Actually I've heard from oldtimers that it wasn't neccesary..
Fine. But I've heard other "oldtimers" say very much the opposite. Had the Allies, mostly Americans, invaded the Home Islands in early '46, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions would have died on both sides.
My father, being one of those "oldtimers", was on Saipan during the, fortunately, unnecessary preparations for that invasion. He has told me, though I've never been able to verify this, that there were stockpiles of various poison gasses that would have been used to open the beachheads.
Gas. Coastal bombardment. Kamikaze attacks. Suicide boat attacks. Men, women, and children, yes children, being taught how to use bamboo spears against the larger American/allied soldiers...
Imagine the sheer horror of that, if you can... I can't, no...not can't...won't. The bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrifying. But how much more horrifying would the Battle for Japan have been? The butchers bill would have been beyond staggering.
Verily, a holocaust of sorts, no? Sometimes the only choice is the lesser of two evils. Those are the choices that war brings us...every generation gets to make them.
Holocaust. The Holocaust. Calling the murders of many millions in Europe during the WWII years "the Holocaust", in no way diminishes the horror and suffering of others, unless you let it.
