Truman's Resolve: Facing the Prospect of Horrendous Casualties, How the Suddenly Newly-Installed President Took the Bull by the Horns and Ended World War Two and Created Macarthur's Empire

By Carl L. Steinhouse

Having come off vicious battles in Saipan and Peleliu, this volume continues the war with the invasion of the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The battle for Iwo Jima, coming ever closer to Japan, caused many casualties, the most so far in the Pacific war. But it did not compare to the next battle, the one for Okinawa, where heavy casualties were incurred not only by the troops on the ground but by the sailors on ships, attacked by suicide bombers whose pilot’s sole mission was to crash his bomb-carrying plane into an American ship.
With the death of President Roosevelt, Harry Truman faced the momentous decision of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, wiping out tens of thousands of civilians, or instead invading Japan and face perhaps a million casualties among American forces, given what happened on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Truman drooped the bomb and the Japanese, after much soul searching, surrendered. Enter General Douglas MacArthur, appointed Supreme Commander for the occupation of Japan. He retained the emperor against the howling of those calling for revenge and retribution, ending up with a totally peaceful occupation up to the time the occupations forces left Japan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728372242

Carl L. Steinhouse

Carl L. Steinhouse formerly a federal prosecutor for the United States Department of Justice and later in private practice specializing in class actions, white-collar crime, and civil and criminal antitrust trials. He wrote or edited several textbooks for the American Bar Association on conducting antitrust trials and grand juries. During the Korean War, he served in as an intelligence analyst in the Army Counterintelligence Corps. He is a graduate of New York University and Brooklyn Law School. He has authored two legal thrillers, Harassment and Extreme Malice, one Holocaust novel, The Outfielder, Irreverent memoirs, Now What? seven books in his Holocaust Heroes series to rave reviews by scholars, three volumes on the Pacific War against the Japanese, and a book on the Atlantic U-boat war. See WWW.carlsteinhouse.com. Communicate with Mr. Steinhouse at [e-mail].

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TRUMAN’S

RESOLVE

PACIFIC WAR VOLUME 3

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FACING THE PROSPECT OF HORRENDOUS CASUALTIES,

HOW THE SUDDENLY NEWLY-INSTALLED PRESIDENT TOOK

THE BULL BY THE HORNS AND ENDED WORLD WAR TWO

AND CREATED MACARTHUR’S EMPIRE

CARL L. STEINHOUSE

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Copyright © 2020 Carl L. Steinhouse. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  09/24/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7225-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7224-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020916620

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DEDICATION

To the Dedicated Medical Communities’ Untiring

Fight against the Corona Virus Pandemic

CONTENTS

Dedication

Author’s Note

Excerpt from the Book

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1   Prelude to a Vicious Battle

Chapter 2   Prelude to the War’s Game Changer

Chapter 3   Preparations for the Battle for the Philippines

Chapter 4   Leyte Gulf-A Decisive Battle-But for Which Side?

Chapter 5   The Tinian Connection and the B-29s

Chapter 6   The Battle For Luzon

Chapter 7   Roosevelt and Churchill at Yalta-What They Gave Away

Chapter 8   Battle for Manila-Clash of Japanese Wills-Preserve or Destroy the City?

Chapter 9   Big Bomb? What Big Bomb?

Chapter 10   Iwo Jima-Preparing for the Battle

Chapter 11   Iwo: The Move Inland and Off the Beaches

Chapter 12   The Kamikazes Strike at Iwo

Chapter 13   The Marines, Advancing Inland, Run Into a Buzz Saw

Chapter 14   Iwo: The End is in Sight: Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue

Chapter 15   Mopping Up on Luzon; Bombing Japan; On to the Next Island; Ugaki’s Secret Weapon

Chapter 16   A New Japanese Government; the Assault on Okinawa Begins; the Balloon Attack; Kamikazes Out in Force

Chapter 17   The Largest Kamikaze Weapon Ever; All-Out Kamikaze Attacks on Fleet at Okinawa

Chapter 18   Roosevelt is Dead; Truman Learns About the Atomic Bomb: Okinawa Battle Continues with High Casualties

Chapter 19   Hitler is Dead; Balloons Attack Oregon; Should Hirohito Be Left on the Throne? The Germans Surrender; Fierce Fighting Continues on Okinawa

