In Richard B. Frank's book, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, the options the U.S. Army had for ending the war in the spring and summer of 1945 are discussed. Frank also discusses the issues and influences of decision making. As well as why the US military actually chose to use atomic energy as a winning weapon when America had already used more “conventional” means that drastically reduced the Japanese empire. Frank's opinion in his book has led to many controversial debates from many people. Richard B. Frank states in his introduction to Ending the Pacific War: History and Fantasy that, “In the spring of 1945, the JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) created a military strategy that fused two diametrically opposed visions into an unstable compromise.” The unstable compromise was between the leader of the US Navy, Fleet Admiral Ernest King and the leader of the US Army, George C. Marshall. King's vision of ending the war was through blockade and bombing. This would be followed by a strong air attack from land and sea, which was King's area of ​​expertise during the Pacific War. The reason King's vision was this way was also that he believed that the Japanese would continue to be able to produce enough armed forces to stop all US ground forces, thus resulting in a prolonged war and many unnecessary casualties . Similar to King's tendencies, Marshall invested all his vision in his area of ​​expertise, namely ground forces, and little in his vision of air assault. Marshall believed that if he attacked the small chain of islands throughout Japan he would force the Japanese people to retreat and eventually surrender because... middle of paper... the leaders felt the need to use bombs because the country had invested so much time and money into developing the bombs and not knowing when the next American war would break out Japan was the only country we could actually use the bombs on. Works Cited Frank, Richard B. "Ending the Pacific War: History and Fantasy." Introduction. End of the Pacific War: History and Fantasy. 2. Print.Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House, 1999. 206. Print.Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House, 1999. 209-10. Print.Pattini, John Ray. The invasion of Japan: alternative to the bomb. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1994. 229. Print.Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Japanese Imperial Empire. New York: Random House, 1999. 312-13. Press.