Did U.S. Have to Drop Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

I don't think they could have been thrown or propelled. They had to be dropped.

 

Roosevelt deferred to his military top brass on almost all decisions such as this one. If the same committee Truman used had recommended dropping the bomb, he would have done so.

 

I've always figured Roosevelt would not spent millions of dollars on the project and then hesitated to utilize the end result.

 

Somewhat related - there was also discussion at letting Japan know in advance what city was going to be hit. Jimmy Byrnes squelched that idea in a hurry when he mentioned the Japanese would move American POW there.

 

Didn't the US drop leaflets before the bombings warning of what would happen and asking Japanese people to push the Emperor to surrender? Makes me doubt a film would have swayed the brass.

 

And unfortunately, some POWs were killed anyways, both from the bombings, and from the Japanese reaction to the bombings.