Chapter 20   Okinawa Falls; Seeking Peace Through the Soviets; Invade Japan?, Military Leaders Disagree; A Blunt Truman Insults the Soviet Foreign Minister

Chapter 21   Okinawa Falls; Seeking Peace Through the Soviets; To Invade Japan Continues to Spark Disagreement; Successful Bomb Test; Truman Becomes Tougher with the Soviets; Citizens in Japan Begin to Have Doubts; Incendiary Bombing Horrors; Potsdam Declaration; The Secret 509th

Chapter 22   The Indianapolis Delivers the Bomb Components; Churchill Out; Indianapolis Sunk; Drop the Bomb or Invade? The 509th Prepares; A Day in the Life of a Japanese AA Officer; Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima; Japanese Leaders Still Dither

Chapter 23   Hirohito Presses Military Leaders to End War as Results of Atomic Bomb are Assessed; Military Resists Surrendering; Soviets Declare War, Invade Manchuria; Truman Does Not Hear from Japanese; Second Atomic Bomb is Dropped on Nagasaki; Truman’s Resolve; Ugaki’s Resolve

Chapter 24   Hirohito Decides; Nimitz Issues Peace Warning; Truman Would Permit Emperor to Stay; Conventional Bombing Resumed; Conspiracy to Prevent Peace; The War is Over; The Suicides; Ugaki and the Last Kamikaze Mission; Hirohito Announces the Surrender; Prisoners of War

Chapter 25   McArthur Supreme Commander of Occupation; Meeting with Japanese Leaders; Arrival of Occupation Troops; Arrival in Japan of an Unarmed MacArthur: Surrender Ceremony Aboard the Battleship Missouri

Chapter 26   MacArthur Establishes his Office and Takes Up Residence in Tokyo; Halsey Rides a Horse but not the Emperor’s; Tojo Attempts Suicide; POWs Treated on Hospital Ship; Fraternization Allowed; MacArthur Gives Hirohito a Pass; Give Me Bread or One Million Troops

Chapter 27   MacArthur Goes his Own Way; MacArthur meets with Hirohito; No Denials or Pleas for Leniency; Freeing POWs; MacArthur Proposes a New Constitution, Reforming Women’s Rights, Labor Unions, and Breakup of Monopolies

Chapter 28   Japanese Military Disbanded in Record Time; Hirohito Decides he is not a God; Truman won’t let the Soviets Share in the Occupation; Hirohito Publicly Announces He is No Divinity; MacArthur Won’t Brook Delays and Will Push His Own Constitution; Japanese Public Voted for the Occupation’s Constitution, Which Became the Law of the Land

Epilogue

Bibliography

Other Books by Author

AUTHOR’S NOTE

In Japan, personal names take the form of family name first, followed by the given name. To avoid confusion, I adopt the Western/American form of address with given name first and family name following. In Japan, friends often address each other by their family name. That is their custom and not a sign of disrespect or impoliteness.

The only fictitious characters in this book are those of Japanese citizens Hideo and Asami Tanaka, and Masaru Kichida, which is my way of presenting, based on research, some of the prevalent thinking of Japanese citizens at that time in a more interesting narrative way through conversation, rather a dry factual recital. It is consistent with my narrative non-fiction approach with the liberal use of dialogue to advance the story.

Fair warning: If you find some of MacArthur’s dialogue stilted or confusing, it is because he often refers to himself in both the strange third person and the normal first person. You’ll just have to get used to it-I know I had to adjust, in writing MacArthur’s dialogue. You will excuse me if the editor in me keeps reminding you of this to assure you these are not a typos but the way the General speaks.

This book, Volume 3 on the trilogy of the Pacific War, takes us forward after September 1944, while Volume 2 covered the island hopping and bypasses in the central and south Pacific up through August 1944, bringing the Allied armed forces ever closer to Japan and ending that volume with the vicious battle for Pelelui. Volume 1 mostly focused on the aggressive Japanese military, particularly its admirals, because most of the events, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the ensuing battles, especially in the first full year of 1942, were initiated by them. At that time, to use a colloquialism, the ball was in their court.

Volume 3 takes us through the land and sea battles in late 1944 and 1945, including the horrific battles, in terms of lives lost, on Iwo Jima and Okinawa; the onslaught of the kamikaze suicide pilots that damaged or sank a score American ships and took the lives of many American sailors; the newly sworn-in president, Harry S. Truman, making the decision to drop the atomic bomb, hoping to end the war in rapid fashion, which he did; and finally, the surrender and the start of the occupation of Japan, oversaw by its new pseudo emperor, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.

