Fifty-six percent of Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center in February said using the atomic bomb on Japanese cities was justified, compared to 79 percent of Japanese respondents who said it was not. Using the atomic bomb, developed amid utmost secrecy, was hugely popular with war-weary Americans at the time - and 70 years on, a majority today still think it was the right thing to do. 'They certainly don't care to have us drop any more bombs of atomic energy like this.' It would be another 27 days - plus a second nuclear mushroom over Nagasaki - before Japan surrendered, ending a war that began with its 1937 invasion of China and stretched across the Asia-Pacific region. 'After a few last looks (at the mushroom cloud), I honestly feel the Japs may give up before we land at Tinian,' where Enola Gay was stationed, he said. My God, what have we done?' he added in the cursive lettering of the day. 'I honestly have the feeling of groping for words to explain this. 'Just how many Japs did we kill?' wondered Lewis after the dazzling silver B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan - and, in doing so, altered the course of history forever. The Enola Gay was on its long flight back to its Pacific island base when co-pilot Captain Robert Lewis opened his log and scribbled down the many questions racing through his mind.
