My dad was a Marine with the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima during WWII. He used to tell me fascinating stories, many of which wouldn't be considered safe for work. He had all sorts of trinkets from when they crossed the international date line, Japanese rifles, Japanese flag, a vile of Iwo Jima volcanic ash from the beach, and even an old Japanese mortar casing. He had opium pipes the Japanese used to use and even some family pictures of some poor Japanese guy who didn't make it home.
Once Iwo Jima was secured my dad's division was sent back to Hawaii to train for the homeland invasion of Japan. This was in June or July of 1945. At some point prior to July 30, 1945, President Truman had made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. On August 6 and August 9, 1945, the bombs were dropped and history was written. On September 2, 1945, Japan surrendered.
Had President Truman not made the decision to use nuclear force and had Japan not surrendered from the devastation delivered by the bombings, there is a very strong chance I would not exist today. My dad would have been sent to mainland Japan for combat and most likely died in that action.
Oh wow, this has me in tears. I'm going to go dig some of this old memorabilia out and read some of the notes from 1945. My dad passed away in 2008 and left his legacy for us to pass along to the grand children. They certainly don't show any interest in the actions that have shaped the world we live in but for now there is only one greatest generation.