Carl L. Steinhouse, 2020

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

When are you going to test that atomic bomb? Truman asked.

We are shooting for mid-July, the secretary of war replied.

Get on it, Truman pushed. If it works, I am resolved to use it to end this war and stop shedding our young men’s blood. We’re going to have peace, one way or the other.

Stimson smiled. It certainly can’t be easy for Truman to fill Roosevelt’s shoes, he thought. Roosevelt, from a patrician family, was a mesmerizing orator; Truman from Midwest humble beginnings, is an uninspiring public speaker. But I have to hand it to the new president, he runs a no nonsense, organized meeting and he is decisive and resolute, perhaps more so than Roosevelt. Truman’s resolve is admirable.

***

I suppose they’ll fold eventually and there will be an occupation—no doubt about that. So the decision I’m faced with is who will command the occupation forces. I’m inclined to appoint Doug MacArthur because he’s the man the Japs fear the most—the man who reconquered the Philippines. It’s a hard decision because I just don’t like the man, even though I’ve never met him. What to do with this prima donna who is hard to control and thinks he personally talks to God and tells the Lord what to do? He’s a play actor and a bunco man! He’s worse than the Cabots and the Lodges. They at least talked to one another before telling God what to do. Mac tells God right off!

Then Truman smiled. Ha! That’s what the Japs deserve—to deal with MacArthur, who, as Supreme Commander of the occupation forces will exercise dictatorial powers no American president under our constitution could ever dare hope to have. So I guess I have made my decision. But I’ll have to keep a close eye on him, he decided

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe more than I can express to my wife, Diana, who put up with my long hours and grouchiness at her reasonable interruptions. She suffered reading the first drafts with grace and provided invaluable insights.

I appreciate the support of my children who encouraged me to keep writing and busy (staying out of their hair!) in my retirement and old age.

PREFACE

In the early years such as in the fifteenth century, the samurai (meaning those who serve) learned the art of sword fighting at a young age and generally served and protected feudal lords. They were paid in rice. The samurai sword, called katana, is strong, sharp, and durable. The samurai were tough-minded individuals and fiercely loyal to their lord. They willingly faced death at any moment.

Fast forward to modern times and we find that most of the naval and army officers, though not necessarily of samurai stock, nevertheless considered themselves self-made samurai and, like the old time samurai, proudly carried a katana, a full samurai sword and also often, a small ceremonial sword, more like a long dagger. These military officers, playing out the drama of the samurai and their code, glorified death and loyalty above all else and, by harsh training and much punishment, inflicted this code, the supposed spirit of Japan, or the Bushido, upon the poor enlisted men.

In Volume 2, we saw the tide of battle turn in favor of the Americans, who began to advance across the Pacific, island by island, bypassing those islands not considered essential, blockading them, and thereby simply letting those Japanese garrisons die on the vine.

Some of the thought processes portrayed in this book come from letters and diaries. It bears repeating that the dialogue is based on extensive research, and obviously, while it may not be word for word what was said, the substance is there and I am confident it does represent the speaker’s thinking while you, the reader, become the fly on the wall, so to speak.

We continue the story with the return of Admiral Matome Ugaki who, along with Admiral Yamamoto, was shot down by American fighter planes near Bougainville. Yamamoto died but Ugaki, though seriously wounded, survived. (See Volume I.)

Coming into 1945, the Allies have taken Pelelui, Tinian, and are fighting in the Philippines, while the Japanese are preparing to defend to the death, the home islands and those islands close to Japan, like Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

CHAPTER ONE

PRELUDE TO A VICIOUS BATTLE

JUNE 19, 1944, IWO JIMA

The passenger, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, watched from the window of the plane as it circled Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands, part of the Ogasawara chain, as the pilot prepared to land at Chidori Airfield. It wasn’t much of an island, only a few square miles in size dominated by one not particularly tall volcanic mountain, Mount Suribachi. The place looked like hell warmed over which, and as he would soon discover, it accurately described the living conditions on the island. This god-forsaken place, he saw, was covered with volcanic dust and, based on the reports he had received, knew there was no water on the island—no streams, no wells, not a drop to be found on the ground.

