was macarthur & nimitz privy to nuke bombs against japan??

[tom d. friedman]

as to the supreme two u.s. commanders of both sectors of the pacific war........ was general macarthur & admiral Nimitz privy to the development of the nuclear bombs & potential targets against japan?? even vice president Truman had no knowledge of the projects until the passing of president Roosevelt. there were a number of lower ranking officers who were privy to the ultra top secret project over v.p. Truman, general groves as an example as project director. you would think a then vice president would be in the info loop w/a two star general & fdr!!

[Enemy Ace]

I would guess that they would have gotten a generalized briefing just prior to the weapons being deployed? Interesting question, I have read MacArthur's book and I don't recall any mention of it... He was busy with plans for Olympus, the invasion of the Home Islands IIRC.

[tom d. friedman]

thanks for reply. i'll admit I've been taken aback with no replies up to now on this topic considering the military / aviation board members brain trust here. hopefully your reply will get the ball rolling as I thought this would be a hot topic.

[daviemax]

I'm pretty sure the answer is contained in Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atom Bomb - an excellent work. Would suggest this as a reference.

[tacoope]

As I understand your government the VP is just there in case the president dies and until that point serves no purpose. I think in more recent times that has changed some in that some VPs of late have been a bit more active. Given that it isn't surprising at all that others would know more than Truman, he didn't need to know. Groves and other were on the project so obviously they had to know, along with hundreds of civilians who also worked on the project.

I just finished reading Churchill's books on the war and it is interesting to see his perspective of the situation when Truman took over, and the fact that he wasn't aware of most of what was going on between the big three. There were some serious errors made at the end of the war in Europe, that lead to the soviet domination of much more of Europe than probably should have happened, and to the cold war that followed.

Terry

[tom d. friedman]

amen!!