 560,000 soldiers and thousands of suicide planes and boats on the island of Kyushu to meet the expected American invasion of Japan. Although an estimated 300,000 Japanese civilians had already died from starvation and bombing raids, Japan’s government showed no sign of capitulation. It appeared to American leaders that the only way to compel Japan’s unconditional surrender was to invade and conquer the Japanese home islands. Japan, however, refused to submit to the terms outlined in the Allies’ Potsdam Declaration. "I'm proud of what I did in the Army, but I don't consider myself any kind of war hero," said Bombara, who was discharged from the Army in 1946 and spent four decades working as butcher in his native New York.Top Image: The devastated downtown of Hiroshima with the dome of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall visible in the distance. National Archives photo.īy July 1945, Germany had surrendered, and the war in Europe was over.
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The subject isn't one he eagerly talks about. Sixty-seven years later, Bombara looks upon his involvement with the Enola Gay with a mix of emotions.
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The bombing claimed an estimated 170,000 lives and effectively brought about the end of World War II. The plane, which had been christened the Enola Gay by its commander shortly after it left the Nebraska airbase, went on to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. Now 90, Bombara learned what all the hubbub was about when the rest of the world did. While it was stationed at the base, the ground crew installed oversized bomb bay doors, added special propellers and modified engines, and removed protective armor and gun turrets. "All of us wondered what was up with that airplane."Īlthough there were other B-29s on the base, Bombara recalled that none had been ordered to be retrofitted like Tibbets' plane. "It was definitely the most unusual assignment I ever had," Bombara said in the living room of his Spring Hill home last week. took the B-29 through numerous test flights. For four months, Bombara and the rest of the 33-member crew worked in secrecy while the flight crew headed by Col.