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 May 3, 2003 Dear Readers, Now, on the 58th anniversary of the only time in history the atomic bomb was used, we are still left with the same question, a question that still generates heated debates. Was the United States justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? My response has always been, yes. It was necessary that we have Japan’s unconditional surrender, keep Russia out of East Asia and cut down on the cost of lives, Japanese and American. To insure these things, the United States was forced to drop the atomic bomb. It was absolutely essential that the loss of American lives be decreased. By July of 1945, it was estimated that there had been “... more than 1 million casualties, including those killed, missing in action, and wounded.”(July 1945: The Moment of Decision) Especially of note is the fact that two of the battles with the highest casualties were those at Okinawa and Iwo Jima, against the Japanese. Though defeat was inevit