WAS IT NECESSARY TO DROP THE BOMB?

BRUTALITY ESCALATES

In 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking, China. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered. The death toll exceeded that of the Bomb blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Japanese soldiers forced their victims in pornographic poses for photo souvenirs. Chinese women were tied up for repeated attacks by hundreds of soldiers. They were not only raped and tortured, but horribly mutilated. Corpses of Nanking citizens were dragged to the banks of the Yangtze and thrown in the river. Japanese soldiers turned murder into a sport. They had beheading contests to see who could kill 100 Chinese with a sword first. Severed heads of Chinese were everywhere, the stench of rotting flesh filled the air. Heads were lined up in a grotesque manner. Decapitation was a way of life for the Japanese.

Japanese soldiers used prisoners for bayonet practice. At times babies were thrown into the air for the soldiers to bayonet them. Many Chinese prisoners were buried alive. The Japanese loaded trucks full with young men and transported to the outskirts for mass executions. All of these atrocities are documented by the U.S. and Chinese Governments everyone should read "The Rape Of Nanking" by Iris Chang. By 1939 Japan had control over a large portion of China, Manchuria, Manila, and hundreds of Islands.

USS ARIZONA AT PEARL HARBOR - National Archives

On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese expanded their conquest to take on the world by bombing our Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. The attack was devastating with over 3000 of our men killed, and a large portion of our ships destroyed. President Roosevelt was enraged, and the next day declared war on the Japanese Empire. He wanted revenge, and asked our military how we could retaliate to this catastrophe. Japan was thousands of miles away and we had no bombers that could reach it. Our factories geared up for mass production and pretty soon were turning out thousands of tanks, ships, and aircraft, along with submarines and aircraft carriers. We also built up a huge military force. The only way to reach Japan was to occupy Guam, Iwo Jima, Tinian, and Okinawa. Each Island heavily fortified. These would create stepping stones as bases for our B-29s.