Petros Panagakos’ letter to the editor of Aug. 30 (“Effects of atomic bombs outlasted end of WWII”) states “the bombings were unnecessary and inherently immoral.”

It’s quite possible that Panagakos and I are alive today because those atomic bombs were dropped. Panagakos served with the army of occupation in Japan. I was a seaman on the USS W.C. Langfitt, which landed occupation troops in Nagoya, Japan, in November 1945.

As for immoral behavior, it was Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 that brought the United States into World War II. And how moral was the Bataan Death March?

The battles for the Japanese Pacific outpost islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa revealed the Japanese fight-to-the-death philosophy. Those horrific casualties only hinted at the ferocity with which the Japanese’s homeland would be defended.

Japan did not surrender after the devastating firebombing of Tokyo (May 25, 1945), and three of their other largest cities. Japan did not surrender after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

American planners estimated that Japan had marshaled 540,000 men and 5,000 kamikaze planes to defend the expected invasion of Japan. Code-named Downfall, the invasion was scheduled for Nov. 1, 1945. One million men were being mustered, and U.S. casualties were projected to be 20,000 deaths and 75,000 casualties for the first month alone.

Only after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki did Japan surrender on Sept. 25, 1945.

Then the Langfitt, and our sister ships, landed Petros Panagakos and the U.S. army of occupation troops in Japan. Because of those atomic bombings, our landings were peaceful.

Eddie Dimond

Old Orchard Beach

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