As a deputy military attaché in Washington, D. C. in the late 1920s, Kuribayashi had become familiar with America, traveling extensively around the country and spending some time at Harvard University. He could assess what the American industrial establishment was capable of achieving when mobilized for war. So during the planning of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he often told his colleagues that America is the last country Japan should pick a fight with. It would be a formidable enemy.

This did not endear him to then War Minister Hideo Tojo, who ordered the honest but loud mouth (at least to Tojo), seemingly pro-American officer, into the quagmire of the war in China. And there Kuribayashi remained until 1943, when ordered back to assume the post as commander of the Second Imperial Guards Division in Tokyo.

To his closest friends he confided that Japan lost the war when we attacked Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto had also warned the Japanese leaders, but they did not listen. If we had kept our focus on southeast Asia, if we penned in the English in India, we’d have been okay and nothing could stop us from establishing new boundaries for the empire with sufficient raw materials and food sources. But no, we had to try to conquer the world!

Now, Prime Minister Tojo had ordered him to command the defense of Iwo Jima. Tojo told him Iwo Jima was the gateway to Japan and that he, Kuribayashi, was one of the best-qualified generals and that is why Tojo picked him to command its defenses. Kuribayashi took that reasoning with a grain of salt. It was true, the island is important to Japan’s defense and that he was one of the best generals, but he also knew that the prime minster still nursed a grudge against him for his reputation as being pro-American and that Tojo could rid himself of Kuribayashi by sending him to Iwo Jima, knowing perfectly well Iwo Jima would be a suicide mission and death sentence. So for Tojo, convenience coincided with good strategy. Perfectly willing to give his life for the emperor and the Empire, an unfazed Kuribayashi prepared to defend Iwo Jima. It was an important island to the Japanese leaders, one that they considered a part of Metropolitan Tokyo and thus, part of Japan itself.

Kuribayashi knew that when the Americans captured Iwo, they will be close enough to Tokyo to raid it and the other cities with their big bombers, day and night.

Kuribayashi had 21,000 of the highly-trained Imperial Guards troops, a good indication of the importance assigned to the island.

My leaders have to face that the Pacific war that cannot be won, he ruminated. Sure, we can extend the war, but my superiors cannot seem to face that the end is in sight and, instead of seeking peace, they are marching in lockstep to oblivion! Unlike me, my leaders know little about the United States and grossly underestimate its military and industrial might. Well, now they are learning it the hard way. But it is too late!

JUNE 22, 1944, IWO JIMA, GENERAL

KURIBAYASHI’S UNDERGROUND HEADQUARTERS

Iwo, being small enough for Kuribayashi to walk around in less than a day, permitted him to personally oversee the building of the defensive positions in caves, pillboxes, reinforced bunkers, and sixteen miles of honeycombed tunnels throughout the island. His troops could accomplish this because the island, made of volcanic rock, had a softer base than the coral base on most of the Pacific islands and thus, easier to dig through.

As Kuribayashi personally conducted a hands-on inspection of his honey-combed tunneled fortress, he thought, we will fight the Americans mostly from underground if we can survive the geothermal heat, the huge and disgusting cockroaches—never saw one in Tokyo—and the flies and mosquitoes that attack us in swarms.

Prime Minister Tojo bragged that Saipan was impregnable yet he permitted his forces to abandon the island after only ten days. And after our Navy lost the battle of the Philippine Sea, Tokyo had the nerve to portray it to the Japanese people as a great victory. In fact, we lost more than half of our planes! If I am honest with myself, I cannot reasonably expect any real help from the Imperial Army or Navy despite what some of my younger officers say and hope for. He sighed. Against the American’s overwhelming force, I cannot hope to prevent a takeover of this island. I will, however, he thought with some satisfaction, see that the Americans pay a heavy price in casualties. If, after they count their dead, my defense of Iwo discourages the Americans from invading the main islands of Japan, I will have achieved my objective!

