The events of summer 1945 — including the use of two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- brought the war to a close before another land battle could take place.
The bloodbath at Okinawa was a major factor in President Harry Truman's decision-making about an invasion of the Japanese home islands. Would the Japanese never capitulate? How many more Americans would die before the war could end? The events of summer 1945 — including the use of two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- brought the war to a close before another land battle could take place.