Several days after the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Japan, Secretary of State James Byrnes drafted the following letter to a Swiss diplomat serving as an intermediary in negotiations with the Japanese.Â
 The B-29, or Superfortress, was designed to operate faster, at higher altitudes, and with heavier bomb loads than its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress.
The island of Okinawa was the crucial final stepping stone for the Americans. For the Japanese, it would be the first time they met the enemy on home soil.
