THE BOMB, I

Why can’t we put to rest all the agonizing over whether the United States did the right thing in developing and using the atomic bomb (“The Tough Question,” by Mary Palevsky Granados, June 25)? We had no choice. The basic principles of atomic power were well known, and both Russia and Germany were working on the development of nuclear weapons.

I was an American soldier stationed in China at that time. I remember well the roars of relief and approval that went up when the news of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were posted on the company bulletin board. Gone in a moment were the ever-present fears that the next day might be our last.

As far as a test demonstration was concerned, that would only have delayed the end of hostilities, and more lives on both sides would have been lost. The sailors entombed in the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor certainly got no advance notice.

Clarence Burstein

San Bernardino