[Nepeta]

What hogwash.

The Japanese were preparing for an invasion. They would have fought for every inch, with a terrible cost in lives on both sides. My father was in the Pacific, and I probably would not be here had the planned US invasion gone ahead.

The US government ordered huge stockpiles of Purple Heart medals in anticipation of the campaign in the home islands. I believe that hoard of medals is still in use.

Were the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ghastly? Yes. Does anyone doubt that such a bomb would have been dropped on Berlin had it been developed earlier? I do not. The firebombings of Hamburg and Dresden were also horrific.

The alternatives to Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have been tens of millions of Japanese deaths and quite likely the destruction of Japanese culture.

[GeronL]

Many, maybe most, Japanese were aghast at the surrender, there was almost a coup over it!

They would have rather fought