Chugalug,
What you say (about the Bomb) is all too true: the alternative (an invasion of Japan) lay all too heavily on our minds in that strange "interregnum" between the May and August of 1945.
Coincidentally, I am exploring that topic at greater length my next Post (Great Minds.......?) And it is certainly correct that survival in war largely depended on being on the right side of every one of a whole string of "what if"s.
Good to hear from Fred,
Danny.