But he knew the Japanese troops had to change their tactics. Stop those heroic but stupid banzai charges— a waste of manpower—charging right into the American machine gun positions and getting themselves annihilated without accomplishing much. We have to be smarter than that! We will wage guerilla warfare by waiting for the enemy underground and surprising him with each attack carefully organized to do the maximum damage—not the screaming bedlam of banzai attacks. No, we can kill more by staying inside and firing at them from our underground fortifications while they’ll be in the open and vulnerable. Banzai attacks only help the Americans defeat us more quickly and that I do not want. Oh, we will have organized counterattacks and mass infiltrations. But they will be well-planned with precise tactical objectives, not undisciplined banzai attacks. I know we can’t keep the Americans from conquering this island but we can exact a fearsome price in lives with the maximum damage on the attackers. I am the son of a samurai and I will fight like one, upholding the Kuribayashi name!

The last commanding general of Iwo Jima had made his headquarters on Chichi Jima, a far larger and more hospitable island, living in a comfortable house with ample food to eat, and a generous supply of fresh water. But Kuribayashi, a hands-on commander, decided he would forego such creature comforts and live and work like his men on Iwo Jima—underground and in the caves.

Since nothing could grow on this island, Kuribayashi’s troops would be limited to eating dry rations and no more than one cup of water a day. I will eat the same thing as my troops with the same limitations. I’ll simply live the same way as my men!

A family man, Kuribayashi, amid all his concerns for water, insects, and the defense of Iwo, also worried that back home, he had failed to finish a wall project in his kitchen, so he wrote his son a detailed letter instructing him on how to complete it.

***

Kuribayashi established his headquarters in one of the caves near Mount Suribachi. His men observed their commander living underground with them. He had few comforts. In many places underground, he found the geothermal heat oppressive, sometimes reaching almost 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The soldiers, to combat the persistent heat, wore no more than loin cloths with their rank insignia sewn onto their combat caps in order to distinguish the officers from the enlisted men. Some also wore a senninbari, a 1,000-stitch good luck belt, about three or four feet long with snaps or buttons that allow it to be fastened around the waist like a belt and usually, it had been sewn and assembled by the soldiers’ mother, aunt, and/or female friends,.

The thermal heat, combined with the sulfur gasses, made breathing difficult and spawned headaches. The men’s rubber sandals often melted off their feet from the ground heat.

Kuribayashi knew that Japanese arms, weapons, equipment, and the number of troops, could not match the enemy in quantity. We were weaker in all these areas, so I will exploit the one advantage I do have—the caves and underground fortress.

Hiding in our camouflaged underground positions, he mulled, we can hold out much longer. From our underground positions we can make sneak attacks, surprising the stronger enemy. I know and understand the Americans and I am sure they won’t stand for heavy loss of life of their boys. Perhaps in places like Iwo Jima and as we did on Pelelui, we can force the Americans to reconsider their unreasonable unconditional surrender demands and negotiate an acceptable end to the war. I intend to give them an example of what to expect in terms of lives lost if they decide to invade the mother islands of Japan.

General Kuribayashi laid out his plans for guerilla warfare to his subordinates and the naval officers commanding the Japanese Marines.

It meant his tunnel engineers and the men digging them—at least a quarter of his garrison— would work seven days a week and in around-the-clock shifts. It would exhaust the men, but he had no choice if he were to provide an adequate defense to this island.

The general did not mind the pervasive volcanic dust and ash. It would not only plague the invading forces trying to slog through it, but the black ash made an excellent quality concrete for his caves, bunkers, and pillboxes—and these raw materials are available on the island without depending on perilous shipping!

ABOUT THE SAME TIME, WASHINGTON, D.C.,

THE WHITE HOUSE, OVAL OFFICE

President Roosevelt picked up the memorandum and waved it at his friend and advisor, Harry Hopkins. "The Joint Chiefs want permission to use poison gas when they invade Iwo Jima in order to keep the casualty rate down. Admiral Nimitz is against it, feeling we should not be the first to violate the Geneva Convention. One of the Washington newspaper headlined, ‘Give our boys a break—gas the Japs.’

What do you think?

Well, Hopkins replied, the Geneva Convention . . .

The president cut him off. Forget the Geneva Convention. I know that neither we nor the Japs signed on to the prohibition on using poison gas. Even though we have large quantities of the gas on hand, the fact is that when the Germans used gas in World War One, we roundly condemned it. If we use it now, it’d fly in the face of our own propaganda. Well, I agree with Admiral Nimitz on not using poison gas!

Roosevelt picked his desk pen and scribbled, Denied. Commander-in-Chief.

The president looked at Hopkins. Why did we pick Iwo Jima to invade?

