A panel of experts answered your questions on the end of the war in the Pacific, including battles and other events during 1944-45, the decision to drop the bomb, Truman's administration and wartime strategies, Japanese strategies, and more, in this online forum.

The forum was live from May 2 through 6, 2005, and is now over. The questions and replies are posted here permanently for you to read.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5: May 6, 2005

• Does the history of the decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki inform current U.S. nuclear weapons decision making policy?

• Are civilian populations "legitimate military targets"?

• Was Japan close to developing a jet fighter?

• Did Emperor Hirohito have no remorse or shame for his actions?

• What was the Imperial Japanese Army's plan for the defense of Kyushu?

• Why were U.S. authorities so surprised about radiation's potential for damage?

• Was LeMay's firebombing campaign a significant step in the decision to use nuclear weapons?

• Why didn't the Smithsonian want to cover all of the information presented in Victory when it first planned on displaying the Enola Gay?

• Was the atomic bomb a sort of "flexing" of the American military muscle towards the Soviet Union?

Forum participants

• Herbert P. Bix (historian)

• Edward Drea (historian)

• Richard Frank (author)

• Austin Hoyt (filmmaker)