Gente..si bien arrojar 2 nukes sobre territorio japones parece barbaro la ejecucion de la Operation Downfall (invasion a Japon) hubiera acarreado mas de 3 millones de muertos en ambos bandos,muchos altos mandos del ejercito y la marina se opusieron al uso de las "A" pero las cifras de muertos asustaban, a ustedes no? Lean esto:
Casualty estimates were based on the experience of the preceding campaigns, drawing different lessons:
In a study done by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in April, the figures of 7.45 casualties/1,000 man-days and 1.78 fatalities/1,000 man-days were developed. This implied that a 90-day Olympic campaign would cost 456,000 casualties, including 109,000 dead or missing. If Coronet took another 90 days, the combined cost would be 1,200,000 casualties, with 267,000 fatalities.[31]
A study done by Adm. Nimitz's staff in May estimated 49,000 casualties in the first 30 days, including 5,000 at sea.[32] A study done by Gen. MacArthur's staff in June estimated 23,000 in the first 30 days and 125,000 after 120 days.[33] When these figures were questioned by Gen. Marshall, MacArthur submitted a revised estimate of 105,000, in part by deducting wounded men able to return to duty.[34]
In a conference with President Truman on 18 June, Marshall, taking the Battle of Luzon as the best model for Olympic, thought the Americans would suffer 31,000 casualties in the first 30 days (and ultimately 20% of Japanese casualties, which implied a total of 70,000 casualties).[35] Adm. Leahy, more impressed by the Battle of Okinawa, thought the American forces would suffer a 35% casualty rate (implying an ultimate toll of 268,000).[36] Admiral King thought that casualties in the first 30 days would fall between Luzon and Okinawa, i.e., between 31,000 and 41,000.[37]
Of these estimates, only Nimitz's included losses of the forces at sea, though kamikazes had inflicted 1.78 fatalities per kamikaze pilot in the Battle of Okinawa,[38] and troop transports off Kyūshū would have been much more exposed.
A study done for Secretary of War Henry Stimson's staff by William Shockley estimated that conquering Japan would cost 1.7–4 million American casualties, including 400,000–800,000 fatalities, and five to ten million Japanese fatalities. The key assumption was large-scale participation by civilians in the defense of Japan.
fuentes:
Allen, Thomas B., and Polmar, Norman, Code-Name Downfall. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0-684-80406-9.
Feifer, George. The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 2001. ISBN 1-58574-215-5.
Frank, Richard B.. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House, 1999. ISBN 0-679-41424-X (hc), ISBN 0-14-100146-1 (2001 tpb).
Skates, John Ray, The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1994. ISBN 0-87249-972-3.
Thomas, Evan, The Last Kamikaze, World War II Magazine, p28, March 2007
