Ex-SEMO prof on Truman, A-bomb anniversary

Former Southeast Missouri State University history department chairman Dr. Wayne H. Bowen, a scholar specializing in the life and times of President Harry Truman, said the 33rd president "agonized" over his decision to drop the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago this week.

The twin detonations in 1945, the first Aug. 6 and the second Aug. 9, sped the surrender of Japan to Allied forces and brought about a final end to World War II.

Japan surrendered six days after the second bomb with the formal cessation of hostilities signed Sept. 2 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Bowen, a veteran and author of the 2017 book, "Truman, Franco's Spain and the Cold War," said America's only Missouri-born president tried to avoid this calamitous step.

"For sure, (Truman) would have preferred a negotiated settlement in lieu of dropping the bombs," said Bowen, "but Japan's military refused to consider the possibility."

Bowen, in his research, concludes there were Japanese factions interested in peace discussions, but Japan's war machinery "continued to dominate.

"Some officers insisted on continuing the war even after the devastation," the ex-SEMO educator added.

The dual explosions killed as many as 229,000 Japanese, most of them non-military.

Some died instantly, while others perished in the months following because of severe burns and radiation sickness, compounded by malnutrition.

"(Truman) was saddened by the loss of civilian life, (but) he did not believe he had any other options to force a surrender, short of a full (ground) invasion of the Japanese home islands," Bowen explained.

Bowen acknowledges the verdict of history is mixed about Truman's decision to drop the twin 10,000-pound implosion-type devices, nicknamed "Little Boy" (Hiroshima) and "Fat Man" (Nagasaki), the first filled with uranium-235 and second with a solid plutonium core.

"In my assessment," said Bowen, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, "(Truman) had little choice (but) to proceed, given the war weariness in the United States, the certainty of mass (American) casualties in the event of an invasion, and the fact that Japan had initiated the war and refused to surrender -- despite losing the bulk of its empire, fleet and military strength by early summer 1945."

Bowen, who said he has spent considerable research time at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, said Truman tended to avoid obsessing over the actions he took while in office.

"Truman was, in general, not one to spend time second-guessing major decisions," said Bowen.

"In later life, (Truman) indicated he had no regrets," he added.

Bowen is now a faculty member at the University of Central Florida.