Which islands we invade, as I understand it, really depends on the geography.

Roosevelt frowned. What the hell does that mean?

Hopkins rubbed his chin. The way it was explained to me, it’s mostly the function of the trade winds. An island is only valuable to us if its runways are aligned with the east-northeasterly trade winds, which makes the island usable as an airstrip. We need airbases as we approach Japan, so we go for those islands the Japs themselves are using as air bases. Thus, we took Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Kwajalein. With the new B-29s coming into service and their need for extra-long runways and proper wind conditions, the choices narrow and selection of which islands to take becomes crucial.

The president nodded. And I suppose the closer we get to Japan, the more fanatical the resistance will become.

That’s right, Hopkins agreed.

CHAPTER TWO

PRELUDE TO THE WAR’S

GAME CHANGER

SEPTEMBER 1, 1944, COLORADO SPRINGS

AIR FORCE BASE, SECOND ARMY AIR

FORCE HEADQUARTERS, OFFICE OF THE

COMMANDING GENERAL

Colonel John Lansdale, in charge of security for the Manhattan Project, interviewed Colonel Paul Tibbets in the office of the Major General Uzal Ent who commanded the Second Air force, largely responsible for the training of the B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers crews. Now, Ent had a new mission, the training of crews for the new very heavy bomber, the B-29. But today Ent deferred to Colonel Landale and his show.

Colonel Tibbets, a stocky man under six feet, had been one of the most experienced pilots flying the B-17 heavy bombers from England to bomb Germany and earlier, on missions in North Africa. Later, the Air Force reassigned Tibbets back to the United States to command the flight-tests of the new B-29 very heavy bomber. He became its major test pilot. But Colonel Lansdale already knew all this, having intensively investigated the man.

There were two other men in the room and Colonel Tibbets had no idea of their identity, nor did Colonel Lansdale bother to introduce them.

First, Lansdale turned to the Major General. General Ent, it is my duty to warn you that you would face court martial if any leaks on the Manhattan Project were traced back to you.

General Ent frowned and snapped. I know my duties, Colonel!

Lansdale ignored the retort and looked at Tibbets.

Tibbets nodded.

Lansdale shook his head. Not sufficient, colonel. I need you to state you understand the consequences of any leak.

I understand I will be court martialed if I leak anything about this Project, Tibbets stated.

Lansdale nodded. Good, but it goes further than that. You must understand you cannot reveal to your crews any part of the scope of any mission involving the bomb. As General Leslie Groves, who directs the Manhattan Project, said, ‘What people don’t know about they can’t talk about.’ And that, colonel, is good for security. Understand?

Tibbets, feeling like he was being lectured as if he were a child, looked Lansdale in the eye. Yes, I do.

Moving on,, Lansdale continued, you have been very thoroughly vetted for a highly secret mission. Now, I want to introduce two gentlemen who will give you more information on our Project. This is Navy Captain William Parsons, the leading explosives expert on the Project, and the other gentleman is Professor Norman Ramsey, a Harvard physicist working on the Project.

Tibbets turned toward the professor, thinking, He looks barely out of college!

Ramsey looked at Tibbets. Colonel, do you have any understanding of atomic energy?"

I studied physics in college so I know the atomic scale.

What do you know about the current situation in atomic research?

I heard the Germans were trying to develop heavy water to split the atom, Tibbets replied.

Ramsey smiled. Very good. Let me tell you that in fact, the United States has split the atom and we are creating a bomb based on that achievement. In case you’re wondering, the bomb is estimated to have the force of 20,000 tons of TNT.

Tibbets eyes widened. It would take about 200 B-29s to deliver that much explosives!

General Ent broke in. You, Colonel Tibbets, have been chosen to drop that bomb on the Japanese.

J. Robert Oppenheimer is running the research, Parsons explained, which is based on the research of several European physicists who escaped Hitler, Enrico Fermi, Niels Bohr, and Edward Teller. In late 1942, we successfully achieved the chain reaction that was required to produce an atom bomb.

With trepidation, we achieved the first uranium chain reaction in a Chicago gym, with some fearing the city itself could be destroyed. It wasn’t, and the reaction was controlled, but it did show that when a uranium atom is split, it lets go of neutrons that that can split more uranium atoms, thus achieving the chain reaction situation. The problem with uranium is that it is difficult to obtain in quantity so physicists