Although a decision to continue the war would mean national suicide, members of the Japanese military came close to refusing Emperor Hirohito’s surrender order.

Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, navigator on the Enola Gay, describes arriving at Wendover Field, Utah and figuring out that he would be taking part in a mission to drop an atomic bomb.

Raymond Bailey describes a horrible experience he had after the USS Franklin (CV-13) was hit by two bombs while operating off the coast of Japan in March 1945.

“It was too much death to contemplate, too much savagery and suffering; and in August 1945 no one was counting. For those who had seen the face of battle and been in the camps and under the bombs—and had lived—there was a sense of immense relief.”

Ari Phoutrides talks about experiencing a massive kamikaze attack one day while posted to Radar Picket Station #1 off the coast of Okinawa during which his ship was hit by four bombs and six kamikazes.