nJuly 24
nSecretary of War
Henry Stimson passes on orders for atomic attack.
nJuly 25
nGeneral Carl
Spatz, commander of the United States Army Strategic Air Forces, receives
the only written order on the use of atomic weapons from acting Chief of
Staff, General Thomas Handy.
nJuly 26
nPotsdam
Declaration calls upon Japanese government “to proclaim now the unconditional surrender
of all Japanese armed forces.” The alternative, the Declaration
states, is “prompt and utter destruction.”
nJuly 26
nForrestal secret
diary states, “In the past days Sato in
Moscow has been sending the strongest language to the Foreign
Office at Tokyo his urgent advice for Japan to surrender
unconditionally. Each time the Foreign Minister, Togo,
responds by saying that they want Sato to arrange for the Russians to
receive Prince Konoye as a special representative of the Emperor to
Moscow. Sato’s persistent reply to these messages was that this is a futile
hope, that there is no possibility of splitting the concert of action now
existing between Great Britain, the United States and Russia.”