I've always been a fan of Edward Teller, a man who was truly brilliant. He did what he did because he felt it was the right thing to do for the world's sake, and never lamented it afterwards. Oppenheimer is always the more popular choice, probably because his misgivings mirror the accepted narrative about the folly of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, nothing will ever stop some of us from projecting today's 'moral truths' onto past events and people.

Edward Teller probably saved my father's life who was stationed on the island of Tinian where the Enola Gay was based, along with many other B-29's. Dad told me about the rumors that were circulating among the soldiers; and they all understood that the new weapon could end the war, and probably save their own lives - it was their hope of a ticket back home. There is not doubt in my mind that dad would have been in on the invasion of mainland Japan and would have had a high probability of being killed in combat. Dr. Teller, Albert Einstein and the other Ameican nuclear physicists saved millions of lives, both Japaneese and American; and thus were acting morally. It does not require a high IQ to understand just war, it requires a high MQ.

Same thing with my father - he was a radar technician in the Navy in the Pacific theater - he would likely have been in the invasion fleet.

If the Japanese military had been as resistant as it seems it would have been, there would have been hell to pay just getting to the Japanese mainland - much less getting the soldiers to the beach and keeping the supplies flowing.

Yeah, nuclear weapons are nasty things - but how much worse would a million casualties have been?