To: President Truman
From: Erich Musick, Military Advisor

As we have seen in the past few years at war with Japan, we aren’t up against any ordinary military. The Japanese military is the most lethal and brutal one out there. Going along with the Japanese belief that Americans (as well as Chinese) are sub-human, it’s not a surprise that captured American soldiers are subjected to every imaginable type of horrendous torture by Japanese forces. The Japs aren’t willing to give up. They believe that their Emperor is God and, therefore, it is actually an honor to fight in the war and to die for the sake of the country, even if it means suicide – they are willing to do anything for the Emperor. Even ordinary citizens are creating homemade weapons to take a stand against our soldiers. As Secretary of War Henry Stimson has explained to me, it is estimated that the Japanese have 5 million soldiers (not to mention the many citizens who have prepared for invasion of our troops) ready to die for their country and their Emperor. Defeating such a large, powerful military will take until late in 1946 at the earliest and will result in approximately 1 million American deaths and 500 thousand British deaths. With the atomic bomb, we can wipe out a large amount of the Japanese population and end the war. When Japan sees the unbeatable power of the atomic bomb, they will surrender at once. They can’t go on when they’ve lost so many people in the dropping of only one bomb. We have the potential to destroy their entire country, and their beloved Emperor. We doubt the atomic bomb to be powerful enough to wipe out more than the 1.5 million or more Americans and British that will die if we were to continue the war using conventional methods.

Many people have reservations about dropping the powerful and destructive atomic bomb on Japan. Many of these people think it’s immoral. Think of how many fewer people will die, overall, by the dropping of the atomic bomb, though. Also, speaking of morality, although few people know it, the Japanese military, in one battle against the Chinese, wiped out many, many more people in only one city than the atomic bomb will wipe out. (I can’t recall the actual number of deaths in the Chinese city, but I believe it was around 1 million.) We also saw how the Japanese acted when invading China. They committed all sorts of atrocities, such as their game to see who could catch the most babies on their bayonets.

Many people have said we should drop the atomic bomb on an uninhabited island and threaten the Japanese. What good will threatening such a proud nation that will fight to the death? Look at the kamikaze pilots, who crash their own planes as a military tactic against the enemy, in this case, us. They are ruthless. They have absolutely no regard for the enemy’s lives, let alone their own lives. If we drop the bomb on an uninhabited island, the Japanese will think we are too scared to actually use it and, as a result, will blow us off completely.

Others have said that we should invade Japan with 5 million troops or use a naval blockade. How stupid. These solutions shouldn’t require any explanation as to why they shouldn’t be used. As I already mentioned, the Japanese are ruthless and will continue to fight. Our navy would be greatly hurt by the kamikaze pilots (in the case of a naval blockade). We may win eventually using these two tactics, but with a great loss of American lives (approximately 1 million soldiers).

Yet others have suggested asking for support from the Soviet Union. Again, a most unwise action. If the Soviet Union helps us defeat Japan, they will want to set up a Communist Dictatorship, while we will want a Capitalistic Democracy. We already butt heads with the Soviets frequently, why escalate relations?

The solution is clear – drop the atomic bomb.